Central Scotland Police

Introduction

Service area, responsibilities, and purpose

Central Scotland Police serve the public within the Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, and Stirling Council areas. We consult widely and listen closely to our communities, work in partnership with key agencies, and promote our accessibility to the public.

Our purpose is to address the public's concerns and expectations by tackling those activities that erode the quality of life and damage the general well-being of the people of Central Scotland. We will use the skills and experience of all our staff to focus our efforts on action to:

• Prevent crime and the fear of crime;
• Pursue and detect those who break the law;
• Preserve peace and public order;
• Promote safety and reassurance in our communities.

Achievements

The force was hugely successful in achieving its targets last year. A 66% detection rate (2% more than 2002/2003), a record number of drug dealers arrested, significant seizures of a wide range of drugs, a strong focus on anti-social behaviour (all resulting in recognition by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary), and continued success in reducing injuries on our roads are only some examples of our endeavours.

Areas for improvement

Some areas do need to be improved upon - a dramatic rise in vandalism and worrying levels of absenteeism through sickness -and there is no doubt that we can improve on the disappointing and concerning 7% increase in reported crime last year (mainly vandalism).

Challenges

The year ahead will be very challenging. We will be going through significant change with the introduction of a new operational command structure, which will result in the 12 Local Command Units being replaced with 6 Sub-Area Command Units and a new shift system being introduced.

The Force Service Centre will change how we receive and manage calls from the public, while the new Airwave communication system will revolutionise our operational policiing infrastructure.