Scotland’s national force say they spent £3million on overtime in one month to enable them to police serious and organised crime, protests and other events.
Cash strapped Police Scotland is spending up to £100,000 a day on overtime to cope with the demands of investigating crime gang violence and asylum hotel demos.
The force forked out £3 million in overtime in September in policing what they describe as serious and organised crime, as well as “unprecedented” levels of protests and events.
They say officers are being called in on days off to meet the extra demands and workloads.
Since March Police Scotland have been investigating a series of fire bombings and other attacks on people and property in Edinburgh and Glasgow linked to the long running feud between the Lyons and Daniel crime families.
Codenamed Operation Portaledge it has already resulted in 62 arrests.
Officers have also been drafted in to police demonstrations and counter demonstrations outside hotels housing asylum seekers and migrants in Falkirk, Aberdeen and Perth.
The £3 million September overtime bill is believed to be one of the highest ever.
Police Scotland’s Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: “Over the last 12 months, the demand has increased both in respect of policing serious and organised crime, as well as an unprecedented level of protests and events.
“Officers and staff are working incredibly hard to deliver for our communities and keep people safe, the organisation is incredibly grateful for all their hard work.
“The nature of policing is unpredictable, and overtime is a flexible mechanism which can help to ensure we maintain an effective service for all our communities.”
Details of the seven figure overtime cost were revealed at a meeting of the Holyrood Criminal Justice Committee. Mr Speirs told MSP’s: “At times, we are drawing officers away from communities.
“In the month of September, our overtime spend was £3 million, a large part of which was driven by the demand that is being placed on services.”
Chief Constable Jo Farrell l also told MSP’s: “We are cancelling more time off to meet the requirements. If we cannot give our officers the days back within 90 days, the regulations say that we need to pay them for that time.”
The number of police officers in Scotland currently sits at 16,441, one of the lowest since the national force was founded in 2013.
David Kennedy, General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said:”If you reduce the amount of police officers then the more overtime you have to use to fill the gaps.
“It is extra money but it is also extra pressure as you are putting more hours on officers.
“You don’t get the best out of people by continually paying them overtime.
“It means they are not getting any rest as they are doing it on their days off.”
Scottish Labour justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill commented: “With more than £10.3 billion additional funding handed to the Scottish Government since Labour came to power at Westminster last year, there can be no excuses for the SNP. “They must use this money to tackle the crisis in our justice system, back hardworking Police Scotland officers and staff, and bolster public safety across the country.”
Scottish Conservative justice spokesperson Liam Kerr added.“Officers are being stretched to their limits and are constantly being asked to go above and beyond to plug gaps in staffing.”
Police Scotland is asking for an extra £104.9m from the Scottish Government in next year’s budget to meet rising demands and costs. There were also a series of high-profile events during the summer which required additional policing, including the Oasis concerts at Murrayfield in Edinburgh and TRNSMT in Glasgow.
Police Scotland also had to make £500,000 worth of extra payments to officers for working on their days off in July which included the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland. Last month the Daily Record revealed how the force has spent £533,000 on overtime during the first six months of Operation Portaledge. The violence is alleged to have been orchestrated by former Rangers Union Bears fan group leader Ross McGill from a base in Dubai. The main targets have been friends and associates of the Daniel crime family including Edinburgh cocaine baron Mark Richardson.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:”We have invested a record £1.64 billion for policing this year, and our continued investment enabled Police Scotland to take on more recruits in the last financial year than at any time since 2013. With further intakes planned during 2025-26, Scotland has more police officers per capita than England and Wales.”
