ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the national police reform programme in Scotland. It details the merger of eight police forces and two other policing organizations to become the Police Service of Scotland. Each police force in the United Kingdom is led by a chief constable. The Scottish government determined that, instead of the pre-existing eight boards, the new police service should be governed by a single Scottish Police Authority, members of which would not be elected to the posts but instead would be appointed after application and interview. Policing in Scotland is devolved to the Scottish government at Holyrood and decisions made by the UK government at Westminster regarding policing generally only affect England and Wales. The Scottish government set out three main strategic aims for the police reform programme: protect and improve local services despite financial cuts; create more equal access to specialist support and national capacity; and strengthen the connection between services and communities.
