A Highland councillor has accused the Scottish Government of showing “indifference” to communities in the north after a call to increase police numbers was rejected by ministers.
Inverness Central councillor Michael Gregson says his request, which was unanimously backed at full Highland Council, simply asked for the reinstatement of almost 1,000 police officer posts lost in recent years, but instead he received what he describes as a “brush-off” from Justice Secretary Angela Constance.
“The Minister’s response talks about Police Services ‘increasing capacity and capability’ and ‘delivering improved outcomes’,” Cllr Gregson said, “but in reality Highlanders are being ignored again, and the Scottish Government seems simply indifferent to our problems.”
The councillor’s comments follow the release of new crime figures which he says highlight both the scale and urgency of the challenges facing local policing.
While crime overall is described as “challenging” in the current climate, Cllr Gregson believes shoplifting in particular has reached another level, with thefts becoming more brazen and more damaging to both businesses and the people who work in them.
In Inverness alone, there were 943 recorded shoplifting incidents in 2024, almost 100 more than in 2023 and nearly 500 more than in 2022 and in Inverness Central there has been a 15 per cent rise despite concerns that many incidents still go unreported.
Cllr Gregson said he welcomed the work already underway, including the creation of a Retail Crime Taskforce, extra funding for crime prevention, and stronger collaboration with Inverness BID, but warned that the “central issue” was repeat offenders returning to the same shops just weeks or even days after arrest.
“We don’t want people being arrested, charged and sentenced only to be back in their old haunts in a matter of months or even weeks,” he said.
“These repeat offenders are making life miserable for shopkeepers, their staff and shoppers, and undermining the work of honest businesses.”
He said he supported the promise by Chief Inspector Still to take “a robust attitude to enforcement” and welcomed news that repeat shoplifters are already being banned from town centres, but insisted that both policing and the justice system need to grip the problem more firmly.
“Shop workers and shoppers have been suffering brazen theft and intimidation for too long,” he said, “and the damage is more than financial, it leaves people shaken and communities less safe.”
With Highland Council’s call for more officers rejected, Cllr Gregson says it is now up to local police leadership to prove that the resources they have can still deliver meaningful protection for the communities they serve.
