Communities across the Highlands and Islands are being promised a more reliable local police service as Police Scotland rolls out a new approach designed to improve investigations, protect appointments and give officers more time to work with the people they serve.

The Policing For Our Communities model has now been extended to the Highlands and Islands, alongside Argyll and several other parts of Scotland, following its introduction in Forth Valley, Fife and Tayside.

At the heart of the changes is a simple ambition to make local policing more dependable, particularly for victims and witnesses who need officers to investigate incidents, keep appointments and provide support.

Under the new arrangements, the responsibilities of emergency response officers will be more clearly separated from those dealing with community investigations, helping to reduce the disruption caused when officers are called away to urgent incidents.

Police Scotland says areas already operating the model have reported significant improvements in keeping appointments which previously had to be cancelled when emergencies took priority.

Reports of incidents which do not require an emergency response are also being allocated and progressed more quickly, while pressure on frontline response officers has eased.

The approach takes particular account of rural policing, using more detailed information about demand, including the time officers spend travelling to incidents and the resources required to deal with them.

That consideration is especially important across the Highlands and Islands, where geography and long travelling distances can make delivering a consistent police service particularly challenging.

However, Police Scotland acknowledges that community officers are still regularly diverted to emergency incidents and major events, limiting the time available for preventative work and building relationships within local communities.

Chief Constable Jo Farrell said:

“I want the public to have the best possible local policing, whether that’s the response to an emergency, reliable and timely support around non-emergencies, or identifiable and accessible officers who work with citizens and our partners to build cohesive and resilient communities which feel safe and experience less crime.

“The results so far are encouraging.

“Response officers are under less pressure and we’re progressing non-emergencies more reliably and in a way that enables local officers to listen to victims and witnesses.

“But community officers are still too often required to support emergency response and police events, drawing them away from the policing which strengthens community relations to solve shared problems, prevent crime and build cohesion and resilience.

“So, while this model makes the best use of the resources we have, I am asking government to support us to put an additional 350 officers into those crucial community teams over the coming years.”

The Chief Constable’s request forms part of a wider financial plan seeking an additional £24 million a year in recurring investment for community policing by 2030 to 2031.

The proposed 350 additional officers would support community policing across Scotland, rather than being allocated exclusively to the Highlands and Islands.

The new model was developed following more than 1,000 discussions with police officers, staff, members of the public and partner organisations about how local policing could be improved.

Police Scotland expects the arrangements to be operating nationally by March 2027.

Further changes are also planned for the Highlands and Islands, which will join the North East Division in testing a new approach to investigations and safeguarding before the end of this year.

That work will focus on improving support for victims, strengthening investigative capabilities and developing a more consistent approach to public protection, including the response to violence against women and girls.

For communities across the region, the measure of success will ultimately be whether officers are more accessible, appointments are kept and people reporting crime receive the attention and support they need.

The changes are now under way, but delivering the additional community policing capacity Police Scotland wants will depend on future funding decisions.