Local policing is at the heart of Police Scotland. The creation of a single policing service has allowed us to create a demand-led policing service that protects and supports local policing for our communities.

It also provides equal access to specialist resources, whether that is specialist police officers or equipment to support local policing, no matter where or when the demand.

Under a single policing service we now allocate and operate our police officer posts over three tiers – local, regional and national.

This ensures we have a core complement of officers who are always dedicated locally to community and response policing. We can then additionally draw on specialist expertise and resources to support local policing wherever and whenever they are needed.

It means we have the right people in the right place at the right time to keep people safe and meet the needs of our communities.

Police Scotland now publishes this information at a divisional level. These numbers reflect the new policing delivery model put in place by Police Scotland as a single policing service with 13 local policing divisions.

Scottish Government publishes national police officer statistics.