Dave Thompson MSP

Dave Thompson SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch today (20/05/2014) asked the Cabinet Secretary for Justice at topical questions how many Armed Response (ARV) officers are on duty at any one time in the Highlands, who is directly responsible for them and is there anything in principle stopping there being differing firearms policy in different regions of Scotland?

The Cabinet Secretary could not be specific about the first part of the question, but said there are 275 ARV officers in total across Scotland but when allowing for shifts across the 24hr day, leave and training and such like there are far fewer on duty at any one time. He confirmed responsibility lies with Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Higgins for both the officers and the application of policy across Scotland’s regions.

This follows on from Dave’s concern expressed last week regarding the increasing presence of Police firearms on routine patrols. He had pointed out that violent crime in Scotland is now at a near all time low, not least because of the maintenance of Police numbers in Scotland (unlike in the rest of the UK).

Dave said, “Clearly from what the Cabinet Secretary said there are, say, six or seven dozen ARV officers on duty across Scotland at any one time and so only a small number on duty in the Highlands. I will seek more detail on the local numbers when I meet ACC Higgins in Inverness on Friday.

Three concerned MSP’s, Dave, John Finnie and Mary Scanlon will be meeting with Assistant Chief Constable Higgins on Friday the 23rd in Inverness where they hope to discuss the issue and hopefully seek a solution that will allay public concern.