Meeting of the Parliament 18 November 2014
The Scottish Conservatives support initiatives to make Scotland’s roads safer. The pain, heartache and devastation that the victims—and their families—of drunk drivers suffer are, frankly, unimaginable. The new 50mg limit therefore represents an important measure in trying to ensure that no family has to endure that experience.
Last week, it was reported that no fewer than 10,000 officers will be responsible for a drink-driving crackdown over the festive season. We know, depressingly, that, at the same time as those officers are tasked with pulling over vast numbers of people for random spot checks, crimes such as domestic abuse will escalate. Therefore, in seeking to legitimately prioritise manpower to crack down on drink driving over Christmas and new year, it is essential that that deployment be proportionate. That means ensuring that sufficient police officers are available to police housebreakings, thefts, serious and sexual assaults and incidents of domestic abuse.
Since its inception, Police Scotland has attracted justified criticism as a culture of target setting has been exposed. Only a few months ago, concerns about the implementation of Police Scotland’s stop-and-search policy were well aired in this chamber, and the targeting of speeding in general and in certain specific areas has attracted adverse headlines.
Although the chief constable states that rank-and-file officers do not have numerical targets imposed on them, in May and July of this year the Scottish Police Authority and Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary for Scotland published reports that highlight—[Interruption.]