The SNP have been accused of jeopardising public safety through neglect, after new figures revealed that officers failed to respond to more than 600 emergency calls graded as immediate priority over the last three years.
Stats obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, via Freedom of Information laws, show that there were 250 incidents reported via 999, and graded as immediate priority, where no Police Scotland resource was dispatched in 2022/23. There were a further 230 in 2023/24 and 159 in 2024/25.
This comes at a time when there are 900 fewer police officers on our streets than before the pandemic, and while one in five adults has been a victim of crime in the last year.
In addition, data also shows that 2.9% of adults experienced a violent crime in Scotland in 2023-24, compared with just 1.4% of people in England and Wales.
Shadow minister for victims and community safety Sharon Dowey slammed SNP ministers, saying they had turned their backs on victims of crime.
She added that nationalist ministers must ensure Police Scotland have the resources they need to uphold community safety.
Scottish Conservative shadow minister for victims and community safety Sharon Dowey MSP said: “These shocking figures demonstrate that public safety is being jeopardised by the SNP’s sustained neglect of frontline policing.
“At a time when one in five Scots is a victim of crime, the public will be appalled and alarmed that they are not guaranteed to see a police response even to an emergency call.
“Whilst Police Scotland do the best they can with the resources they are given, the reality is they’re doing their job one-handed due to the SNP’s sustained failure to support them.
“The police are also being forced to waste precious time policing speech rather than tackling crime, thanks to Humza Yousaf’s Hate Crime Act which is putting strain on an already overwhelmed force.
“It is crucial that SNP ministers back our police and ensure they have the tools they need to keep Scots safe, especially in emergency situations.”
Notes to editors
Police Scotland creates incidents in their system after assessing that some form of police response is required. Police Scotland say, “Incidents are created where it is assessed that some form of police response is required. This can be in response to contact by telephone or any other means, or at the request of officers or partners. (Police Scotland FOI, 23 July 2025, available upon request)
There were 639 emergency 999 incidents graded IMMEDIATE priority by the police in the past three years that police were not dispatched to. Out of calls graded IMMEDIATE priority, there were 250 non-attended emergency incidents which were reported via 999 where no resource was dispatched in 2022/23, 230 in 2023/24 and 159 in 2024/25. (Police Scotland FOI, 23 July 2025, available upon request)
There are over 900 fewer police officers today than there were before the pandemic. There are 16,441 police officers on the streets today compared to 17,431 at the beginning of 2020 – which is a fall of 990 officers. 2024 saw police officer numbers fall to their lowest level since 2007. (Scottish Government, 6 May 2025, link)
1 in 5 Scottish adults were a victim of a crime in the last year. The 2023-24 Crime and Justice Survey found that 1,185,000 crimes happened in Scotland in that time frame. 19.9% of adults were estimated to have experienced at least one crime, and this included property offences (10.3%), violence (2.9%) and fraud and computer misuse (9.5%). (Scottish Government, 10 June 2025, link)
A higher proportion of adults experienced a violent crime in Scotland than in England and Wales. In the year ending June 2024, 1.4% of adults experienced violent crime in England and Wales while 2.9% of adults experienced a violent crime in Scotland in 2023-24. (Scottish Government, 10 June 2025, link; ONS, 24 October 2024, link)