POLICING in Scotland faces an unprecedented split, with the country's 'FBI' demanding independence from "faceless bureaucrats" who are hindering the fight against organised crime.
Moves have begun behind the scenes in Holyrood to release the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) from the control of the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA), which has overseen it since being set up last year.
The controversi
al decision to bring the SCDEA under the wings of the SPSA has prompted one high-flying detective to quit, while others who are still serving are equally unhappy with the situation.
One senior police insider said: "This is a battle for the soul of policing in Scotland. It is an argument between operational policing and support services. Which is more important? Catching major criminals or saving the police in Scotland money? That is it in a nutshell.
"The idea of the SPSA was to put all of the police support services together and make them more efficient. By having uniformity, you get more efficiency and better cost-effectiveness.
"But when the SPSA was formed, no one knew what to do with the agency. Eventually and unfortunately, the decision was taken that it should fall under the SPSA's remit, but it was never going to work."
Graeme Pearson, former director-general of the SCDEA, retired almost two years early last November, amid claims that his role had become untenable with the constraints placed on it by the SPSA.
Now his colleagues and several senior politicians have decided enough is enough, and they have begun drawing up plans to allow the SCDEA to break away from the SPSA.
It is feared the wrangling and uncertainty that has surrounded the merger since its inception has left potential recruits unwilling to join the agency – once described as the 'Jewel in the Crown' of the SPSA – as stories of mistrust between the two bodies and interference continue to circulate.
The SPSA was set up as part of the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 to assist the "development, provision, procurement and delivery" of all aspects of policing in Scotland.
As well as offering support and training to all eight Scottish forces, the SPSA is responsible for the Scottish Criminal Records Office, the Scottish Forensics Service and the Scottish Police College. However, it was the decision – which officially came into force last April – to bring the SCDEA under the umbrella of the SPSA that has caused the most controversy.
From the outset, some senior police officers, along with other observers, have claimed the move has undermined the work of the agency, and its ability to take on and defeat serious and organised crime.
One of the main concerns for opponents of the merger is that the SPSA's board is not experienced enough in policing matters to make decisions on behalf of the agency.
The police insider added: "The SCDEA is, by its very nature, driven by the operational needs of policing. It is a completely different animal to the other aspects of the SPSA.
"If the agency wants to spend any money on an operation – say sending someone abroad to follow up an inquiry – it has to run it by the SPSA and wait for it to make a decision on whether that is all right. But what does it know about the intricacies of modern-day crime fighting at the sharp end, which is what the SCDEA is all about?"
Although it will take an act of Parliament to extricate the SCDEA from the SPSA, moves are already afoot to try to get the wheels in motion to reach that point.
A parliamentary source said: "Enough is enough. We need to get the agency back to doing what it does best: fighting organised crime and putting away the individuals who bring despair and death to our streets while getting rich on the profits of their misery."
Last night, Paul Martin, Labour's community justice spokesman, said: "I think a split would benefit and allow the agency to be on its own again, doing what it does best: fighting organised crime.
"We need to get on with real issues, tackling the perpetrators who are committing crime of the highest level."
