Police Scotland is introducing a new community policing model in South Ayrshire that aims to increase the visibility of officers in neighbourhoods and place greater emphasis on preventing crime. The changes will reorganise local policing around three dedicated teams with separate responsibilities for community engagement, responding to emergencies and investigating crime.
Three new teams to deliver local policing
Under the new arrangements, Community Policing Teams will provide visible, identifiable officers who can build relationships with residents and businesses, identify recurring problems and work towards solutions. The teams will focus on engagement, prevention and tackling local issues before they develop into more serious problems.
A second group, known as Incident Response Teams, will be responsible for dealing with emergency and urgent calls. Police Scotland says these teams should also have greater capacity to carry out proactive work targeting local problems, alongside their responsibilities for responding to incidents.
The third element will be a Community Investigations Hub, which is intended to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of police investigations.
National programme aims to modernise policing
The changes form part of a national programme called Policing for Our Communities, which Police Scotland says will modernise the way local policing is delivered. The force admits that approaches to local policing have remained largely unchanged since the creation of the national force in 2013.
The programme is intended to introduce a more consistent and sustainable model which better reflects the needs of local communities. Police Scotland says the overall aim is to shift the emphasis of local policing away from a predominantly reactive approach towards prevention and problem-solving.
Details of the proposals are contained in a Police Scotland performance report going before South Ayrshire Council’s Service and Partnerships Performance Panel on Tuesday, November 17.
Crime figures show increases in some categories
The proposals come as the latest performance figures reveal an increase in recorded crime across South Ayrshire. Police recorded a 12.6 percent rise in overall crime during the first six months of 2026/27 compared with the equivalent period last year.
Acquisitive crime increased by 47.8 percent, while recorded domestic abuse crimes rose by 10.7 percent and violent crime increased by 11.7 percent. However, the number of incidents reported to police fell by four percent, while antisocial behaviour incidents decreased by 2.5 percent.
Police Scotland says repeat offending is contributing to increased crime levels in some categories, particularly theft and domestic abuse. The report to councillors states that stronger relationships between officers and the communities they serve are essential to maintaining public confidence, encouraging people to report crime and securing information which can assist investigations.
Implementation timeline and next steps
The performance report says work to introduce the enhanced policing model will be undertaken between October 2026 and March 2027. Councillors will have an opportunity to question Police Scotland representatives about the proposals when the performance report is considered next week.
