Police Scotland Abandons Investigations into 23,000 Crimes
Police Scotland has officially "written off" nearly 23,000 criminal cases, including incidents of shoplifting, theft, and vandalism, under a controversial new operational strategy. Senior officers have directed frontline staff not to launch full inquiries into offences classified as "minor" where there are no immediate investigative leads, such as CCTV footage or witness statements.
Resource Constraints Drive Policy Change
The dramatic shift in policing approach comes amid plunging manpower levels and significant budget reductions imposed by the SNP government. Police representatives state they can no longer commit to probing every crime report received, leading to the implementation of the "proportionate response" strategy across Scotland in June 2024.
Between June 2024 and January 2026, Police Scotland confirmed that 22,373 crimes were "directly filed" under this policy, meaning they received no full investigation. The force initially resisted disclosing detailed breakdowns of affected crime categories, arguing that revealing detection strategies might encourage criminal activity by showing offenders how police would likely respond.
Breakdown of Written-Off Crimes
Following a Freedom of Information battle that required intervention from the Scottish Information Commissioner, Police Scotland released specific data showing:
- 1,974 shoplifting reports effectively abandoned
- 8,260 reports of other theft and attempted theft
- 7,416 vandalism cases treated similarly
- 4,496 incidents of failing to stop after an accident
The theft category breakdown reveals particularly concerning statistics, including 1,250 bicycle thefts (25.3% of all reported cases), 836 thefts from motor vehicles, 32 ATM thefts, and 78 "theft from person" incidents among those not investigated.
Political and Professional Criticism
Scottish Conservative victims and community safety spokeswoman Sharon Dowey condemned the policy, stating: "The SNP's savage cuts to police budgets mean officers simply do not have the resources they require to tackle criminal activity. That lack of support means thousands of crimes are now routinely being written off in what has proven to be the SNP's latest policy that surrenders to criminals."
Former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher questioned how crimes like "theft from a person" could possibly have no lines of enquiry. He warned: "Criminals are not stupid - they will know these offences are not being investigated and will become emboldened to commit more." Gallagher expressed concern that the public might eventually question the purpose of both crime reporting and police services.
Police and Government Responses
Police Scotland has defended the approach, claiming that refusing to fully investigate thousands of crimes allows officers to use their time more effectively and manage workplace stress. However, the force admitted it is "extremely difficult" to demonstrate how the freed-up time has been utilized.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland stated: "The proportionate response to crime process is not a policy of non-investigation – Police Scotland is committed to investigating crime. Every report of a crime is subject of individual assessment of threat, harm, risk, vulnerability and for proportionate lines of investigation."
A Scottish Government spokesman emphasized that only 2.73% of crime reports recorded by Police Scotland during the relevant period were directly filed under this process, adding: "Every incident reported to Police Scotland continues to be fully assessed and given a proportionate response based on threat, harm, risk and vulnerability."
The disclosure follows a year-long legal battle by the Daily Mail newspaper, which ultimately secured the data after appealing to the office of Freedom of Information commissioner David Hamilton. The controversy continues as critics argue the policy represents a dangerous normalization of criminal activity going uninvestigated across Scotland.
