Police will have to serve at least a decade on the beat before they are appointed to senior positions, to stop a “supermarket manager” becoming chief constable, Scotland’s justice secretary has said.
Putting himself at odds with proposals for England and Wales where plans are in place to allow external candidates to reach senior positions without ever being a constable Kenny MacAskill hit out at the prospect of civilians ending up as top police officers.
In his address to the SNP conference in Perth on Sunday, Mr MacAskill also pledged to fight to protect pension deals and retirement ages for police and firefighters.
He said: “Down in England they are proposing direct entry to the police service. Senior officers will be recruited, never having served as a constable.
“Whether inspector, superintendent or even chief constable, in Scotland I want the assurance they’ve had 10 years’ police experience. Not 10 years as a supermarket manager or financial consultant experience learned policing our communities, experience that money can’t buy.
“We will not invoke direct entry.”
Mr MacAskill, who is a lawyer by trade, also attacked his former colleagues in the legal profession over opposition to the Scottish Government’s proposed scrapping of corroboration.
The prospect of dropping the need for evidence in criminal trials to come from two sources has proven controversial, with Holyrood’s Justice Committee convener, SNP MSP Christine Grahame, standing firmly against the plans.
The justice secretary referred to figures which show almost 5,500 charges with a domestic abuse aggravator were marked no action because there was insufficient admissible evidence over the last two years.
He said: “Some in the legal fraternity disagree but laws are made by Parliament, not one profession.
“This is about justice in our communities, not a debate between learned legal friends. And that’s why, while I listen respectfully to the legal profession, I also listen to the pleas of Victim Support Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid, the representations made by Police Scotland and the comments of the Association of Police Superintendents in Scotland.
“They don’t partake in a legal debate. They mop up the blood and they wipe away the tears from victims who have suffered behind closed doors.”