Figures released by Police Scotland under Freedom of Information show that more than 700,000 officer days off have been cancelled in the last six years.
Thousands of frontline cops had their days off cancelled last year as Police Scotland battled to cope with a rising ride of crime and disorder including a violent gangland feud.
Shock figures released by the force show that 120,148 ‘rest days’ were scrubbed last year – compared to 110,842 in 2024 – with the hard pressed officers being ordered back on duty.
The police spent much of last year tackling gangland violence across Scotland linked to a long running feud between the Glasgow based Daniel and Lyons crime families.
Their response codenamed Operation Portaledge has already resulted in more than 60 arrests and a large number of people being sentenced to length jail terms.
There was a sharp rise in the numbers of police officers days off cancelled in March last year after the violence first broke out in Edinburgh and then spread to Glasgow.
In that month 10,457 rest days were scrubbed compared to 7.825 in February.
The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) said the routine cancellation of days off is leaving cops at breaking point and a massive backlog of officers waiting for the time back.
SPF General Secretary David Kennedy added:” These figures lay bare the relentless and unsustainable pressure being placed on police officers across Scotland,
“What is particularly concerning is the scale and consistency of the demand. “These cancellations are not isolated to major events or emergencies, they are embedded within the day-to-day running of policing.
“Policing cannot continue to function on the erosion of officers’ welfare. Rest days exist for a reason. They are a critical safeguard for both officer wellbeing and public safety.
“Fatigued officers are not only at risk themselves, but cannot perform at the level the public rightly expects. These figures must serve as a wake-up call.”
Operation Portaledge was launched to investigate a series of machete attacks and firebombings targeting associates and members of the Daniel family.
The feud reignited after underworld figure Ross McGill, who has links to the Lyons family, was allegedly ripped off when a £500,000 cocaine deal was paid for with fake notes.
McGill, a former leader of the Rangers fans group the Union Bears, has blamed a crew member of Edinburgh cocaine baron Mark Richardson, who has links to the Daniel family.
Last years figures, released under Freedom of Information (FOI), show that police officers had their days off cancelled at an average of 2310 a week. In the first two months of this year 15,605 were cancelled.
A total of 400 days off were cancelled last Saturday to police the Celtic fan SPL title celebrations in Glasgow’s Trongate where there was large scale disorder and ten arrests.
Mr Kennedy added;”Our members are committed, professional, and continue to go above and beyond. But policing cannot continue to rely on sacrifice alone.
“Enough is enough – this level of demand is not sustainable, and without meaningful intervention, the long-term resilience of the service is at real risk.”
Thousands of days also off had to be cancelled last July and August for the visits to Scotland of Donald Trump and Vice President Vance.
The same FOI figures show that 704,019 days were scrubbed between January 2020 and the end of February this year.
A quarter of all cancellations were to allow officers to attend court, even though only a small percentage end up giving evidence. The most cancelled days off were in Glasgow with 115,153 since 2020.
Police Scotland’s Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: “The Chief Constable has been clear that our priority is to strengthen and modernise our frontline to deliver efficient and effective policing.
“Officers and staff work hard to deliver for communities and keep people safe, and our workforce is under pressure from increased threats and a rapidly intensifying operational environment, which is why we have taken steps to ensure we can deploy officers from across the force more flexibly to meet those threats and demands.
“Work is also progressing to reduce the impact policing of events is having on officers and reducing the disruption to their rest days.”
” There is more to be done and Police Scotland will continue to drive improvements in this area.”
Since Police Scotland was formed in 2013, the number of officers has dropped by more than 1000 from 17,496 to around 16,416.
Chief Supt Rob Hay, President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents says senior officers at his rank are also having their days off cancelled on a regular basis.
He added: “It is not unusual for Superintendents to be owed 4 weeks’ worth of rest days, one colleagues was owed 10 weeks at one point last year.
“These numbers are symptomatic not only of rising demand but of the impact of falling police numbers across all ranks.”
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