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Police recruitment
30/12/2008
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will be at Central Scotland Police Headquarters in Stirling today to meet some of the police recruits that have recently joined the force.
Speaking in advance of his visit, Mr MacAskill said:
"The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a more visible police presence on our streets and in our communities, deterring crime and reassuring citizens.
"At the beginning of this month we announced that there are now more police officers in Scotland than ever before. Compared to this time last year, there are now 26 more officers on the streets of central Scotland making the area safer and stronger.
"We inherited the lowest recruitment since devolution with many officers due to retire. We've tackled that challenge head on and we are confident that the resources and policies now in place will deliver improved policing for Scotland.
"We have set out plans to deliver a more visible policing presence on Scotland's streets and make an additional 1,000 officers available in our communities. We are not just delivering on this but going substantially beyond, by also looking at retention and redeployment."