Unique police role in Fife town to continue thanks to funding deal

Members of Glenrothes Area Committee agreed to continue the funding of a dedicated police officer for another year with Police Scotland to provide match funding for a second post.

The sum of £53,132 will be provided which includes a projected four per cent pay award for Police Scotland officers in 2025/2026.

Glenrothes Community Sergeant Martyn Reidie said the Glenrothes Linked Together (GLT) officers had a unique role in Fife.

“It is protected from normal abstraction that a community officer will deal with on a daily basis,” he explained. “They can focus on their duties in tackling antisocial behaviour. They have undertaken 1660 hours on foot patrol in the area and a further 750 hours on mobile patrol going round the hot spots.”

While welcoming the funding, calls were made that it be looked at as something which could possibly be met by Police Scotland in future years.

Glenrothes West and Kinglassie councillor Altany Craik said: “This was a response to a problem – it was not deemed to be a permanent addition. We had hoped the situation would be resolved by now. Work that has been done has been invaluable. We appreciate the efforts that have been made.

“Is there a mechanism within Police Scotland to raise this as a local pressure that we would need funded? I don’t want to turn off the good work we are doing and find us back in the same place as we were.

“I suppose it is an early flag to the budget setting process for Police Scotland that this work is necessary and we would look to see corresponding funding.

“It comes back to the issue that Fife is under-served when it comes to numbers. We are under resourced in terms of police officers.”

Councillor Craig Walker commented: “When this was first thought over and we got together and made it happen, there was a hope it would be a temporary thing but that is probably not going to be the case.

“There is no doubt whatsoever about the impact and benefit we get from the two officers being in post and dealing with antisocial behaviour.

“They are celebrities down the town centre because they are there that regularly. We should not look to stop that at the moment because of the good work it does but there may well be discussions about the future funding of this. It is a significant investment but we are benefitting from this.”

Committee convener, Councillor John Beare, welcomed the decision to agree the funding.

“The partnership is clearly making a difference,” he said. “Since their introduction, we’ve seen a significant drop in calls and recorded incidents of anti-social and violent behaviour in the town centre. Having dedicated officers working closely with our community ward police teams ensures a joined-up approach to tackling concerns.

“I’m confident this continued investment will help further reduce crime and improve safety across Glenrothes.”