THE chairman of the board set up to monitor police performance in the Borders says officer numbers in the region are “dangerously low”.

Councillor Watson McAteer (Ind, Hawick and Hermitage) makes the claim in a letter to Scottish justice minister Michael Matheson.

Mr McAteer, himself a former divisional police commander, was appointed to lead the Scottish Borders Police, Fire and Rescue and Safer Communities Board in May.

And he says that, since assuming that role, he is “sensing a growing frustration at what is being positioned as the new ‘normal’ standards for policing in this area”.

He tells Mr Matheson: “With crime figures reported to be either reducing or static and solvency rates steadily declining, a worrying trend is emerging.

“Evidence of delayed response to 999 calls, officers being deployed to the Borders from central Scotland and vice versa together with the very obvious lack of investigation are all contributing to a less than satisfactory service.

“From my regular engagement with frontline officers, it is obvious police numbers in Hawick and the Borders are at a dangerously low number.

“The most recent excuse that these gaps are being filled through the use of a ‘flexible policing’ model is quite incredible and is simply a way of disguising the underlying problem.

“A disturbing feature is the lack of investigation time and the regular public comment…that certain levels of crime, no matter how they impact at a local level, will only be taken forward if sufficient evidence is handed to the police on a plate.”

Mr McAteer tells Mr Matheson that call grading and handling procedures are at the root of the public concerns regarding Police Scotland – the single force set up in 2013.

“This is an acute issue in rural areas and the delay in attending emergency calls because too few officers are available is not acceptable,” says Mr McAteer.

“It is incumbent on me as an elected local authority member to raise the concerns of others and seek your intervention.”

While Mr McAteer awaits a response, he told us: “The board that I chair is part of the legislative framework to scrutinise local policing, but I’m yet to be convinced this translates into something which can truly influence change.

“I have told the justice minister that local authorities need to have a more influential role in police governance. As a first step, I would like to see local authority councillors represented on the Scottish Police Authority which is there to hold Police Scotland to account.”