Police Scotland‘s “decimated” officer numbers have left the force “hugely depleted”, it has been claimed.

David Kennedy, head of the Scottish Police Federation has said police are increasingly limited in their intelligence gathering and rapid response capability. This comes as MI5 makes a move to consider putting the UK on high alert, with tensions rising.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mail, Kennedy said: “Countering the threat of terror attacks is all about intelligence and community policing is the cornerstone of intelligence gathering.

“It’s about information from members of the public saying someone has moved in here or there or that they have seen some sort of suspicious behaviour. It relies on relationships built up through trust.

“That is how terror threats are detected and the problem is we are stripping community policing out of Scotland, it is being eradicated, we increasingly have a reactive force only. In the event that an incident does happen that requires a rapid response, again Police Scotland’s ability to do so is being hugely depleted.

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