Police in the Highlands and Islands are facing a “diverse and growing” set of challenges, from missing persons in remote landscapes to rising drug activity and officer safety concerns, Ch Supt Rob Shepherd has warned.
Rob is the divisional commander of Scotland’s largest and most remote region, and said the vast 12,000-square-mile territory – which includes Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles – poses unique demands on policing.
Speaking after this month’s Association of Scottish Police Superintendents conference, Rob said: “We deal with people lost scuba diving off Orkney, hiking Ben Nevis or lost in the huge forests of Sutherland.
“It’s a very different type of missing persons challenge than elsewhere in Scotland.”
He highlighted county lines drug operations as another major concern.
Criminal gangs from cities including Glasgow, Liverpool and London are moving into Inverness and other areas, exploiting residents by taking over their homes to distribute drugs and infiltrating vulnerable communities and cash-strapped schedules.
Rob explained: “These groups prey on those already struggling. They’re organised, mobile and difficult to tackle without strong intelligence and support.”
The third pressing issue, he added, is officer vulnerability. With small teams often covering large distances, frontline staff are increasingly exposed.
Rob explained: “We have more police assaults per officer in the Highlands and Islands than anywhere else in Scotland. They feel vulnerable and exposed.”
In response, Police Scotland will launch body-worn video across the division from mid-June – a move Rob described as “absolutely fantastic.”
He said: “It will help with officer safety, increase early guilty pleas, and give the public more confidence in what we do.”
Efforts to curb county lines activity are also being bolstered by intelligence sharing with forces in the central belt and in England, he explained.
But some problems, particularly around public safety in wild environments, require wider co-operation.
Rob said: “As long as we keep sharing, working together, and taking really proactive and robust action against these people, we can deal with that.
“And the public need to understand the dangers of hiking or diving without proper preparation.
“That’s not just a policing issue — our partners have to help get that message across.”
He also said the conference offered useful insights into how technology could be better used in rural policing.
He explained: “We need to think about how we can best use technology in the Highlands and Islands to better respond to the challenges we face.”