Police 'poor' for career women

Only two forces have women in senior chief officer ranks

Scottish police forces have the worst record in the UK when it comes to promoting women, statistics show.

Half of Scotland's police forces have no women above chief inspector level and only two forces have women in the senior chief officer ranks.

The Annual Statistics Returns figures from forces between 2002 and 2003 show that one in five constables is female.

However, that ratio drops considerably when promotion is taken into consideration.

On Saturday, the Scottish National Party's Linda Fabiani called for action to reverse the trend.

'Action not words'

She said: "Over and over again we keep hearing about how women are paid less than men and don't get promoted like men do.

"The Scottish Executive have been talking about this for more than four years.

"The public services have got to take a lead and we need action, not words."

Scotland is said to be behind the rest of Britain where progress seems to have been quicker and easier for women.

Women make up 8% of superintendents and chief superintendents in England and Wales while in Scotland that figure is just 3.5%.

A total of 9% of inspectors and chief inspectors in England and Wales are female while in Scotland that figure has dropped to 5.7%.

The number of female officers above the level of constable is now so small north of the border, ministers are being called on to intervene and force senior police officers to take action.

Recruitment shortage

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) has accepted there is a lack of promoted women officers and that there were a series of initiatives under way to tackle the problem.

A spokeswoman for the executive said: "We welcome the commitment by Acpos to take positive steps to increase the proportion of female officers in senior positions.

"We believe that for many posts there can be benefits from the perspective that female officers can bring.

"The details of the actions proposed are for Acpos to decide."

Earlier this month, the police federation warned that recruitment in Scotland's police forces is heading towards crisis point.

The organisation said half of all officers are eligible to retire over the next eight years and claimed it did not have the recruits or the expertise to replace them.