Scottish police are victims of crime

Details obtained by Scotland on Sunday show that goods ranging from rugs and uniforms to illuminated signs and vibrating road rollers have been stolen in recent years from the country's biggest police force.

In one incident £3,000-worth of computer goods vanished from Strathclyde Police's headquarters in the centre of Glasgow, a crime which remains unsolved. In another, a police radio was taken from a patrol car's dashboard while it was parked outside a police station. This has led to calls for police officers to be more vigilant.

The Freedom of Information statistics, which date back five years, reveal how in 2002 seven jackets vanished from stations in the force area.The following year, a warrant card, police-issue baton and a torch, along with three sets of handcuffs, were stolen.

The largest theft occurred in the Renfrewshire district earlier this year when the culprits escaped with a police-issue radio, two police hats, a fluorescent belt, two fleeces, a fuel card, a police pocketbook and shoulder numbers.

Cop-shop crime-wave leaves thin blue line with red faces (Scotland on Sunday, 30 December 2007)

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