30 January 2014
Digital communications enrich our world but can also open the door to social ills such as terrorism, fraud and identity theft. The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) is entrusted with establishing a consistent and effective national service provision in a number of discrete areas:
- Realise efficiencies through sharing of resources and best practices
- Enable economy of scale
- To support and allow police forces to focus on operational policing
Inaugurated in April 2007, the SPSA is a non-departmental public body that manages police information systems, forensic services and training on behalf of Scotland’s eight police forces and wider criminal justice community.
It provides one of the world’s only independently-accredited crime scene to court forensic services; manages information systems used by more than 50 agencies across the UK; and trains over 8,000 police officers every year through the Scottish Police College. It also maintains the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. It has over 1,600 staff and an overall budget of over £100 million.
