The collapsed ceiling at Broughty Ferry police station is the latest example of the unacceptable conditions under which officers and staff have to operate.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has denied infrastructure is “falling apart” but there is clearly a significant problem.
The reports of substandard buildings and vehicles just keep coming.
Now we have fresh concerns voiced by one of the highest ranking officers in the country.
The Chief Superintendent for Tayside told of buildings “no longer fit for purpose” and of officers and staff who work tirelessly in “challenging conditions”.
His remarks follow our reports last year on the Scottish Police Federation’s concerns over the shocking state of police vehicles.
Some were said to be “barely legal” and “patched up with duct tape”.
A Holyrood committee concluded there should be an above-inflation increase in funding for the police estate.
The roof is literally and figuratively coming in on the force and hard cash must be found to reverse the decline.
Our police officers work hard to keep us safe. They deserve the best.
Work together
All countries want to make citizens safe in a world of cross-border crime and terror plots.
But with Brexit getting in the way for years, vital international schemes risk being sidelined.
Security data-sharing improvements in the EU were overseen by a British commissioner, Julian King, who linked all the elements of Europe’s databases.
The project will include information essential to tracking people around member states, tackling organised crime, trafficking and missing persons.
From Friday of next week, a question mark hangs over our future relationship with neighbouring countries.
We are now seeing the practical problems the narrow vote to leave Europe could have on society. As one official put it, when countries don’t co-operate the “bad guys” win.
Boris Johnson now needs to prove he’s serious about security, or admit there are real downsides to his Brexit.
Funny to the end
Terry Jones’s death will have saddened all those who remember Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The team revolutionised comedy and perhaps his most famous role was as Brian’s mother in Life of Brian.
Terry Jones was not the Messiah but he was one of the greats.
