The police will be using civilians across the Central Scotland police area to help investigate high volume crime after a pilot scheme in Falkirk proved to be a success.

The civilians are known as ‘investigative assistants’ and will be investigating crimes such as vandalism or breaking and entering in an effort to keep police from being tied-up and allowing them to focus on more serious crime. The investigative assistants won’t have any police powers however, there is talk that they may be used in more serious investigations to perform duties such as door-to-door enquiries.