Rise in solicitors joining police station duty
He was briefed on the rising number when he met with staff at the board, and the team operating the Solicitor Contact Line, which is part of the national police station duty scheme which came into operation earlier this year.
It is manned 24 hours a day and gives suspects access to legal advice.
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Hide AdSpeaking during his visit to the board’s headquarters in Drumsheugh Gardens, Mr MacAskill said: “The scheme has been operating successfully for six months and I am encouraged to see private practice solicitor numbers increase week on week, and is now approaching 600. I am grateful to all those solicitors for providing this important service, especially over the festive period.”