THE man in charge of policing in Cowdenbeath admitted he has "never known a more challenging time" for the force.
Community inspector Carley Marshall told councillors that "we can't be everywhere, every time" and there was "no magic cupboard" from where he could produce extra officers.
At the Cowdenbeath area committee he said: "The demand on us is great and we can only achieve so much."
He denied claims they were under-resourced - he said there was support from neighbouring divisions and at a national level - and maintained that even although they are stretched, "when something serious happens we are outstanding in how we deal with it".
Insp Marshall said: "In the last three or four years Police Scotland has lost 1,700 police officers.
"In real terms, and I’ve been in the police for 25 years, I have never known a more challenging time for us because of the demand across so many different spectrums.
"Whether that’s supporting the ambulance service, dealing with mental health calls, looking for missing children, dealing without anti-social behaviour, dealing with criminality, dealing with drugs, dealing with road traffic, dealing with crashes, I could go on.
READ MORE: 'You don't have enough resources to police Cowdenbeath properly'
"Most days we are stretched.
"It comes back to the fact that in society we can’t fix everything, we can’t be everywhere, every time. It’s really challenging for us.
"With our resources we have to pick up the calls that present the most risk, threat and harm over the people that need us."
He continued: "There’s no magic cupboard where I can produce extra officers.
"My officers that are tackling problems at football matches or tackling anti-social behaviour are generally doing that on overtime at the end of a shift, they're doing it on rest days that we’ve cancelled or we are bringing in resources from elsewhere.
"I go back to the heyday when our presence and footprint in Cowdenbeath was much greater but that was in the past.
"That was Fife Constabulary, not Police Scotland, and we’re not in that position just now.
"But I still think, given the numbers we have and given the demands we face, when something serious happens we are outstanding in how we deal with it."
READ MORE: Cowdenbeath inspector on night of violence in the town
The report to the committee said there had been "notable" crimes of violence in 2024-25, including a man being charged with a serious domestic assault in Hill of Beath, a man who allegedly beat another man on the head and body with a pool cue in Kelty, and a woman facing an attempted murder charge after an alleged stabbing in Cowdenbeath.
It also noted "concern" about violence among groups or involving young people, adding: "During this reporting period, there were instances of arranged ‘fight clubs’ that were highlighted to be occurring between school pupils in West Fife."
There were fewer housebreakings and stolen vehicles, shoplifting and fraud cases dropped "significantly", while the force seized around £900,000 of illegal drugs including heroin, cocaine and cannabis.
In late July a raid in Lochgelly recovered drugs with an "approximate street value" of £176,000, a search in Crossgates the following month led to £644,800 of drugs being found, and in January in Cowdenbeath another search warrant resulted in £93,000 of drugs being seized.
Insp Marshall said: "The last 18 months here have been a real challenge, as you will know we have had some pretty serious incidents, some pretty significant drug recoveries and I suppose one thing we are all very conscious of is some of the anti-social behaviour which has led to quite a bit of media coverage recently.
"One message I want to make sure you’re all aware of is that me and my team are 100 per cent focused on facing these challenges.
"But every day we are presented with a new drama or crisis that we have to try and fix."
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