Report - Police Scotland – PIRC/00079/24
The Complaints
The complaints in this case arose after the applicant reported that her daughter’s drink had been spiked and she had been sexually assaulted.
We have reviewed the handling of nine complaints, namely that:
- officers used inappropriate phrases when speaking to the applicant’s daughter;
- officers attempted to shame the applicant’s daughter into not progressing her complaint about the incident by informing her that she and her family would have to view CCTV of her actions if she proceeded;
- officers inappropriately questioned the applicant’s daughter regarding her mental health;
- officers disregarded the fact that the applicant’s daughter informed them she was unmedicated and required time to reflect before signing any documentation;
- officers inappropriately questioned the applicant’s daughter regarding her relationship with her partner;
- officers displayed overtly negative behaviour towards the applicant’s daughter, which she would describe as conscious bias;
- officers did not display empathy or compassion towards the applicant’s daughter;
- officers actively attempted to dissuade the applicant’s daughter from progressing with her complaint about the incident by exaggerating timescales for urine analysis and informing her that samples are often lost; and
- officers failed to record the discussion with the applicant’s daughter, despite advising that their intention was to note a statement from her.
Police Scotland's Decision
We have found that Police Scotland handled complaints 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 to a reasonable standard but not so complaints 1 and 2.
Consequently, we have made two recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints. In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland conduct further necessary and proportionate enquiries, re-assess all the available information, and issue the applicant with a well-reasoned response to support the determinations reached.
Our recommendations should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of the report.
Police Bodies: Police Scotland