Report - Police Scotland - PIRC/00158/21
The Complaints
The complaints in this case arose as a result of police involvement in a dispute between the applicant and her neighbours in relation to the boundary between their respective properties. We have reviewed the handling of eight complaints, namely that:
between 1 July 2020 and 3 August 2021, police have not dealt effectively with, or investigated, reports made by the applicant regarding her neighbours;
between the same dates, officers have discriminated against the applicant because of her nationality;
on 29 July 2020, an officer told the applicant that she had not been intimidated and advised her that she should not have called 999, despite her feeling threatened;
on the same date, an officer was rude to the applicant, telling her that she should “suck it up” when she told the officer about her concerns regarding her neighbour;
in May 2021, an officer told the applicant that a criminal investigation would be carried out into a death threat made to her by an associate of her neighbour, however no action was taken;
the applicant received no update in relation to the report of threats made against her that she made to the police;
on 25 June 2021, the applicant was coerced into signing a recorded police warning and was not provided with sufficient information or explanation about what she was signing; and
on the same date, an officer behaved in a rude and intimidating manner, raising his voice at the applicant, rolling his eyes and repeatedly referring to her as “her” in a disrespectful way.
Police Scotland’s Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold any of the applicant’s complaints.
Our Findings
We have found that Police Scotland handled six of the applicant’s complaints to a reasonable standard but not so the other two.
We have made two recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints.
Specifically, in relation to complaint 2, we recommend that further enquiries are carried out into the applicant’s complaint and the complaint reassessed based on the information obtained as a result of these enquiries. In respect of complaint 3, we recommend that the complaint be reassessed with particular reference to the points made in our report. A further response should then be sent to the applicant.
Our recommendations should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Outcome
Police Scotland fully implemented both recommendations made in this case. In doing so, they carried out further enquiries into one of the applicant’s complaints, following which the complaint was reassessed.
A second complaint was also reassessed and a further response sent to the applicant outlining the enquiries and reassessment undertaken.
While the first complaint reassessed remains not upheld, the second has now been upheld and learning identified for the officer concerned.
Police Bodies : Police Scotland