Report – Police Scotland – PIRC/00192/25
The Complaints
The complaint in this case arose after the applicant and his ex-wife made allegations against each other to the police. The police took no further action against the applicant’s wife, however the applicant was arrested and charged with Section 39 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2010 and received a community payback order. We have reviewed the handling of four complaints, namely that:
Police Scotland did not investigate the applicant’s counter allegation against his wife.
An officer shouted at the applicant that she did not care.
Officers told the applicant that he could not take medication during his arrest; and
The applicant was unnecessarily strip searched.
Police Scotland's Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold any of the applicant’s complaints.
Our Findings
We have found that Police Scotland handled complaint 3 to a reasonable standard but not so complaints 1, 2 and 4.
Consequently, we have made two recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of complaint 1 and 4. In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland reassesses complaints 1 and 4, and thereafter provide the applicant with a further response to both complaints, which clearly explains how the information available informed the conclusion reached.
We have also identified two learning points relative to Police Scotland’s administration of the complaints.
Our recommendations and learning points should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Police Bodies: Police Scotland