Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose when the applicant contacted Police Scotland’s Professional Standards Department (PSD) for an update on his original complaint about the police. We have reviewed the handling of six complaints, namely that:

1. PSD failed to answer the phone when the applicant contacted them on 8 March 2021;

2. PSD failed to reply to an email the applicant sent on 8 March 2021;

3. PSD failed to answer the phone when the applicant contacted them on 18 March 2021;

4. The applicant was not provided with any timescale for the completion of his complaint, or advised of the name of the designated officer who would be dealing with his complaint at the outset;

5. The applicant was asked to provide a statement, despite having already provided one; and

6. The applicant’s complaint was delayed by a month which led to him being asked to provide duplicate information, and the applicant found this most unsatisfactory.

Police Scotland’s Decision

Police Scotland upheld complaint 6 but did not uphold the remainder of the applicant’s complaints.

Our Findings

We have found that Police Scotland handled complaints 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to a reasonable standard but not so complaint 2.

However, we have not made any recommendation in this connection.

Police Bodies : Police Scotland