Report - Police Scotland - PIRC/00262/21
The Complaints
The complaints in this case arose following the applicant being stopped in his vehicle and searched by the officers.
We have reviewed the handling of three complaints, namely that:
on 20 February 2020, the applicant was stopped whilst driving his car and tested for drugs. The test was negative, however the applicant went with officers voluntarily to the police station and gave blood. The applicant did not believe he was arrested and was not required to give the blood or the swabs;
an officer submitted a malicious report to the DVLA advising that the applicant had been stopped in his car and tested positive for cocaine. This resulted in the applicant’s car and HGV licences being revoked; and
an officer stopped the applicant in his car in September 2020, where he stated that he was not going to search the applicant, as he had a female passenger in the car.
Police Scotland’s Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold the applicant’s complaints.
Our Findings
We have found that Police Scotland handled complaints 2 and 3 to a reasonable standard, but not so for complaint 1.
Consequently, we have made a recommendation to address a shortcoming in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints.
Our recommendation should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Police Bodies : Police Scotland