Report - Police Scotland - PIRC/00307/21
The complaints
The complaints in this case arose after the applicant reported having received a threatening message. We have reviewed the handling of two complaints, namely that:
Despite having an appointment to meet with officers to report an incident, Police Scotland failed to keep that appointment and officers failed to attend to speak to the applicant; and
Police Scotland failed to record or take appropriate action in response to a report of threatening messages.
Police Scotland’s Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold either of the applicant’s complaints.
Our Findings
We have found that Police Scotland handled complaint 1 to a reasonable standard, but not so complaint 2.
Consequently, we have made a recommendation and issued a learning point to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of complaint 2. We have recommended that Police Scotland consider the context of the message received by the applicant and whether this would constitute a criminal offence under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Police Scotland should thereafter provide the applicant with a further response advising whether any further action should have been taken in respect of the message. Our learning point reminds the police that officers should be identifiable in the complaint response, and therefore should be referred to by either their name or badge number.
Our recommendation and learning point should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Police Bodies : Police Scotland