Report – Police Scotland – PIRC/00383/25
The Complaints
We have reviewed the handling of six complaints, namely that:
On 23 December 2023, the applicant was dissatisfied with Police Scotland’s diary appointment system.
On 24 December 2023, an officer was disrespectful, lacking understanding with the applicant and had no consideration for her disability(s), offering a new diary appointment which was unreasonable to expect her to be able to attend.
On the same date, an officer was argumentative with the applicant on the telephone, failing to listen or respect her request for no telephone contact.
On the same date, an officer failed to the listen to the applicant, forced her to talk on the telephone and stated they would close the incident as she did not wish to engage.
On the same date, Police Scotland allocated officers to attend the applicant’s address, causing them to talk to her outside in the cold after requesting officers not to attend due to the impact of the incident reported and multiple phone calls.
The applicant feels that Police Scotland and its staff discriminated against her in the manner that she was treated due to her disability(s), following the incidents she reported on 23 December 2023.
Police Scotland's Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold any of the applicant’s complaints.
Our Findings
We have found that Police Scotland handled complaints 2, 3, 4 and 6 to a reasonable standard, but not so complaints 1 and 5.
We have made no recommendations but identified two learning points to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints. Our learning points relate to the notification of a complaint to subject officers and communications recorded on an incident report.
Our learning points should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Police Bodies: Police Scotland