Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose as a result of police contact with the applicant during a criminal investigation, and when he was attempting to report alleged criminality to Police Scotland. We have reviewed the handling of eight complaints, namely that:

1. On 12 July 2019, an officer told the applicant that his mobile phone would be returned to him by the weekend; however, the applicant then established that, as his phone had been lodged as a production, it would not be returned until after the trial;
2. On 12 March 2021, a Chief Inspector was rude and dismissive towards the applicant, and prevented him from reporting a crime by telling him to leave;
3. On 10 June 2019, an officer created a Vulnerable Persons Database entry for the applicant which contained false and incorrect information;
4. On 20 June 2021, the applicant was informed by a member of police staff that he was not allowed to report a breach of the peace as per a memorandum issued by Police Scotland’s Professional Standards Department.
5. On 20 June 2021, the applicant spoke to two different service advisors at 101, both of whom told him that the matter he was attempting to report was not a crime, and became unhelpful and arrogant towards him;
   A member of staff from the Professional Standards Department has issued a direction that all operational staff are to turn the applicant away should he wish to report a crime, thus denying his right to access a public service;
6. On 19 April 2021, two officers did not act upon new information provided to them by the applicant; did not conduct any investigation; and did not charge the suspect; and
   Since making a complaint, the applicant has received a poor quality of service from different departments and individuals within Police Scotland.

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 1 to 7 to a reasonable standard but not so complaint 8.

Consequently, we have made a recommendation to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of complaint 8.

In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland reassesses complaint 8; notifies both the PIRC and the applicant of the outcome of that reassessment; and records and responds to any specific quality of service complaints that have not already been dealt with, in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Complaints SOP.

Our recommendation should be completed by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.

Outcome

Police Scotland implemented the recommendation made in this case in relation to shortcomings in the handling of one of the applicant’s complaints. In doing so, Police Scotland provided the applicant with a further response which outlined that a reassessment of his correspondence had been undertaken and a conclusion reached that all quality of service complaints made had been recorded and responded to appropriately. The complaint remained not upheld.

Police Bodies : Police Scotland