Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose after the applicants reported their neighbour to the police, on several occasions. We have reviewed the handling of four complaints, namely that:

1. Police officers failed to investigate a report that on 2 March 2021 the applicants’ neighbour, drove his car at the applicants’ son;
2. A police officer failed to respond appropriately to a report that on 12 August 2021 the applicants’ neighbour spat at the applicants’ daughter twice;
3. Two police officers were disinterested, took no witness statements, and said it was too late to deal with the incident following a report on 28 September 2021 that the applicants’ neighbour was harassing their daughter; and,
4. In March 2021, two police officers failed to investigate a report that the applicants’ neighbour was pointing his CCTV cameras at the applicants’ house. 

Police Scotland’s Decision

Police Scotland did not uphold any of the applicant’s complaints.

Our Findings

We have found that Police Scotland handled all of the applicant’s complaints to a reasonable standard.

However, we have made a recommendation to address a shortcoming we identified in Police Scotland’s handling of complaint one. In summary, we have recommended that a full further assessment of the report subject of the complaint be carried out in accordance with the action identified in the police response. An auditable record should thereafter be provided to us to confirm that it has been done.

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

Outcome

Police Scotland implemented the single recommendation in this case. In doing so, Police Scotland: conducted a full further assessment of the report subject of the applicant’s complaint; reassessed the available information; acknowledged that the statutory time limit for taking further action in respect of the applicant’s report had passed; and provided the applicant with a further well-reasoned response. The complaint remains upheld and an apology has been issued to the applicant for her report not being responded to appropriately within the required timescale.

Following our recommendation, Police Scotland also identified additional learning for police call handlers and complaints handlers to consider statutory requirements and timescales when dealing with applicable reports and complaints.

Police Bodies : Police Scotland