Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose after the applicant reported abusive behaviour by his neighbour to the police. We have reviewed the handling of four complaints, namely that:

1.    Police Scotland failed to respond to the applicant’s report of abuse from his neighbour;
2.    officers were abrupt and lacked empathy and interest; 
3.    officers said the applicant provoked the incident by repeating ‘half-wit’ back to his neighbour; and
4.    officers were unprofessional and lacked training to deal with neurodivergence and mental health correctly.

Police Scotland's Decision

Police Scotland did not make a determination on any of the applicant’s complaints.

Our Findings

We have found that Police Scotland did not handle any of the applicant’s complaints to a reasonable standard.

Consequently, we have made a recommendation and identified a learning point to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of all four complaints. In summary, we recommend that Police Scotland conduct further enquiries into the complaints. Thereafter, Police Scotland should provide the applicant with a further response.

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

Outcome

Police Scotland implemented all of the recommendations and learning point made in this case. In doing so, the complaints were recorded as separate complaints about the police, further enquiries were carried out, the complaints were reassessed in light of the observations made in our report, and a well-reasoned further response was sent to the applicant. While the complaints remained not upheld, the learning point was disseminated and acknowledged appropriately.

Police Bodies: Police Scotland