Report – Police Scotland – PIRC/00523/25
The Complaints
The complaint in this case arose after the applicant was arrested and charged for domestic related incidents against his ex-partner. The applicant was released on bail with conditions not to approach his ex-partner. An officer contacted the applicant requesting that he hand over car keys to his ex-partner. After initially refusing to do so, the applicant did hand over his keys because he was concerned he would be arrested. We have reviewed the handling of three complaints, namely that:
An officer threatened to arrest the applicant if he did not hand over his car keys.
An officer was not willing to look at any information relating to the ownership of the vehicle; and
An officer did not provide the applicant with an explanation for the decisions made.
Police Scotland's Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold 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 three recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints. In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland reassess complaints 1 and 2 and conducts further necessary and proportionate enquiries into complaint 3. Police Scotland should thereafter provide a further response to each complaint that clearly explains how the information available informed the conclusions reached.
We have also identified two learning points relating to Police Scotland’s administration of the complaints.
Our recommendations and learning points should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Police Bodies: Police Scotland