Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose after the applicant was involved in an incident with the parent of another pupil who attended the same school as the applicant’s daughter. The applicant was charged with a contravention section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 (threatening and abusive behaviour) and assault. The applicant’s case was deserted at trial.

We have reviewed the handling of ten complaints, namely that: 

1. all evidence was not collected prior to charges being presented to the Procurator Fiscal (PF);

2. the applicant did not agree that if police collected all missing information / evidence, this would be a suitable resolution to her complaints;

3. an officer misled the applicant when telling her that, if she did not accept Front Line Resolution (FLR), her complaint would be dealt with by someone from a different police office;

4. the applicant was denied a copy of her daughter’s statement;

5. emails from an officer to the applicant were not helpful or friendly;

6. the applicant had little contact with police at many points, gaining information second hand from a named individual;

7. a named individual should not have received a Recorded Police Warning (RPW) as this was not suitable to fit the crime;

8. police protocols were not followed and the applicant was not served or protected by any of the officers involved;

9. police have chosen not to investigate racism and a hate crime committed by a named individual in the form of fabricated charges of racism; and

10. police failed to investigate facts, leading to incorrect charges being libelled against the applicant.

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, 2, 4, 7, and 10 to a reasonable standard, but not so complaints 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9. 

While we have made no recommendations in this case, we identified a learning point to address shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints. Our learning point relates to the complaint enquiry and response letter. 

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

Outcome

Police Scotland implemented our Learning Point which was in relation to the complaint enquiry and the final response, by sharing the learning with the Chief Inspector involved, who accepted the learning provided.

Police Bodies: Police Scotland