Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose following several reports that the applicant made to Police Scotland in relation to anti-social behaviour and alleged breaches of COVID-19 restrictions by his neighbours.  We have reviewed the handling of seven complaints, namely that:

1. between January 2020 and March 2021, when lockdown restrictions were in place, Police Scotland failed to take appropriate action against individuals who were having parties;
2. following reports that the applicant made to Police Scotland on 16 and 17 April 2021, regarding further breaches of COVID-19 legislation and anti-social behaviour, Police Scotland failed to enforce legislation;
3. following reports that the applicant made to Police Scotland on 16 and 17 April 2021, officers attended the homes of the individuals involved, which the applicant believed had no effect and placed him in danger;
4. following a report that the applicant made to Police Scotland on 22 May 2021, Police Scotland ignored a threat that his neighbour had made against him;
5. Police Scotland misinformed the council of events relating to an assault on 9 October 2021;
6. in relation to the incident above, an officer informed the applicant that he would contact the council about the assault and misled the applicant about the matter; and
7. an officer sent other officers to make an enquiry regarding an hour long psychotic incident, which directly caused another hour long psychotic incident. 

Police Scotland’s Decision

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

Our Findings

We have found that Police Scotland handled five of the applicant’s complaints to a reasonable standard  but not so the other two complaints.

We have made two recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints.

Specifically we have recommended that :

Complaint 1: that Police Scotland should re-assess this complaint, taking into account our observations and considering all of the reports that the applicant made between January 2020 and March 2021. Police Scotland should then provide the applicant with a fresh response detailing the outcome of this assessment and explaining why the complaint has, on balance, been upheld or not upheld

Complaint 5: that Police Scotland should reassess this complaint, undertake any necessary and proportionate enquiries and provide the applicant with a fresh response detailing the outcome of this assessment and explaining why the complaint has on balance been upheld or not upheld

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

Outcome

Police Scotland implemented both recommendations made in this case in full. Necessary and proportionate further carries were carried out, which included obtaining full accounts from the officers involved, following which the information available was re-assessed. While both complaints remained not upheld, Police Scotland provided the applicant with a further detailed response which adequately outlined the rationale for the determinations reached.

Police Bodies : Police Scotland