Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose following police contact with the applicant in connection with allegations made against him by his ex-partner. We have reviewed the handling of four complaints, namely that:

1. on 7 August 2021, officers conducting the police interview were confrontational and intimidating, in that one of the officers stood over the applicant making threats to return and hold him in the cell;
2. the officers dealing with the case did not consider the applicant’s counter allegation that his ex-partner was making a malicious and vexatious allegation;
3. the officers who arrested the applicant did not carry out sufficient enquiry into the matter, stating that there was no CCTV at a school, but the applicant believes there was; and
4. on 13 September 2021, the applicant was arrested and charged for a breach of bail conditions, despite neither of the witnesses alleging that he had approached his ex-partner, which would have constituted a breach of his bail conditions. 

Police Scotland’s Decision

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

Our Findings

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

However, we have identified an individual learning point in relation to the consideration of relevant complaints about the police. Our learning point should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.

Outcome

Police Scotland implemented our learning point in this case, by appropriately disseminating individual learning to the relevant officer.

Police Bodies : Police Scotland