Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose when the applicant was arrested for an alleged assault on his stepdaughter. We have reviewed the handling of three complaints, namely that:

1. On 30 May 2020, at the applicant’s home address, a named officer was uncivil towards him and spoke to him in an accusatory manner;
2. Between 30 May and 25 August 2020, a named officer provided false and misleading information to social services about the applicant and his wife in relation to events on 30 May 2020; and
3. On 30 May 2020, at the applicant’s home address, a named officer was aggressive and confrontational towards him. 

Police Scotland’s Decision

Police Scotland upheld complaints 1 and 2, but did not uphold complaint 3.

Our Findings

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

We have identified a learning point for Police Scotland in relation to good practice when responding to complaints that have exceeded the 56-day timeframe outlined in the PIRC statutory guidance that we issue to all policing bodies operating in Scotland.

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

Outcome

In this case, we identified good complaint handling practice by Police Scotland in acknowledging a delay in the complaint enquiry, correctly offering an apology to the applicant, and subsequently recording and upholding a quality of service complaint. We issued a learning point for Police Scotland to highlight this good practice and encourage all complaint handlers to use it, where appropriate, in future. Police Scotland appropriately cascaded this learning via the latest Learning Point report to all complaint handlers.

Police Bodies : Police Scotland