Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose after police attended the applicant’s address following a report about the his behaviour and removed forearms and a firearm certificate from the premises.

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

officers entered a private area of the applicant’s property and removed firearms and a firearms certificate, without his consent;
the applicant is dissatisfied with the communication he received from an officer with regard to the seizure of his firearms; and
when the applicant called “101” a Police Scotland call handler was rude, dismissive, and unhelpful towards him. 
 

Police Scotland’s Decision

Police Scotland upheld complaint 1 of the applicant’s complaints and did not uphold complaints 2 and 3.

Our Findings

We have found that Police Scotland did not handle any of the applicant’s complaints to a reasonable standard.

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

Specifically, we have recommended, in respect of complaint 2, that Police Scotland should re-assess the available information and, in respect of complaint 3, Police Scotland should carry out further proportionate enquiries. A further response should then be provided to the applicant.

These should be implemented within two months of the date of this report. We will continue to liaise with Police Scotland until we consider that the recommendations and learning points have been implemented.

Outcome

Police Scotland implemented the recommendations and learning points in this case. In doing so, it conducted further enquiries, re-assessed the available information and provided the applicant with a fresh response which was well reasoned and upheld complaint 2 of the applicant’s complaints. In addition, Police Scotland identified additional learning and as a result made a change to one of its policies. We were provided with evidence that the learning related to the applicant’s complaints was shared and accepted.  

Police Bodies : Police Scotland