Five Complaint Handling Reviews published by the Review team this week
Five Complaint Handling Reviews (CHRs) have been published by the Review team this week, addressing a total of nine complaints about Police Scotland.
In PIRC/00446/20, a single complaint arose after the applicant was charged with engaging in a course of conduct which caused fear or alarm. The applicant complained that Police Scotland officers failed to take action against the reporter of an incident, despite knowing that the call received was bogus. We found that Police Scotland handled the applicant’s complaint to a reasonable standard and no further action was necessary.
In PIRC/00139/20, two complaints arose following the applicant making an allegation of fraud to the police. We found that Police Scotland handled both of the applicant’s complaints to a reasonable standard and did not request any further action.
In PIRC/00205/20, two complaints were made after the applicant was reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service as the accused in an alleged assault. We found that Police Scotland handled the first complaint to a reasonable standard, but not the second. We made two recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaint. One, that Police Scotland provide the applicant with an apology for the shortcomings, and secondly, that Police Scotland re-assesses the second complaint in light of our observations before issuing a further letter of response.
In PIRC/00224/20, three complaints arose from reports made by the applicant regarding the alleged theft of his cat. We found that Police Scotland handled two of the complaints to a reasonable standard. Although we found one of the complaints had not been handled to a reasonable, no further action was required.
In PIRC/00152/20, a complaint was made following the applicant’s reports of road traffic issues and we found that Police Scotland did not handle the complaint to a reasonable standard. We have recommended that Police Scotland undertakes additional enquiry and provides the applicant with a further response.
All of our recommendations should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months.