Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose after the applicant was involved in an altercation with a colleague at work.

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

1.    an officer directed other officers to warn the applicant in relation to an offence he committed against the officer’s partner.
2.    an officer threatened to attend and charge the applicant with an offence when he declined an RPW.
3.    the applicant was discriminated against during the handling of the original incident as his behaviour was the result of his diagnosed disabilities; and 
4.    an officer told the applicant during a call that he could make a complaint if he wanted to, but that it wouldn’t go anywhere. 
 

Police Scotland’s Decision

Police Scotland did not provide a determination for any of the applicant’s complaints. 

Our Findings

We have found that Police Scotland did not handle any of the applicant’s complaints to a reasonable standard. 
Consequently, we have made two recommendations and identified one learning point to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints. In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland record complaints 3 and 4 as relevant complaints about the police. Our learning point relates to maintaining compliance with Police Scotland’s Complaints About the Police Standard Operating Procedure. 
Our recommendations and learning point should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.