Report – Police Scotland – PIRC/00138/26
The Complaints
The complaints in this case arose after the applicant was arrested, charged and held in police custody to appear in court the following day. As a result of the applicant’s detention in police custody, social work became involved in relation to the care of his child. We have reviewed the handling of three complaints, namely that:
- Officers instructed the council to remove the applicant’s child from school,
- Officers invented a story, with no basis, that the applicant’s child would be at home alone overnight, and
- Officers stated that the applicant informed them that his child needed collected from school, which was not true.
Police Scotland’s Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold 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 six recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints.
In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland re-categorise all three complaints, undertake further proportionate enquiry and provide the applicant with well-reasoned further responses.
Our recommendations should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.