Report – Police Scotland – PIRC/00524/25
The Complaints
the applicant called the police to report that his neighbours had started an open fire, close to his building. The police contacted the fire service, who attended the scene and extinguished the fire. The day after, the applicant contacted Police Scotland expressing dissatisfaction that the police did not attend the incident. The applicant made a complaint to the police, and was provided assurance that an officer would contact him and a crime would be recorded. We have reviewed the handling of three complaints, namely that:
An officer did not identify and record an incident as a crime.
Police Scotland did not record a crime in an effective and timely manner; and
The Professional Standards Department did not adequately oversee the promised action of a crime report being raised.
Police Scotland's Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold 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 a recommendation to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of complaint 2. In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland reassess complaint 2 and thereafter provide a further response to the complaint, which clearly explains how the information available informed the conclusion reached.
We have also identified two learning points relative to Police Scotland’s administration of the complaints.
Our recommendations and learning points should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Police Bodies: Police Scotland