Report – Police Scotland – PIRC/00939/25
The Complaints
The complaints in this case arose after the applicant reported being subjected to anti-social behaviour. The applicant is vulnerable and has made a number of reports to Police Scotland since 2019 regarding alleged threatening and abusive behaviour by his neighbours. During August 2023, the applicant had two interactions with a neighbour, Ms A, which he reported to police. Following enquiry by Police Scotland, no charges were made in connection with the applicant’s reports. We have reviewed the handling of three complaints, namely that:
the applicant was failed by Police Scotland’s duty of care regarding Police Scotland’s lack of response to his report of anti-social behaviour on 21 August 2023;
the applicant was failed by Police Scotland’s duty of care regarding Police Scotland’s lack of response to the applicant’s report of anti-social behaviour on 5 October 2023, as he had to contact Police Scotland on 13 October 2023 due to lack of progress increasing the risk of him being vulnerable to personal slurs that alarmed him from an abusive woman, making him feel unsafe within his home; and
the applicant was failed by Police Scotland’s duty of care regarding Police Scotland’s failure to respond effectively to the incidents subject of his complaint, which allowed persons named within these incidents and others, to continue in a hurtful personal campaign of abuse against him, and he believes that if these incidents had been dealt with timeously and nipped in the bud, this escalation would not have happened.
Police Scotland's Decision
Police Scotland upheld complaint 1 and did not uphold complaints 2 and 3.
Our Findings
We have found that Police Scotland handled complaint 2 to a reasonable standard, but not so complaints 1 and 3. Consequently, we have made a three recommendation to address the administrative shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints. In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland split complaint 1 and record it as two separate complaints about the police; re-categorise complaints 1 and 2; and record and respond to complaint 3. Our recommendations should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Police Bodies: Police Scotland