Report – Police Scotland – PIRC/01084/25
The Complaints
The complaints in this case arose following a dispute about drainage between the applicant and the owner of a neighbouring business. The applicant reported that he was subjected to threatening and abusive behaviour by a tradesperson, and that a similar incident had occurred a month earlier. Police Scotland conducted enquiries and issued the tradesperson with a Record Police Warning. We have reviewed the handling of three complaints, namely that:
on 9 May 2024, Police Scotland failed to investigate an incident which occurred on 8 April 2024, having been made aware of this by the applicant;
in August 2024, an officer failed to visit the applicant, having agreed to do so; and
in August and September 2024, officers did not respond to the applicant’s communications.
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 1 to a reasonable standard, but not so complaints 2 and 3.
Consequently, we have made two recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints. In summary, we have recommended that Police Scotland take account of our observations and consider the provision of learning.
Our recommendations should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Outcome
Police Scotland implemented two recommendations in this case. In doing so, Police Scotland provided learning to the subject officer and provided us with a revised Complaint Handling Form recording the re-categorisation of one complaint and identification of the subject officer.
Police Bodies: Police Scotland