Posted: Wednesday 4 January 2012
Scotland's police need to get better at handling complaints locally
Professor John McNeill, the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland (PCCS), has criticised Scotland's largest force for the way a local station handled a series of complaints from a member of the public.
The woman, who is not named in the Commissioner's report, made a number of complaints about a Constable who was looking into allegations that offensive comments had been posted on Facebook by relatives of the woman about the former partner of her dead brother. She also complained that the local Inspector investigating these complaints did not carry out a full and impartial investigation.
It was only when the Police Complaints Commissioner requested the case papers from Strathclyde Police that the force's own Professional Standards Department in Pitt Street reviewed the original complaints. At that time they identified and remedied various deficiencies in the initial handling of the complaints by the local force.
Professor McNeill is also critical of Strathclyde Police for recording the woman's allegations as a single complaint and has recommended that the force corrects its records to reflect this inaccuracy.
In his report, the Commissioner accepted that Strathclyde Police is taking measures to improve the standard of its local complaint handling, through a newly created complaints assurance group, and went on to state that he will be looking for evidence of progress being made by the group.
Speaking following the publication of the eight-page report into the woman's case Professor McNeill said:
"I am a firm believer in the benefits of local complaints handling in certain circumstances, when done well it can deliver swift action and resolution for the person making the complaint. It can also bring about improvement through learning for the police themselves. It is regrettable that this was not the case on this occasion.
In April this year I issued Statutory Guidance to Scotland's police forces, which includes a section on how and when local resolution of complaints should be considered. My office is currently contributing to a training package run by the Scottish Police College on local complaint handling and I expect to see improvements in this area in the coming year."