Police authority ordered to review decisions

THE body responsible for oversight of police has been ordered to review complaints made about Scotland’s two most senior officers.

Allegations concerning negligence with information were made against Chief Constable Phil Gormley and former deputy chief constable Neil Richardson.

Neither complaint was upheld by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), but the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (Pirc) has found the body did not handle the allegations reasonably.

The commissioner has now ordered the SPA to review its decisions and apologise to the man involved.

A spokesman for the SPA said: “We note the outcome of the Pirc’s complaint handling review. A reconsideration of the relevant complaints will be initiated as soon as possible and we will work closely with the Pirc to address the learning points highlighted within the report.”

The complaints came from a man who sent a letter to Mr Richardson in November 2015 raising concerns about officers in the Professional Standards Department (PSD). This was passed to a superintendent in charge of the same department, who replied in December that year. The man then wrote to the chief constable complaining about this.

An inspector of Mr Gormley’s secretariat wrote back saying his letter had been passed to Mr Richardson – the officer the man had complained about.

The subsequent Pirc review found the body did not adhere to protocol when handling the complaint against Mr Richardson.