Out of control

Another day, another major police failure which is directly attributable to the flawed and failing merger of the Scottish police forces into Police Scotland (“Police failed mother of man later found dead”, 10 May). This is not the first catastrophic failure of Police Scotland command and control centres. These centres have arisen purely because of Scottish governmental desires to centralise everything, but in doing so they have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

When there were separate police forces there was a control room in each, sometimes more than one. This meant that staff working in them possessed local knowledge of the area they covered, including geography, people, social problems and crime trends.

They often knew what was likely to be encountered when calls came in and were able to direct resources more effectively. Centralisation has meant that all of this local knowledge has been lost. Staff in call centres, for that is what they are, often have no idea where locations are or the terrain involved. And, as reported, that a member of staff was unable to find the telephone number of a police station simply beggars belief; then that the calls were written off as “advice given” is quite shocking. By the time the correct action was taken it was too late for Barry Croal.

The reduction of control rooms has been detrimental to the effectiveness of Police Scotland; calls are necessarily prioritised, but some responses to problems often take days. By then, of course, it is too late for any meaningful action to occur. Part of the problem is a lack of training; staff seem unable to gauge the severity of calls. People in distress who make calls to the police do not always speak coherently, may not be articulate and cannot express their concerns clearly. With the correct training staff should be able to listen, assess and make better decisions. The lack of local knowledge coupled with the paucity of training leads to calamity.

It is time to review the structuring and staffing of police control rooms. This should be a priority for the Scottish Police Authority, but whether the Justice Minister would ever countenance such a review is doubtful.

LW TURNBULL

Edderston Road, Peebles