Armed police say sorry for pointing guns at the public
Police Scotland has apologised after a firearm incident – where they “forced an innocent man out of his home and cuffed him at gunpoint”.
Armed officers were deployed on 22 July last year after a man called 999 to say five men were outside his Edinburgh flat armed with guns, Tasers and knives.
Four armed response vehicles and nine firearms officers were deployed, but they found no trace of any men or weapons.
An emergency response team reacted sparking a “difficult and fast-moving solution”, with authorised firearms officers in attendance.
Two women were also detained during the incident, they were strip-searched and held in custody for 24 hours. They were later released without charge.
Police Scotland has apologised to a number of innocent people who had guns pointed at them during a bizarre chain of events set off by a man who was never traced.
Armed officers were deployed on 22 July last year after the man called 999 to say five men were outside his Edinburgh flat armed with guns, Tasers and knives.
Four armed response vehicles (ARVS) and nine firearms officers were deployed, but they found no trace of any men or weapons.
There then ensued a period of about an hour and a half where armed officers responded to a series of apparently linked incidents.
Yesterday the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) said the “unwarranted” police response led to several people having weapons pointed at them.
One man was forced out of his home at gunpoint, handcuffed and detained in his pyjamas while his flat and car were searched without his permission. He was later released from custody.
Two innocent women who were detained during an incident later the same night were strip-searched and held for 24 hours before being released without charge.
Publishing her report on the incidents, the Pirc, Kate Frame, said: “While these were fast-moving events which related to a number of significant issues, it resulted in four armed response vehicles and nine firearms officers being deployed on seven occasions and police pointing their guns at 11 people on three separate occasions over a period of less than an hour and a half.
“A number of these people were detained and searched on the strength, principally of allegations made by an unidentifiable male and this action in a number of instances appears to have been entirely unwarranted.”
The Pirc’s report recommended police apologise to those involved, as well as ensuring that all firearms incidents are “identified and declared”.
Following the earlier incidents, police were called to a car retail park in Seafield Road at about 12:40am where three men had reported suspicious activity involving an abandoned car.
The Pirc said the men described how they had weapons pointed at them and were
shouted at and told to face the wall with their arms out. The officers involved denied pointing their guns at the men.
Later that night, armed officers swooped on three men sat in an Audi at traffic lights on Duke Street and two women travelling in the car behind.
The occupants described officers pointing “machine guns” at them, with one of
the women reported to have seen the gun’s “red dot” on her chest.
The two women, who were strip-searched and held in custody for 24 hours, were later released.
Chief Superintendent Matt Richards said: “The nature of spontaneous firearms incidents means they require time-critical decision making, often based on information
from the public that is incomplete or continually changing.
“The officers involved in responding to this incident were all acting in good faith in what was a difficult and fastmoving situation. However, it is clear that on this occasion it was not handled well.
“We are writing to the individuals involved to apologise and I want to do that again publicly now.”