Çandmark report calls for Üholesale reform of police complaints
Dame Elish Angiolini, a former Lord Advocate, raised serious concerns about how police investigated themselves in a landmark report last year.
Her review, which looked into the way complaints of bullying, sexism and racism were scrutinised by the force, made 81 recommendations, including new powers for the independent handling of complaints, and called for a drive to rid the force of a macho culture.
In her Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in relation to Policing, Angiolini reported that “attitudes have not changed as much as they should have”, that “ethnic minority officers were leaving because of the culture of the police and the way they were treated” and quoted an officer who told her it was “easier for a person from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background to become a doctor than to become a sergeant in the police”.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone responded by promising every possible action to address the issues raised.
But last month a former chair of the Scottish Police Authority branded governance of the force as fundamentally flawed and demanded root and branch reform.
Susan Deacon spoke out after what she said was Angiolini’s “game-changing” report. Professor Deacon resigned from the SPA last year. In a letter to Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, she said: “I remain of the view that there are fundamental flaws in many aspects of the current arrangements for governance and accountability.”
Professor Deacon said the principle of an arms-length relationship between the police and the government needed to be “explored and developed further”.
She said: “The realities of the day-to-day relationships between both the authority and government, and the police service and government merit examination. In my experience, the close and multiple channels of communication which have become the norm are, at best, inefficient and confusing and, at worst, compromise the separation that was intended.”