Police follow Titanic example

POLICE Scotland has hired an expert on the Titanic disaster to help the force develop its vision for the future.

Kevin McPhillips, a former consultant for the scandal-hit Royal Bank of Scotland, who is also a hypnotherapist, has been tasked with helping Police Scotland overcome a raft of problems.

It is wrestling with a disgruntled workforce and fallout from scandals on call centre bungles and illegal spying.

The single force also faces a financial black hole of nearly £30million, leading to fears that officer numbers will be cut.

According to his social media profile, Mr McPhillips has more than 20 years’ experience in change and programme management, including at the Metropolitan Police, in the banking sector, and central and local government. The 53-year-old is listed as a ‘change programme manager’ for ‘law enforcement’ in Scotland.

In 2012 he wrote Titanic: Enterprise and Risk, a dissection of the corporate decisions that led to the sinking in 1912. He wrote that there was ‘no intentional erosion of safety’, but said there was ‘arrogance and carelessness’.

In a section that could also apply to Police Scotland’s woes, he concluded: ‘Any business should be driven by vision, supported by strategy, high standards, and efficient operations. Obstacles will arise, but the key is to know how to identify them in advance and deal with them.’

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: ‘He may have written about rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. Perhaps he could show Police Scotland how to rearrange officers out from behind desks and into communities.’

Gerry Crawley, a regional organiser with the trade union Unison, representing police civilian workers, said Police Scotland was ‘sailing close to the wind by employing contractors at high cost to the public purse’ while cutting real-terms wages and staff numbers.

Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur said: ‘Who better to advise Police Scotland than someone who knows how the Titanic could have been saved?’

A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Mr McPhillips is a very experienced senior project and programme manager, in both the private and public sectors.’