Complaint Handling Reviews

The Complaints

The complaints in this case arose after the applicant’s daughter called the police on 5 September 2023 in relation to a neighbour dispute. We have reviewed the handling of two complaints, namely that:

1. an officer remarked during an incident that the applicant’s daughter “is big enough and adult enough to fight her own battles”; and
2. an inspector told the applicant that he had twisted her words. 

Police Scotland’s Decision

Police Scotland did not uphold either of the applicant’s complaints.  

Our Findings

We have found that Police Scotland did not handle either of the applicant’s complaints to a reasonable standard.

Consequently, we have made two recommendations to address the shortcomings in Police Scotland’s handling of the complaints. In summary, we have asked Police Scotland to conduct further enquiry into both complaints and provide the applicant with a further response.

We have also identified two learning points in relation to Police Scotland’s administration of the complaints.

Our recommendations and learning points should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.

Police Bodies : Police Scotland