Scottish Labour review calls for shake-up of policing

Community policing that was the “envy of the world at one time” must be restored in Scotland, a review by Labour has argued, as the party set out its stall ahead of next year's Holyrood election.

Shadow justice spokesperson Graeme Pearson, who had been asked to carry out a review of policing by leader Kezia Dugdale, called for greater local accountability and an end to political commitments on police officer numbers.

Pearson spoke to rank-and-file officers, civilian staff, community groups and victim support staff before laying out ten recommendations that will now be included in the party’s manifesto for 2016.​

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The Labour MSP has called for the creation of a Scottish Parliament committee to oversee all emergency services, including Police Scotland, as reported by Holyrood earlier this week.

Conveners of local scrutiny committees should also be given a “right of audience” at Scottish Police Authority (SPA) board meetings, echoing a proposal mooted by local government umbrella body COSLA.

“Two years on from its creation, Police Scotland needs a shake up so that power once again lies with local decision makers and we get back to the kind of community policing that made Scotland the envy of the world at one time,” said Pearson.

The Chief Constable - with the agreement of the SPA - should “determine the balance of the force required” as Pearson claimed the Scottish Government’s current commitment to 1,000 extra police officers was “delivered on the backs of nearly 2500 support staff redundancies”.

“Although public appetite for ever increasing numbers of police officers is understandable, decisions around the size and nature of police establishments and support should be a matter for the Chief Constable and the board of the SPA,” said his report.

“If operational independence is to have any meaning, the number and operational deployment of police officers should be a matter for the Chief Constable in light of the budget approved.”

Among his other recommendations are:

• An audit should be conducted across Scotland to “identify accurately” the staff and resource allocation either at local authority or police divisional levels
• A “recognised voice” for deputy and assistant chief constables be created akin to the disbanded Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS)
• An urgent review of IT infrastructure is required fresh from confirmation that i6 - a new national system - has been hit by further delays
• The position of SPA chair should require confirmation by a vote of the Scottish Parliament
• The Police Investigation and Review Commissioner (PIRC) should be given the sole responsibility for the conduct of investigations alleging misconduct and criminality affecting the service

Pearson said: “Going around the country, listening to what ordinary officers, staff, members of the public and local politicians have had to say has painted a worryingly consistent picture of a centralised, politicised and autocratic police force with little to no meaningful local accountability.

“All this has emerged as a consequence of the Scottish Government’s handling of the formation of Police Scotland.”

The SPA has the “demeanour of a rubber stamping body rather than one tasked with holding the Chief Constable of Police Scotland to account”, he claimed.

An SPA spokeswoman said the report would be a “helpful reference” as the scrutiny body carries out its own review of police governance, which is due to report to government in the spring.

“Ensuring that accountability arrangements for policing learn from the experiences of the single service to date and deliver robust arrangements for the future is the key outcome of this review,” she added.

“A single police service for Scotland has been established and, with homicide rates at their lowest levels and recorded crime at a 41-year low, a strong platform has been built on which to develop further solutions to the prevention and detection of crime.

“Of course there are challenges too. It is a useful time to take stock of the lessons learned to date.”

A spokesman for Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said "Pearson's attack is hypocritical" given Labour's backing for the creation of a single police force.

He said: "The fundamentals of policing in Scotland are sound, and under this SNP Government crime has fallen to a 41-year low, supported by the 1,000 extra officers that we have delivered – in stark contrast to England and Wales, which has seen a decrease of over 15,300 officers since 2007.‬"

Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable, Neil Richardson, said: “Reform of policing was always a long term proposition, which would not be achieved overnight; I believe strongly that the creation of a single service has put policing on a solid foundation for the future and has created a service which is more accountable and open to scrutiny than ever before.”