Police watchdog calls for new misconduct in office law

In the body’s annual report, the head of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) urged the Scottish Government to consider new legislation in this area.

Officers in English and Welsh services have recently faced charges in relation to offences including the inappropriate sharing of information, or unauthorised access to police systems.

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A bill to bring in similar provisons in Scotland, the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, is currently at stage two at Holyrood.

Craig Naylor said: “One aspect of this area of policing that is missing in Scotland is the concept of misconduct in public office.

“This charge has a high evidential test but is used, sparingly, in England and Wales, where it exists as an option when there is misuse of the office of constable.

“This test, and the case law associated with it, provides options that could strengthen public protection from officers or staff who misuse their position for personal gain.

“Establishing a code of ethics based upon a legislative position as proposed in the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, will put the service in a strong position.

“I support this legislation and hope that it progresses through the parliamentary process to allow for the changes needed to assure the public.”

Mr Naylor would like to see a new misconduct in public office law introduced in Scotland, to help strengthen public trust in the professional standards of Police Scotland’s officers and staff, and in the policing system.

He also raised concerns including that too much of frontline officers’ time is being taken up responding to mental-health related incidents.

Mr Naylor said these should be managed primarily by health and social care services.

A further HMICS report revealed low staffing levels, disruption of rest days and the poor state of many police buildings were among issues making officers feel vulnerable and at times unsafe.

The report called on Police Scotland to develop a cohesive wellbeing strategy that addressed what really impacted on the physical and mental health of their officers and staff. The HMICS annual report for 2023/24 is the first to be published since new Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell took up her post in October last year.

In May of last year, outgoing chief constable Iain Livingstone admitted the force was guilty “institutional racism, sexism, misogyny and discrimination”, something with which his successor agreed.

Mr Naylor said there was strong evidence that Ms Farrell’s early commitment to refresh the organisation’s vision and devise a new performance framework, were “being worked on at pace.”

He praised Police Scotland’s “exceptional workforce” of officers and staff, who he said were deeply committed to protecting the vulnerable, supporting victims of crime and helping keep people safe across the country.

Mr Naylor said: “The need for a further reform of policing is widely acknowledged, but this must focus on defining the organisation that the future public of Scotland will need and can afford.

“This includes ensuring that wider systems are joined up and that responsibility for service delivery is apportioned fairly to relevant expertise across the public sector, since failing to deliver reform in other services defeats the benefits delivered by Police Scotland.

“Police Scotland has been on a reform journey for the past 11 years and – while there remain opportunities to redesign the organisation to meet future budgetary challenges – I am clear that such reform cannot simply be a further reduction of capability within policing.”

Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: “It is right policing is held to high standards at all times and we welcome any measures which help us to remove those who do not uphold our values more quickly from the organisation.

“We have already written to the Criminal Justice Committee asking for changes to regulations which would all allow us to speed up conduct procedures.”