Police review launched after public criticisms

Published on Saturday 6 March 2010 19:20

SCOTLAND'S police watchdog has launched an investigation into the way forces deal with crime victims after polls showed more than one in four people who reported a crime were unhappy with the way officers responded.

Bill Skelly, Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, will carry out his investigation into the way victims are treated with his opposite number at the Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland.

His aim is to carry out a root-and-branch review of how both police and fiscals deal with victims as they travel through the Scottish justice system.

Skelly, who is on secondment from Lothian and Borders Police, where he served as assistant chief constable, said: "Generally speaking, the public have a high regard for the police, and so they should, because they get a good service. But once the people have a reason to call the police we find the level of satisfaction falls.

"My drive is to ask how we go about identifying the reasons for that gap and then close it."

Some victims, especially of minor crime, have become frustrated by how long it takes officers to visit them.

Skelly made it clear he has sympathy with such people. He said: "Let's say you phone up and say you had your garden shed broken in to. The police say they will get someone out to see you. You think that they mean in the next five minutes. They think that means tomorrow.

"Some might say there are things that are more important than your garden shed. But actually that might be the most important thing that has happened to you for the last ten years."

Skelly also wants to see further work on what he called the "aftercare" offered to victims, not just immediately after they report a crime, but as their case works its way through the courts and the judicial system.

He has already held talks with Victim Support Scotland on how they feel his inspection should go. David McKenna, the body's chief executive, welcomed the move.

The Scottish Government's own Crime and Justice Survey, published early this year, showed that 28 per cent of people who reported a crime were dissatisfied with the way the police handled their case, while 57 per cent were satisfied.

Of those who were unhappy, 38 per cent said it was because their report was not responded to by the police.