POLICE Scotland is facing a record 28 live investigations by the force watchdog while being criticised for a "series of blunders".
And the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) has admitted the rise in work in dealing with police complaints has put a "sustained increased demand" on its resources.
Twenty of the current probes being carried out have been referred by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), which are mainly allegations of a criminal nature or deaths in custody and known for being lengthy and complicated.
Since the watchdog was established in April 2013 the number of the work-intensive investigations referred by the Crown Office has almost doubled from 17 in 2013/14 to 32 in 2016/17.
The latest investigation launched by Scotland's police watchdog began last Wednesday after an armed officer allegedly pointed a gun at a householder during a search in Falkirk.
The incident took place during two police searches at properties in the town last Monday morning. Officers had been called to the location following reports of threats being made to a woman.
The Scottish Conservatives warned the force will lose the respect of general public if progress is not made in raising standards.
The party's shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said: “The single force was established by the SNP on the basis it would be a more efficient and accountable way to run policing in Scotland.
“But the reality has been pretty much the opposite, and ministers must explain why.
“A series of blunders has prompted a significant number of formal investigations, and senior figures have been embroiled in bullying allegations.
“We need to see some very serious improvements soon, or the public will lose what little faith it has in the Scottish Government’s ability to run a police service."
Details of the level of live investigations emerged as calls were made last week for urgent changes to Police Scotland's call handling procedures after PIRC discovered officers responding to concerns about the safety of a vulnerable woman who was later found dead were initially sent to the wrong house.
The police watchdog probe into the latest force blunder discovered the force knew about the IT problem that sent officers to the wrong address in Dumfries.
It emerged that officers also failed to realise the woman they found at the wrong address had a different name from the 52-year-old they were actually looking for.
There have been cross-party calls for change as PIRC Commissioner Kate Frame identified a series of failings and called for a shake-up in procedures.
A PIRC spokesman said of the current level of work: “COPFS referred investigations are by their very nature resource intensive due to their complexity and seriousness and as a result can be protracted.
“Inevitably [the rise in cases] this has increased the demands on our resources.
“Notwithstanding that, the progress of investigations is continuously reviewed in order to ensure that priorities are met.
“The PIRC continues to keep the Scottish Government informed of the sustained increased demand on the PIRC.”
Arguably the most high profile past blunders which is still to be resolved and for which Police Scotland has already been publicly criticised involved the deaths of John Yuill and Lamara Bell, who lay undiscovered for three days after a crash on the M9 near Stirling two years ago despite a sighting of their wrecked car being reported to the control room. Ms Bell was found alive but died four days later in hospital.
A supplementary report following what was described by PIRC as an “exhaustive inquiry” was submitted in June last year to the Crown Office and to the Procurator Fiscal Service.
While Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC, agreed two months later that it would be ‘inconceivable’ for there not to be a fatal accident inquiry, it is understood there has still not been a decision on that.
While the Lord Advocate could use health and safety legislation to order the prosecution of Police Scotland over its alleged call-handling failures, no announcement has been made.
Last month fresh failings were raised at the criticised police control room over the handling of reports of concern for a 37-year-old vulnerable man, Andrew Bow. He was found dead in his Edinburgh flat in March, last year, seven days after fears about him were first reported.
Those PIRC findings came just weeks after the watchdog criticised the force for failing to follow up details about missing gran Janet McKay who was found dead eight days after she was reported missing. The body of the 88-year-old, who had dementia, was found in Clydebank in September, 2015.
Police Scotland said it could not comment on live investigations but stressed it would be "inaccurate" to describe all the live investigations as being related to allegations of blunders.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article