Scotland's second-biggest police force is today accused of �systemic failure� over crime reports, with one of its most senior officers among those singled out for contravening national guidelines.
Scotland's second-biggest police force is today accused of "systemic failure" over crime reports, with one of its most senior officers among those singled out for contravening national guidelines.
Tom Halpin, deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police and until last Monday the acting chief constable, is strongly criticised by a watchdog for endorsing the practice of his officers "filtering out" information from a report and not passing it on to procurators-fiscal.
The offence, seen as a fundamental breach of the tradition that Crown Office staff, and not police, should decide what material is relevant to a prosecution, is the third condemnation of the force's policies in six years. Politicians last night voiced alarm and called for an inquiry.
In the report published today, Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland (PCCS) Jim Martin criticises the force and officers, including Mr Halpin, for not passing on full details of a complex case involving two alleged assaults. The "hidden" information came to light only because one alleged victim complained about how his case had been handled.
The report states: "A reasonable person might deduce from this that a lack of consistency exists in the force's approach to submitting reports to the procurator-fiscal.
"I am concerned that it would appear officers of Lothian and Borders Police, from a constable to an inspector in the complaints and conduct department, and finally to the deputy chief constable, attempt to justify the omission of pertinent information that could have a bearing on the case, by stating the report to the procurator-fiscal reflected the evidence that could be proved and was corroborated'.
"It is my view that, by applying such a filter to the information provided in the report, the need for completeness, accuracy, and reliability, as set out in the Crown Office and Procurator-Fiscal Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (Acpos) guidelines, has gone unheeded.
"This, coupled with the incorrect assertion that all other matters referred to by the complainer were contained in some part of the report to the fiscal, is of serious concern. As a result, there is a risk that the fiscal was not in possession of all available, relevant information on which to base his/her decision. Taking all factors into account, including the possibility that this might represent a number of coincidental errors, I believe these complaints raise issues that may be indicative of a potentially serious systemic failure."
The national guidance on police reports from the Crown and Acpos at September 2004 states: "There is a clear need for completeness, accuracy, and reliability of the information contained in the report."
Lothian and Borders' own procedures say reports to the Crown must contain "pertinent", "clear and accurate information".
Last night, Mr Martin called for the force to conduct an internal inquiry into the issue. "This has to be resolved quickly because the public have to have confidence in the system," he told The Herald.
"I will be going back to them in 28 days' time to see what progress has been made. They need to take steps to ensure this does not recur."
In August, Mr Martin found Lothian and Borders had failed to follow up properly a "significant" number of complaints against its officers. Over a four-year period, Mr Martin found 133 complaints had been misfiled as "miscellaneous inquiries".
Six years ago, an internal report found nearly 50% of crimes had been wrongly classified. The anomalies led to the introduction of a national crime recording standard.
Bill Aitken, the Tory justice spokesman, said: "I only hope that we are not now going to get a string of appeals due to a very material breakdown in reporting practices."
Richard Baker, the Labour justice spokesman, said the report's findings were "deeply concerning" and called for an immediate inquiry.
A police spokesman said only: "Lothian and Borders Police note the content of the commissioner's report, and we will consider its findings, as well as any requirement for further investigation."
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: "We have received a copy of the commissioner's report. We are considering the contents and will then decide what action to take."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Any matters raised by the PCCS on police forces are for individual chief constables to consider."
