SENIOR police call centre staff have compiled a “dossier” of potentially dangerous mistakes and “near misses” in light of the M9 tragedy, the Scottish LibDem leader claimed last night.
Willie Rennie said the list of bungled emergency calls had contributed to the early departure of Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House.
House announced last week that he would quit nine months early after a series of policing failures and civil liberties controversies during his three years in the job.
Scotland’s most senior police officer had been under fire for the industrial scale use of stop and search, armed police on the streets, rogue officers spying on journalists, falling staff morale amid a relentless target culture, and the death in custody of Sheku Bayoh in Kirkcaldy in May.
However, the final straw appeared to be failures over a fatal car crash on the M9 in early July.
Although the crashed vehicle was reported to Bilston Glen control room in Midlothian, it took three days, and a second call from a member of the public, before officers responded.
John Yuill, 28, was found dead at the wheel, and his partner Lamara Bell, 25, was discovered unconscious beside him with severe injuries, but died a week later in hospital.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) is now conducting an inquiry into Police Scotland’s call handling centres, which under House have been rationalised, despite unions warning staff cuts would put call handlers under increased pressure.
Rennie predicted HMICS would find “a systemic problem within the response arrangements”.
He said: ‘From what I understand, a dossier of near misses has been prepared by the staff at Bilston Glen, and I suspect that will come out at some point.
“There was one last week with a domestic violence case in Linlithgow, where the police from Falkirk – which is outside the division – were sent to Blackness.
“There was a near miss there where the woman under attack might have been left in a much more vulnerable position as a result of that mistake.
“That was Bilston Glen getting the address wrong and sending the wrong division. It is that kind of thing I understand is being prepared, so that may be coming out soon.
“One near miss is bad enough. If there is more than one, it would be terribly damaging.”
He added: “The mounting evidence made it pretty clear Stephen House had to go.”
Labour also called yesterday on SNP ministers to suspend planned call centres closures in Aberdeen and Inverness until the HMICS report was published.
Justice spokesman, and former senior police officer, Graeme Pearson said: “For the sake of communities across Scotland and already over-worked police officers, the closure of the call centres should be suspended. The report into call handling at Police Scotland is due to report shortly. The government should seriously consider any proposed reforms before going ahead with plans to close call centres."
Police and union sources said they did not recognise reports of any “dossier”.
Responding to the dossier claim for Police Scotland, Chief Superintendent Alan Speirs said: "Calls received by Police Scotland contact and service centres are reviewed and assessed on a daily basis. Such review work is carried out to ensure incidents are prioritised correctly, and to ensure the public receives an effective and efficient service.”
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