POLICE Scotland’s Chief Constable has described David Carrick as “despicable.”

Sir Iain Livingstone was speaking as forces in England were instructed to check their serving officers and staff against national police databases to make sure none had “slipped through the net”.

Earlier this week, Carrick was named as one of the UK’s worst-ever sex offenders. He pleaded guilty to a total of 49 charges covering 85 serious offences, involving 12 women, including 48 rapes.

The Met ignored eight warnings about his behaviour. In 2009 he was promoted to the elite parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, guarding embassies, Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament.

Sir Iain, speaking after he was knighted at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Wednesday, said his officers and staff “really value our close relationship with the public of Scotland, we have a very close and genuine relationship”.

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He added: “Police officers are drawn from the public, the public are the police and the police are the public and nowhere is that truer (than) in Scotland, but we need to earn that trust and that’s something we do every single day.”

In the Commons, Rishi Sunak said he was shocked and appalled by Carrick’s crimes. 

The Prime Minister said: “The abuse of power is truly sickening and our thoughts are with his victims.

“The police must address the failings in this case, restore public confidence and ensure the safety of women and girls.

“There will be no place to hide for those who use their position to intimidate those women and girls, or those who have failed to act to reprimand or remove those people from office.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council asked all forces in the UK to ”further check their officers and staff against national police databases” to help identify “anyone who has slipped through the net before vetting standards were toughened and remove those who are unfit to serve.”

Responding, Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor QPM said: “Our officers work day in, day out, right across Scotland to protect the vulnerable and keep people safe. It is right policing is held to high standards.

“The onus is on policing to build and maintain the public confidence and consent which is critical to our legitimacy and for our ability to keep our communities and citizens safe. We are resolute in our determination to do so, including addressing sexism, misogyny and violence against women, within our organisation and across society.

“Policing is devolved in Scotland and, working with the Scottish Government, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and other key partners, we are improving how complaints are handled following Lady Elish Angiolini’s review into complaints, investigations and misconduct in policing.

“Under our Policing Together initiative, we are bringing renewed focus on our values of integrity, fairness, respect and human rights, and our standards of professional behaviour which are set out in law. 

“We’ve invested in our vetting team, introducing an additional check for new recruits just before they are sworn into office and will commence a rolling programme to assure and renew vetting decisions in 2023-24.

“In October 2021, we undertook a review of all complaints and conduct matters which contain sexual circumstances between 1st January 2017 and 21st October 2021 which were reported to or within Police Scotland.

"We reported our findings to the SPA in May 2022 and, although no significant issues were identified around the quality of investigations assessed, the review contributed to organisational learning.

“Officers and staff acting with our values and standards at heart will always be supported by the service. Those who reject what we stand for don’t belong in Police Scotland.

“We will take careful note of developments across UK policing and consider how they can support our drive to maintain the highest standards within Police Scotland.”