Who We Are

The Scottish Police Authority is independent of both the Scottish Government and policing. It is the primary governance body for policing in Scotland, and was established as a public body on 1 April 2013 by the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. It was set up to hold the Chief Constable to account; promote, support and oversee improvement in policing. It is also responsible for the management and delivery of Forensic Services in Scotland and Independent Custody Visiting Scotland.

In this section, find out more about the Authority’s priorities, the Board and the Leadership team.

Who We Are

What We Do

The Scottish Police Authority is responsible for maintaining policing. It has four specific areas of responsibility:

promoting the policing principles

supporting continuous improvement

keeping policing under review

holding the Chief Constable to account.

This section tells you in outline what the Authority does.

What We Do

Complaints

Are you dissatisfied with the service you have received from policing in Scotland?

The Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner (PIRC) all have a role to play in considering complaints about policing in Scotland.

In this section, find out who to direct your complaint to. We also welcome written communication in Gaelic (see our Gaelic Language Plan).

Complaints

Published: 06 April 2023

Artificial Intelligence in Policing - Governance and Oversight - newsletter

Category: Event

Topic: Technology

March 2021 Newsletter SPA Police Scotland Research And Evidence V2 (pdf, .59MB )

Report Summary

This document is a post-event summary newsletter following the “Artificial Intelligence in Policing – Governance and Oversight” event held on 26 February 2021. This online webinar was co-Chaired by Martyn Evans (Chair of the Scottish Police Authority) and Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor of Police Scotland. It focused on the emerging issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI) use in policing.