Context and environment

Our review takes place ten years after the creation of Police Scotland. The legacies of the eight regional forces which preceded it and the experience of transitioning to a single police service, also encompassing services previously run by the Scottish Police Services Authority, have been frequently referred to by those we have had discussions with to date. Of note is the perceived impact of the leadership of the service over the last decade, in particular the change to a performance culture post 2012.

We have heard repeatedly that the culture of policing in Scotland has been influenced by demographic changes to the workforce over the last 20 years, in particular a generational shift towards more liberal social attitudes. This trend was seen as mirroring changes in society at large. However, there is a perception that attitudes within the service are still ‘catching up’ with society. Incoming probationers were said to be both more enlightened and more likely to speak up and challenge a traditional command and control culture. However, it was reported to us that this willingness to speak up and challenge ebbed away the longer officers stayed in the service.

We heard significant concerns about financial investment in the service and the negative impact of fiscal constraints on infrastructure, including the dilapidation of the police estate in some areas (which we observed at first hand) and the quality of technology, for example systems which do not speak to each other resulting in additional and potentially unnecessary administration, and equipment without the necessary levels of functionality or appropriate for officers’ particular needs and characteristics.

Time and again we heard about the impact of the fragility of other public services on the nature of local policing whereby 80% of response time is absorbed by social welfare issues, often mental health related, rather than crime. There was an overwhelming sense that the police service is the last person standing, the one that is unable to walk away.

Alongside all these challenges we heard about the ongoing impact of political priorities, both national and local, and the wider external context relating to trust in UK policing, notably the constant stream of news about the Metropolitan Police Service. There was a general acknowledgement that Police Scotland was far from immune from the issues raised (both the Rhona Malone case and the Sheku Bayoh case among others were cited).

There was a widespread view that while discriminatory attitudes were far from a thing of the past in Police Scotland, there had been a marked shift over the past decade. However, our interviews with both key interviewees and divisional staff revealed instances of ongoing discrimination against minoritised communities, including first-hand accounts of racism, sexism, and homophobia.

Our interviews also suggest that those who do not experience everyday forms of discrimination equate this to an absence of occurrences of discrimination within the workplace. During the next phase of the review, we will seek to build as accurate a picture as possible of the current extent and prevalence of such experiences within the service.