Annual Report

for the period ending 31 March 1998

of

SIR WILLIAM SUTHERLAND QPM

HER MAJESTY'S CHIEF INSPECTOR OF CONSTABULARY FOR SCOTLAND

To

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE DONALD DEWAR MP

HER MAJESTY'S SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND

Sir,

1. I have the honour to present my annual report on the eight police forces in Scotland for the year ending 31 March 1998.

2. The role of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary offers a unique opportunity to look in-depth at policing in all 8 forces and, as a result, assess the state of the Scottish police service. In every force I have found that the Inspectorate is welcomed and management receptive to ideas aimed at improving efficiency. The Inspectorate provides a conduit of good practice and during my time at Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary I am convinced of the positive influence it has on the police service. This would not be possible without the professionalism and co-operation of chief constables.

3. It is also testimony to the commitment, sensitivity and professionalism of my staff who add greatly to the experience with which the Inspectorate carries out its role. In this respect it is important that I give credit to the marvellous job done by The Very Reverend Graham Forbes, whose term as Her Majesty's Lay Inspector ended in April 1998 after 3 years in which he brought his own outstanding qualities to this vital role. The role of Lay Inspector is one which I have been keen to foster, involving him heavily in consultation about inspections and, in particular, it provides for an independent objective assessment of the manner in which complaints against the police are dealt with by police forces. I am pleased that Provost Forbes has seen fit to provide me with a paper which reflects on his time with the Inspectorate and I have included it in my report as an Appendix. He played a major part in the work of the Inspectorate and will be a hard act to follow. However I am delighted with the recent appointment of Mr Graham Harcus as Lay Inspector and I am confident that his personal qualities and long experience in public service will provide yet another positive dimension for the role.

4. The professionalism of the Scottish police service was never demonstrated so clearly as in the planning, co-ordination and implementation of the police operation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Edinburgh over 4 days in October. Lothian and Borders Police must be given a great deal of credit for the arrangements made for and the execution of the police operation. The meeting was the biggest conference event ever held in Britain and, to supplement local officers, a total of 930 officers from 14 forces were utilised on a mutual aid basis. The police operation was a great success and represented co-operation and co-ordination on a scale never seen before. Credit is also due to Fife Constabulary for the successful operation which was needed to police the visit of the various delegations to St Andrews on the Sunday of the event.

5. The police service must be ready to respond to planned major events or in the aftermath of tragic major incidents, such as at Lockerbie and Dunblane in recent years. But day-to-day policing is a matter of providing a service to local communities. This is the strong tradition of Scottish policing. I am pleased to report that the commitment to the community is as strong as ever and inspections reveal internal force structures which recognise the importance of the unitary authorities created as part of local government reform in 1996 and, where possible, provide coterminous command areas. These links are strengthened in many councils with the appointment of full-time police liaison officers.

6. Police are prominent advocates of the concept of community safety, involving police and other emergency services, local authorities, government, private business and community representatives in all matters which affect the safety and well-being of communities. Forces have worked steadily with local authorities to develop community safety strategies and organisational structures to support them. The principle was given a considerable boost by the attendance of the Minister for Home Affairs at a summit conference on reducing crime in communities at the Scottish Police College. Police cannot fight crime alone and I welcome this commitment to the power of partnership which can only add impetus to police efforts aimed at the prevention and detection of crime and, just as important, reduce the fear of crime.

7. Crimes recorded by the police in Scotland continue to fall, for the 6th consecutive reporting year. Current levels are now 26.5% below their peak in 1991 and the lowest recorded since 1981. This can be translated as 416 fewer crimes occurring in Scotland each day than in 1991. Police performance has also improved and a 40% clearance rate has been achieved in detecting crimes, which represents a steady rise in recent years.

8. There is no room for complacency and there is still scope for improvement. There is always a concern that reductions experienced in recent years will bottom out. The general trend masks increases in recorded crime in some parts of Scotland and local circumstances have to be considered. Furthmore, the recorded crime figures do not account for all crime that is committed, not all crime is reported to and subsequently recorded by the police and, in any case, police activity is not the sole determining factor in the commission of crime. However the figures also disguise the huge increase in police activity against the misuse of drugs, including a 137% increase in the number of persons reported for supply since 1991. Any uncertainties should not take away from the credit that is due to forces for tackling crime head on. Extra police officers are being used to increase the number of high profile patrols, criminals are being targeted using improved means of intelligence gathering, increased use is being made of new technology as it relates to fingerprinting and DNA and the principles of crime management are progressively being applied in a more productive fashion. I am confident that Scottish forces recognise crime reduction as a core police function.

9. Within their own communities, police forces are monopoly providers of many of the services they deliver. This makes it vitally important that the police demonstrate value for money (VFM) in the way that services are provided, and, over the last 2 decades, forces have shown a very positive commitment to this principle. During inspections I see many good VFM initiatives and it is therefore doubly frustrating that not enough effort is made to record them and the savings made and realise them to the same degree throughout every force.

10. The service needs to be well resourced and I publicly applaud authorities who fund forces to Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) limits and criticise those whose funding falls short. Funding for 1998/99 took into consideration the situation in 1997/98 where some forces were funded below GAE limits, with the freezing of recruitment a direct consequence. While I am always supportive of the need for adequate resourcing of much needed front-line policing, forces have a responsibility to look at the way they use resources to ensure the maximum operational benefit from full GAE funding. New arrangements for police authorities to devolve financial management to chief constables provide scope for them to make bold management decisions which have the potential of freeing up much needed resources. Sadly, in many cases these hard decisions are not being taken.

11. I use the failure to shed senior ranks in some forces as an important example. Over the last 10 years the reduction in superintendent ranks in England and Wales from 2,172 to 1,316 has not been mirrored in Scotland, where an actual increase of 5 superintendents to 217 has taken place. In fact, since 1993, when Sir Patrick Sheehy reported on police responsibilities and rewards, there has been only a marginal reduction of 1 superintending rank. I won't enter into the debate about the comparability of the 2 services, but the evidence of inspections demonstrates clearly to me that good reorganisation of command areas in many forces has not resulted in the loss of senior ranks which might be expected, with the resultant reduction in management on-costs and redirection of resources to operational work. On the contrary, in some forces, I have noted an upward trend in the number of senior ranks. Often these are headquarters posts, wrongly cushioned from the harsh realities which face operational policing. It is a sad reflection on the service that when financial constraints have to be applied it turns to the front end of policing without rigorous examination of central support services. Too often, I find senior officers in roles which do not make proper use of their wealth of professional experience and training but give them co-ordinating responsibility for vital strategic specialist functions such as information technology, finance and human resources, where they add little value. It simply compounds the problem by denying forces the professional skills of civilian specialists, who would do much more for the long-term interests of the force by providing expertise and continuity. While it would be wrong to conclude that the situation is the same in each force, individual chief constables must examine organisational structures more closely, in the way that local authorities and other parts of the public and private sector have already done, so that the Scottish police service expolits streamlining opportunities to the full.

12. I realise that if chief constables are to make progress in this and other matters it will demand a major cultural change, but nothing less will be required by forces to show the proper level of commitment to the Government's Best Value Regime. This already applies to local authorities and it is much more than just a welcome replacement for Compulsory Competitive Tendering. The police service is no stranger to the setting of objectives and targets in support of a strategic plan, applying performance measurement to monitor achievement and inviting extensive public consultation, but Best Value will demand a rigour in terms of strategic planning which has yet to be learned and will require new skills such as benchmarking and activity costing. I have no doubt that the Scottish police service will show positive commitment to these disciplines and in time will take great satisfaction from the better understanding of their business which they will bring.

13. A major contribution to Best Value can be made by Her Majesty's Government with a move to 3 year rolling budgets, which would be greatly welcomed by chief constables and increase scope for sound financial management. Funding will always provide scope for tension and year-by-year allocation of financial resources hampers forward planning and can lead to wasted expenditure and reduced effectiveness. I am once again disappointed with the capital allocation available to Scottish forces for 1998/99. While it allows the work on the new headquarters for Northern Constabulary to progress, it gives little or no scope for development in information technology which is a major element in the police service's strategy to improve services. The move to 3 year budgets, which I warmly support, would help to remove the added uncertainty faced annually by Chief Constables as they await funding announcements.

14. Issues of funding will be considered by the Joint Study currently being conducted by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Accounts Commission. This co-operative venture breaks new ground and I am delighted with the added strength that it provides in looking at financial management, control and delegation and the arrangements for and costs of support services from local authorities and other services. The joint report is due to be published later this year and I am convinced that it will assist forces in providing strong financial management to enable them to take on fully the benefits which Best Value offers.

15. Returning to matters which impact directly on operational policing, the introduction of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 is a recognition of the risk to the community posed by paedophiles and other sex offenders. A great deal of collaborative effort has now been made by police and social work to determine local strategies to make registration and monitoring as effective as possible but it is an area fraught with difficulty. Prior to the implementation of legislation the stark reality of the dangers of paedophiles in the community was brought home to the nation with the murder of Scott Simpson in Aberdeen. This triggered a chain of events which were to include an external force enquiry into the police investigation.

16. I have read closely Mr Power's report regarding the police enquiry relating to Scott Simpson's disappearance and subsequent death and I am satisfied that it is thorough and professional which, in itself, says a great deal about the integrity, forthrightness and objectivity of the Scottish police service. It involves substantial criticism of the Grampian Police enquiry and I am delighted that the new Chief Constable is going to ensure that the recommendations contained in Mr Power's report and my own inspection report, which was published around the same time, will be addressed in a positive vein, and the many important recommendations made by Mr Power made available to all forces as good practice which should be applied in similar circumstances.

17. The publication of Mr Power's report was followed by the resignation of Dr Ian Oliver, the Chief Constable of Grampian Police. It is unfortunate that Dr Oliver, after years in which he made a significant contribution to policing both in Scotland, and before that, in England, should have left the service in these circumstances. It is a situation which has generated much debate about accountability both inside and outside the service and my own views on this are fairly simple. We are fortunate to live in a state where operational independence of chief constables ensures equity and fairness in the application of policing principles. This is worth fighting to protect. However chief constables are inextricably linked with and answerable to their police authorities and to you, Secretary of State, as representatives of the tax payers who fund the police. Decisions cannot be taken in isolation from public opinion and in an open society, decisions which appear to be bad ones will be criticised by the public and politicians alike. Grampian Police now has an opportunity to rebuild its reputation as a first-class police force and I am confident that the excellent officers and support staff whom I met in my recent inspection, will shake off recent pressures and rally to the support of the new Chief Constable.

18. Society is slowly waking up to the issue of domestic violence. With the publication this year of "Hitting Home", which made reference to good practice already being employed in some forces, I would like to think that Her Majesty's Inspectorate has made a small but significant contribution to help forces focus on the need to record statistics; arrangements for management and monitoring of domestic violence incidents; the provision, using information technology, of operational intelligence about domestic violence; the provision of follow up assistance for victims; the provision of training for officers and underlying all of these issues, the establishment of a standard definition. Since the publication of the report, which had to be reprinted because of the high level of interest generated, I have been encouraged by the general level of awareness of officers on the ground regarding the importance of this issue and the need to carry out thorough investigations and submit comprehensive reports. We are beginning to see the incidence of recorded domestic violence increasing - it has until now been under reported - and, in the main, forces have given a very positive response to the recommendations, with a domestic violence group now established for the Scottish police service under the chairmanship of an Assistant Chief Constable. Even in forces where the response has been slower than I would have liked, there are now real signs of improvement in the approach taken towards domestic crime which encompasses a significant number of homicides where the victim is a woman, the extreme end of a form of violence which affects thousands of women each year.

19. The Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 came into force in November and extended police powers to enable DNA samples to be taken from sex or violent offenders. Within the period of 3 months permitted to take samples from offenders who had been released inside the previous 5 years, around 4,500 samples were taken and added to the national database. Samples were taken from almost all identified offenders and all were provided without the use of force. This represents a considerable achievement, which should assist in the detection of crime in the future. Where a major enquiry dictates the need for DNA samples to be taken from large numbers, it can be an expensive process. However it is of major benefit to the service in the detection of serious crime and it is important that resources are made available for it to be fully utilised.

20. The Scottish Criminal Record Office is a critical service whose effectiveness is of fundamental relevance to the success of policing in Scotland. The introduction of Livescan equipment, which enables the electronic capture of fingerprints directly from an individual, at 31 of Scotland's busiest operational stations, has allowed some forces to fingerprint all arrested persons. The contribution in the first year of 34,527 people fingerprinted via Livescan has resulted in 30.9% more people being fingerprinted than in the previous year. Over 280 false names and over 500 scene of crime marks have been identified including marks for murders, firearm offences and robberies. Despite staffing pressures caused by the provision of a 24 hour service this augurs well for forces to make additional inroads in improving detection rates.

21. Throughout the year the dominant drugs theme during inspections was the availability of heroin. Unfortunately the grief that it brings affects most communities from the inner cities to the most peaceful of rural villages, small fishing ports and remote islands. I referred in last year's report to the problem of legally prescribed methadone finding its way into communities where it is misused. Sadly this has become a common concern in many parts of the country where efforts have been made to develop harm reduction measures.

22. The police service in Scotland is at the heart of society's response to drugs misuse and crime statistics show the increased law enforcement effort committed. The extent of the Scottish Crime Squad's commitment to drugs is a reflection of the strong links which exist between traditional crime and those who deal in drugs. This year the Scottish Crime Squad seized drugs to the value of £8.5 million and it is an area which benefits greatly from close links between it, HM Customs and Excise, the National Criminal Intelligence Service and the new National Crime Squad in England and Wales. A relatively new dimension in combating the drugs trade is the commitment to financial investigation to strip the assets of those who profit from drugs and inspections reveal increased activity in this area with close links to the Fraud and Specialist Services Unit at the Crown Office. However only a tiny proportion of the proceeds of serious crime are successfully seized and I believe there is a strong case for recycling the proceeds of confiscation into investigative work to maximise the deterrent effect on criminals.

23. The Government's 10 year strategy for tackling drugs is welcome and it makes clear that effective enforcement activity remains vital to its success. However it also shows a determination to shift towards preventing the drugs problem happening in the first place. While the Scottish police service understands its prominent responsibility to law enforcement it is also heavily committed to playing its part in education and awareness. The development by Grampian Police, in consultation with educationalists, of "The Police Box - Learning for Life" project is designed to promote a collaborative teacher/police delivery in the classroom and aims to support, inform and protect the developing child. Covering bullying, vandalism, law and order, safety and drugs, it is a significant commitment and other forces are now making use of the considerable investment made in the project, an investment in children's future which is to be commended.

24. Throughout the year I have paid particular attention, during inspections, to the way police forces have responded to Lord Cullen's findings on firearms licensing after the tragedy of Dunblane. I have been impressed by the effort invested in reviewing practices and procedures and the care taken by forces to ensure that relevant intelligence is made available to enquiry officers considering applications for firearm and shotgun certificates. Refusals and revocations have increased and I am pleased to see the overriding emphasis being one of public safety. The move from 3 year to 5 year certificates from 1995 will result in an opportunity for forces, not faced with renewal applications, to ensure that any outstanding issues which need to be resolved are addressed fully during 1998/99. During the year forces responded magnificently to the Government's 2 surrender programmes as a result of the Firearms (Amendment) Acts and the potential danger inherent in the ownership of 6,262 large-calibre and 2,764 small-calibre handguns was removed from society.

25. The joint responsibility of chief constables and council chief executives for road safety is taken up with great diligence throughout the country. Further efforts were made by forces towards achievement of the Government's target to reduce road traffic accidents by one third from the 1981-85 average level by the year 2000. Currently forces have contributed towards considerable success and the number of people killed and seriously injured in road accidents in Scotland in 1997 was among the lowest recorded. Looking beyond the year 2000 I am confident that Scottish forces will play their part in working towards a new Government target for the year 2010. A major cause of death and serious injury on the roads is speed and forces have enjoyed a great deal of success in employing roadside cameras. However success brings its own problems and all forces have difficulty in meeting the resource demands imposed in servicing their use. I do feel that this is an area where fines raised could be sensibly reinvested to increase road safety. In remote areas which cannot expect to benefit regularly from traffic patrols, some forces have had success with local officers using handheld radar devices. This is an efficient use of resources to address local community issues and I am disappointed that other forces reject wider use of this equipment on grounds which seem to me not to be fully justified.

26. As I visit forces and speak to operational officers, I never cease to be impressed by the quality of recruits entering the service. Policing is not simply a matter of academic ability and recruitment properly draws on candidates from different backgrounds with different experiences to enable them to respond maturely to the needs of the communities they police. However during the year 168 of 762 recruits were graduates and the average age was 26. I have no doubt that the current batch of recruits will serve the service well. It is therefore surprising that 3 forces see a need to employ cadets. While I understand the benefits generated in community relations as a result of a scheme to employ young people, the money spent does not contribute to operational requirements and could better be spent on front-line policing.

27. The development of officers and support staff is now recognised by forces as being of fundamental importance to the future of policing and the increasing commitment of forces to the national award of Investors in People bears testimony to the efforts being made In the service there are many able officers whose talents must be nurtured carefully for the long term benefit of the service. Ultimately these talented officers should be challenging for chief officer appointments. However the service currently makes limited provision for this, with very few examples of middle ranking and senior officers gaining experience outwith their own force area and no official recognition given to officers who seek independent validation of their ability to perform at the highest level. There is a need to change the whole framework in developing suitable candidates for chief officer rank and I am encouraged by the establishment, by the Police Advisory Board for Scotland, of a working group considering the Appointment of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, which is likely to report soon on the way forward. It is my hope that it will produce a system which recognises the need for new blood and fresh ideas and better identifies, develops and more objectively appoints talent in the service.

28. Closely related to this issue is the position of civilian support staff in the Scottish police service. Over the last 10 years there has been a healthy increase in the number of support staff employed by the police and forces have largely accepted guidance in civilianising posts which do not require professional police training or experience. Forces should now look to the long-term benefits of developing their own support staff, rather than the quick-fix of employing retired police officers. With the number of civilian support staff representing a quarter of the workforce of the Scottish police service, support staff can no longer be regarded simply as an adjunct to the police. Civilianisation has also seen the recruitment of highly talented specialist civilian support staff in areas of senior management. However there is still much scope for the employment of more, well qualified, civilians with specialist expertise in matters of finance, information technology and human resources to head up departments and be directly responsible to or indeed part of force executives teams. With financial delegation to Chief Constables it has never been more important that senior management teams have financial management expertise available. More than just accountancy skills are required when considering the strategic direction of a force and VFM in business decisions.

29. All forces have equal opportunities polices and grievance procedures and much effort has been made to train officers and staff on these issues. However it must not end there and I have, too often, visited forces where publication of policy on equal opportunities is not followed through by action, eg where there is no record of formal grievance procedures being used. Forces must demonstrate their commitment to equal opportunities and instil in their workforces the confidence to use the procedures which are intended to safeguard them.

30. I have been encouraged by efforts to protect the position of women officers in the service eg Grampian Police's commitment to a Maternity Network and child care directory. There are now 123 officers working part-time and this is the encouragement needed to retain many women who would otherwise be lost to the service. The percentage of women officers has increased from 13.8% last year to 14.9% this year but against this background I remain disappointed at the continuing low level of women promotions. The number of officers from ethnic minority communities, up 5 from last year at 51, is slow to increase, and is far from being representative. Strathclyde Police's

5 year action plan in this regard is to be commended and it is to be hoped that initial success will be the catalyst to encourage the recruitment of more ethnic minority officers in the future.

31. For a few years there has been an a reduction in the number of days lost through sickness in the Scottish police service. Regretably I have to report that this year has seen an increase from 10.2 days per year for police officers to 10.7 days and from 12.7 days per year for support staff to 13.3 days. Forces must guard against complacency and ensure that supervisors and management are aware of the damage caused to front-line policing as a result of sickness absence and rigorously apply good absence management policies to ensure that sickness levels return to a downward trend. Last year I expressed concern at the high level of ill-health retirements. This year's figure is reduced but, at 40.6% of all retirements, remains at a worrying level. The recommendations of HM Inspectorate for England and Wales in its recent thematic report "Lost Time" should be considered by all Scottish forces to ensure good practice in all matters of sickness management, including operation, training, monitoring and review of policy, occupational health and medical retirement, are applied.

32. The Police (Health and Safety) Act 1997 was implemented in July. With its introduction, health and safety laws, previously applying only to civilian support staff, will also apply to police officers. It has been anticipated by a significant investment in effort by all forces, with the appointment of health and safety officers, the establishment of safety committees and the preparation of policy, training and awareness and generic and specific risk assessments associated with operational policing. Generally Scottish forces have responded well to the new legislation and it is an area which will be monitored closely by Her Majesty's Inspectorate for the time being.

33. The safety of police officers is a matter which is central to all operational decisions. Recent years have seen great improvement in officer safety equipment and training. It is too early to tell if these measures significantly affect the number of assaults on police officers but the additional emphasis on training ensures they are better equipped to deal with the real dangers they face. However, chief officers cannot be complacent and the testing of the use of CS incapacitant sprays, heralded in last year's report, has helped to take the issue of officer safety forward. Due to limited use in the initial trial period, the area of coverage and length of the trials have been extended and both Strathclyde Police and Tayside Police are now collecting valuable information which will help to determine the future use of this equipment in the Scottish police service. Whatever the outcome I am pleased with the sensitive approach taken and am satisfied that the issue of public safety will be of prime consideration.

34. The number of complaints against the police continues to fall and this reflects well on the time and effort committed by forces to the investigation of complaints and a willingness to apply lessons learned. In the statutory role which has been given to Her Majesty's Inspectorate, in addition to the emphasis placed on complaints during inspections, I am kept closely in tune with the way forces respond to complaints. I believe that the Inspectorate's influence, while imposing a heavy additional burden on my staff, is a positive one which has assisted in a more rigorous approach to recording complaints. The role of Her Majesty's Lay Inspector brings to the matter a strong independent element of public scrutiny.

35. The development of information systems is fundamental to the efficiency of the Scottish police service. I am pleased to note the significant progress which has been made to ensure sound management of the implementation of the collaborative Scottish Police Information Systems/Information Technology Strategy (SPIS). This offers significant advantages for the service in an area which never stands still. Individually, forces cannot hope to achieve these advantages and it was against this background that the Inspectorate carried out a thorough review, during the year, of the way forces specify, acquire, test and ultimately deploy information technology systems. The report which is due to be published soon will assist forces in providing a tighter framework for system development.

36. On 11 September 1997 the people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly for a devolved Parliament. It is proposed that responsibility for policing will pass to the Scottish Parliament and this has caused some unease among staff associations, particularly in respect of conditions of service. I am confident that a new Parliament will respect tried and tested principles which have produced a police service in which the country can justly be proud and I welcome the opportunity for peculiarly Scottish issues such as the policing of remote communities to be shown an interest which has until now been missing. Clearly a new Parliament will wish to consider closely the police service it inherits and your announcement of a review of the structure is one which is to be welcomed. With more than 2 years of experience of police forces working to new joint police boards there is a wealth of experience to be tapped which will ensure that the consultation process you have promised together with the Comprehensive Spending Review will determine a sound blueprint for the future of Scottish policing.

37. On a personal note, this will be my last annual report as I will retire in November, after just over 2 years as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary. It has been an honour to serve in a role which is central to the tripartite arrangement of police accountability, involving chief constables, police authorities and Her Majesty's Government. During my term in office I have received excellent co-operation from representatives of all sides of this arrangement and I would like to acknowledge the particular support of colleagues in the Home Department of The Scottish Office and the Inspectorate of Constabulary in England and Wales.

38. It has been an exhilarating episode and an eventful one and over the course of my time in office I have had the privilege to meet regular officers, special constables and civilian support staff throughout the country. Despite headline issues which have, at times, generated public controversy, I continue to hold the greatest admiration for officers and staff who regularly demonstrate the highest level of commitment in serving the public in their own communities. This commitment is matched by the high regard in which they are held by the community representatives I meet. Scotland can rightly be proud of its police service.