Police Scotland: the UK’s second-largest force is also grappling with misogyny and racism
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星期三, 四月 19, 2023
Death of Sheku Bayoh, Review, Workforce, Male, Murder of Surjit Singh Chhokar, Scottish Police Authority, Scottish Police Federation, Culture, Leadership, Woman, Attention, History, Scottish National Party, Bullying, Police Scotland, Trust, HMICS, Met, Angiolini, Police, Racism, Nepotism, Death, Family, Female, Private investigator, Drug, Management, Scottish
Police Scotland, the UK’s second-largest force, may not face a crisis in public trust and confidence of the same scale.
Key Points:
- Police Scotland, the UK’s second-largest force, may not face a crisis in public trust and confidence of the same scale.
- Following the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, police leaders did not consider racism to be a problem in Scotland’s policing.
- Bayoh’s family has repeatedly insisted his death was a consequence of disproportionate use of force and motivated by racial bias.
- The Scottish Police Federation said that the force had a “vigorous” approach to handling misconduct that sets it apart from the UK’s other forces.
Recruitment and retention
- Meanwhile, a higher proportion of officers from minority backgrounds continue to leave the force.
- Or they were on friendly terms with those who engaged in this behaviour, leaving little room for victims to speak out.
- The HMICS inspection also found that the representation of black and minority ethnic officers has never risen above 1%, compared with a 4% share of the Scottish population.
- Retention data shows that between 2019-20, of the 865 officers who left Police Scotland, 2% were black and minority ethnic and 24% were female.
Weak accountability
- In 2013, Scotland’s local police forces were merged into one, and the Scottish Police Authority was created to replace local police boards.
- This, coupled with a lack of formal powers for local democratic oversight of policing, has resulted in weak and lopsided police governance in Scotland.
- And the Scottish Police Authority’s own board and senior executive team lacks any representation from minority ethnic backgrounds.
- The first minister will have several party-specific issues dividing his attention, including a lack of transparency or rigorous accountability in the party.