This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Police compliance with race guidelines
24/06/2004
The Solicitor General, Elish Angiolini, QC, today made public the findings of a Crown Office review of compliance with the Lord Advocate's Guidelines on the investigation and reporting of racist crime by the police, and welcomed the steps which Scottish Police Forces are taking to ensure compliance. The Guidelines were introduced in May 2001.
Instructed by a joint Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Diversity Group, the review looked at over 400 police reports from across Scotland, at 31 March 2003, and again at 31 October 2003.
The review found that:
• police forces applied statutory racial charges in 93% of cases where a racial element existed;
• where there was a need for interpretation or translation services, these were arranged in between 94 - 98% of cases;
• prosecution policy was complied with fully in 97% of cases;
• 64% of reports set out the perception of the victim or witnesses as to the motive for the crime;
• 34% of reports set out the impact of the crime on the victim;
• 57% of cases were reported to the Procurator Fiscal in the manner set out by the guidelines (by custody, undertaking, or prompt report for warrant);
• Racist Incident Monitoring Forms were submitted to the Procurator Fiscal along with the Standard Prosecution Report in 59% of cases.
To improve compliance, all forces have begun using a standard racial incident monitoring form, which is included as a 'free text' entry in the Standard Police Prosecution Report (SPPR). In the longer term, by the end of this year, a series of standard questions developed by COPFS and ACPOS will be added to the electronic SPPR. Officers will be prompted by the computer system to answer each of these questions, in all cases identified as racial incidents, before the electronic report can be completed and sent to the Procurator Fiscal.
Mrs Angiolini said:
'While there are encouraging aspects of compliance highlighted by this review, which are to be welcomed, it was clear there was a need to introduce some method whereby police officers reporting cases were prompted to answer the necessary questions to comply with the guidelines. The IT solution identified demonstrates the willingness of the police to work with us to ensure that the Lord Advocates Guidelines are followed in all racial crimes, and are effective in helping us to thoroughly investigate and prosecute these offences.'
Chief Constable Paddy Tomkins, of the ACPOS/COPFS Standing Group on Diversity and Race Issues, said:
'The Scottish Police Service is committed to delivering a consistently high standard of service to the many and diverse communities across Scotland. We recognise that to do this effectively we must play our part in providing the fullest detail of the crimes we investigate to the Procurator Fiscal to allow informed decisions to be made. The quality of information required, in respect of the victim, the community and their joint needs, continues to be improved upon and that is to be welcomed.'
Under the COPFS Race Equality Action Plan there is a commitment to monitor compliance with the Lord Advocate's Guidelines annually for the next 3 years. The next review will be conducted towards the end of 2004.
The 'Guidelines on the investigation and reporting of racist crime' can be viewed on the Crown Office website at www.crownoffice.gov.uk