170 Scottish police officers have criminal convictions - Brown (Aberdeen North Liberal Democrats)

Aberdeen North Liberal Democrats <anne.carmichael@btinternet.com>

170 Scottish police officers have criminal convictions - Brown

March 12, 2009 9:37 AM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats

At least 170 serving police officers in Scotland have criminal convictions, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats.

The information, obtained through Freedom of Information requests to Scotland's police forces, shows that:

· 170 police officers in Scotland's forces are still serving despite criminal convictions for a range of offences

· These include assault, perversion of justice, drink-driving and other motoring offences

· Strathclyde Police alone has 107 serving officers who have not been dismissed despite having committed criminal records, though their offences have not been specified

· The figures could be higher, as two of Scotland's eight police forces did not respond to the FoI request

Robert Brown, Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson, is writing to the Justice Secretary urging him to release the outstanding information from Northern Constabulary and Central Scotland. Mr Brown is also calling on the Scottish Government to review any guidance that they issue to police forces about officers with criminal convictions, as clearly those convicted of serious crimes should not keep their jobs.

Commenting, Mr Brown said:

"It is staggering that so many of the people entrusted to protect us from crime have criminal convictions themselves. But this figure could be even higher because Northern Constabulary and Central Scotland police forces failed to respond to our Freedom of Information requests.

"The Justice Secretary needs to step in here and make sure that this information is made public.

"It is worrying that police officers convicted of serious crimes involving dishonesty or violence and even perverting the course of justice seem to have kept their jobs.

"The public entrust the police with the use of legal force precisely because they are self-disciplined and restrained. This trust is undermined if serving police officers convicted of a violent offence are seen not to be dealt with strictly.

"Similarly, the public will wonder how a police officer convicted of perverting the course of justice can perform their duty effectively. Prosecutors would be reluctant to call them as a witness for fear of being taken apart by the defence.

"Hiring and firing must ultimately be the decision of the Chief Constable but given these revelations the Scottish Government needs to review any guidance that it gives to police forces."

Ends.