Hundreds of police call-room failures could be risking lives – Tories

Lives could be put at risk because of hundreds of Police Scotland call-room failures, a Scottish Conservative MSP has said.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives through a Freedom of Information request show the force recorded 330 negative “notable incidents” since 2019.

A notable incident is any incident where the actions of call-room officials negatively impacted the reputation of Police Scotland or its partners.

Jamie Greene, the Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said the data, which includes 53 incidents of missing or recording the wrong information, was a result of “overstretched officers”

Call-room failings “materially contributed” to the death of Lamara Bell in July 2015 after it took police three days to attend a car crash on the M9.

The 25-year-old died in hospital four days after the accident, near Stirling, having suffered a brain injury, a broken limb and severe dehydration.

Police Scotland admitted it failed to provide an “adequate and reliable call-handling system” after an officer failed to record a phone call on July 5, 2015.

Funding allocated to the force has been cut in real terms in the Scottish Government’s 2022/23 budget – despite calls for increased funding from Police Scotland.

Police Scotland also have the lowest number of officers since 2009.

Mr Greene added: “These are completely unacceptable figures, which could have serious consequences for public safety across Scotland.

“Call-rooms are at the forefront of policing, and failure to effectively pass on information could have awful consequences for public safety across Scotland.

“These failings are the result of overstretched officers having to make up for the SNP Government’s neglect.

“The SNP’s police merger has closed more than 130 local stations, taken local officers off our streets and centralised call-handling away from local communities.

“Those issues have been compounded by the government cutting the Police Scotland capital budget in real terms and denying officers vital improvements.

“This cannot be allowed to continue. We have brought forward proposals for a Local Policing Act to give Police Scotland more resources and get more officers out in the community.”

The FOI figures also showed that Police Scotland failed to identify risk on 34 occasions, including child protection issues and had led to an inappropriate police response as a result.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Police Scotland handles over two million 999 and 101 calls each year and we are very grateful to their staff and officers for keeping these services functioning and efficient, particularly during a very challenging period over the last two years.

“While notable incidents recorded in these figures are the equivalent of approximately one in every 23,000 calls or online contacts, Police Scotland continues to highlight areas for improvement when such matters arise.

“The total budget for policing in 2022-23 is almost £1.4 billion, including an additional £40.5 million increase in resource funding and a further £6.6 million to mitigate the impact of Covid on the policing budget.”