ICTChris Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Not sure if there's been a thread on the ongoing travails of Police Scotland but thought it was worth starting one. Chief Constable Stephen House has come under pressure regarding the stop and search policy, particularly the statistics regarding its usage, which have been shown to be flawed. In today's Herald there's a report on the reactions of the Scottish government and Police Scotland to the PhD research on stop and search by Kath Murray, who did the first real work on this policy. The report makes interesting reading - Police Scotland sought to control her findings, Scottish Government spin doctors tried to formulate a response to her work. One released email features a SG civil servant wondering "Why are we funding this?" in relation to her work. http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/how-the-single-force-and-the-scottish-government-tried-to-hamper-pioneeri.119017730 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 My phone doesn't do paragraphs, apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Any time I've seen House interviewed or appearing before a government committee he has come across as incredibly arrogant. The position he has adopted on stop and search and on police regularly carrying firearms suggests he is a control freak. However his role in these issues goes to the heart of the relationship between the police and politicians, and to people's lack of understanding of that relationship. In an elected democracy it is the role of the politicians to set policy and the role of the bureaucrats to carry out their functions within those policy guidelines (I'm not using the term 'bureaucrat' in a derogatory way). I was appealed by Macaskill's position on the firearms issue as he was effectively handing over a policy role to an unelected,and largely unaccountable, Chief Constable. On stop and search it looks at least as if House is being held accountable. It will be interesting to see what eventually happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael W Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 It certainly seems to be the case Police Scotland were more or less allowed to do what they want. Another reason to be thankful that MacAskill is no longer the justice secretary, really: clearly he either had no control or just decided to leave them to it with unsurprising consequences. Very disappointing to see both the Scottish Government and Police Scotland trying to obstruct these findings, particularly from the government. How can Police Scotland be accountable to the government if information regarding their abuse of stop and search is obstructed? And yet the people PS are accountable to are complicit in trying to suppress the research. Dismal conduct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 It was a sad day when the Weegies took over Scottish policing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gullane No 4 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 A united Police force seems like a good idea for a wee country like Scotland. [same population as Yorkshire] Unfortunately the politicians seem to have put the wrong guy in charge of it. Once it quietens down I am sure it will work OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 A united Police force seems like a good idea for a wee country like Scotland. [same population as Yorkshire] Unfortunately the politicians seem to have put the wrong guy in charge of it. Once it quietens down I am sure it will work OK. It's the one model fits all strategy that's daft, like deploying armed officers to ask buskers to move along on Inverness High Street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermik Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Maybe they were scared in case the buskers tried to banjo them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gullane No 4 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 It's the one model fits all strategy that's daft, like deploying armed officers to ask buskers to move along on Inverness High Street. In fairness they could have been totally out of tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I loved his excuse last week that someone had pressed the delete button and they could not recover information with regard to stop and search. I have to say if they cannot retrieve it then I wonder what system they are using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 In fairness they could have been totally out of tune. They were awful and deserved shooting. What's the point of giving Police guns if they don't use them? PC gone mad imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 A united Police force seems like a good idea for a wee country like Scotland. [same population as Yorkshire] It's not a matter of population, it's a matter of local culture. Police Scotland's heavyhandedness in Edinburgh, for instance, has been wholly counterproductive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 It's not a matter of population, it's a matter of local culture. Police Scotland's heavyhandedness in Edinburgh, for instance, has been wholly counterproductive. Lots of things would be more efficient run centrally but you have to ask what you want the police to be, what you want them to do. Centralised systems can be superficially efficient but actually miss the point of what people want. Of course, centralisation is a modern political trend, perhaps one we'll look back on as a mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Bump. Saw a link to this story, the operators of an Edinburgh strip club have blamed it's closure on harassment by Police Scotland http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/strip-bar-says-police-chiefs-harassed-them-1-3785721 Coming after the police cracked down on the licensed saunas in Edinburgh, are we seeing a moral cleansing of our streets by the new unified police service? No details in the story about the breaches of license conditions by this place but it's an interesting pattern of license enforcement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fide Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Coming after the police cracked down on the licensed saunas in Edinburgh, are we seeing a moral cleansing of our streets by the new unified police service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 One positive thing is that Lothian Road may become less of a sleazy shithole with both titty bars shut down and replaced with 'normal' boozers. On the other hand it'll now be overrun with arsehole hipsters rather than sleazy masturbaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 One positive thing is that Lothian Road may become less of a sleazy shithole with both titty bars shut down and replaced with 'normal' boozers. On the other hand it'll now be overrun with arsehole hipsters rather than sleazy masturbaters. There's a difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotThePars Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 The beards are more well maintained by one crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEADOWXI Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 The beards are more well maintained by one crowd. Must be what the use as moisturiser for their beard compared to the other lot........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 One positive thing is that Lothian Road may become less of a sleazy shithole with both titty bars shut downDon't say that out loud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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