A former Fife police sergeant has claimed he was frozen out in his final years of service after sharing his concerns about the impact of cuts.
Andy Howie has alleged he was “ostracised” by senior officers after raising fears about the move to a single force two years ago, and also suggested he had been the victim of a cover-up after raising a grievance about his treatment.
Mr Howie decided to come forward following The Courier’s story last week which revealed that 85% of chief superintendents believe there are in-crowds and cliques within Police Scotland, while 37% said they were bullied in the workplace.
The 54-year-old retired recently with 30 years’ service and had what he described as a “challenging and thoroughly rewarding career”.
However, he claims the way he was treated at the tail end of his police tenure was disgraceful.
“About the time Fife was moving over to Police Scotland, staff on teams were being drastically reduced in number, where I felt it was unsafe,” he said.
“Officers on teams could not get meal breaks. Sergeants were also having to cover various teams and travel between stations, sometimes with less than a day’s notice.
“I raised these issues, and the issue of decreasing staff morale, with management but nothing was done about the situation.
“After that, I found myself being ostracised, I was moved department and was told I would remain there for my last two years.
“I never complained, but application forms for promotion to inspector, which had previously been good enough to reach interview, were no longer sufficient as I ‘no longer had the right experience’.”
Mr Howie went on to claim a new inspector repeatedly undermined his authority and directed his staff without knowledge, ignoring emails when he tried to flag-up his concerns.
He was also asked to work extra shifts and return from a funeral to attend a meeting and, when he refused to do so, he was again moved department within weeks.
Mr Howie has now called for a culture change in the organisation, revealing his belief that a formal grievance in 2013 did not receive a fair hearing.
“It was investigated by an ex- colleague of the inspector and suitably buried, initially with no fault found on my previous supervisor’s part,” he said.
“Despite two other sergeants backing me up on my complaint, this was brushed under the carpet.”