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Former senior Tayside officer brands Police Scotland ‘foolhardy’ over vetting of staff

Former Tayside police officer Angela Wilson. Image: Andrew Cawley
Former Tayside police officer Angela Wilson. Image: Andrew Cawley

A former senior Tayside officer has branded Police Scotland “foolhardy” over its stance on vetting staff for possible offenders.

Angela Wilson, the former assistant chief constable for Tayside Police, has also called for “external scrutiny” of investigations into complaints against officers.

Her comments come after David Carrick admitted to dozens of rapes and sexual offences while serving as a Met Police officer.

The Home Office has asked forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to check existing staff against national databases.

Call for ‘common approach’ across UK

Policing is devolved in Scotland, and a spokesperson says the force north of the border is taking “careful note of developments” as it decides whether to follow suit.

Angela, who is now chair of Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (WRASAC) Dundee and Angus, told The Courier: “The Home Office has now effectively ordered all forces in England and Wales to do an urgent review of staff but Police Scotland are not committing to that and I think that is foolhardy.

“I think they should be getting together with their counterparts and coming up with a common approach to this, using best practice and having external scrutiny, because to not do so makes them look quite vulnerable.

‘Years and years of possibly insufficient vetting’

“Police Scotland said that they have made vetting changes in recent times, but that doesn’t answer the issue of what is years and years of possibly insufficient vetting.

“A few years ago, there was a massive recruitment campaign for Police Scotland and I suspect the vetting process wasn’t nearly as robust as it needed to be, because they needed big numbers in quickly.”

Police Scotland says it reviewed all cases where staff faced sexual allegations in October 2021 – six months after the murder of Sarah Everard in London at the hands of a serving Met Police officer – and found “no significant issues”.

Police Scotland issued a review after the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard.

But Angela says this does not go far enough.

She said: “That review is now out of date – we’re now more than a year forward.

“And they didn’t mention anything to do with other instances of violence against women; no mention of domestic assault, domestic abuse, stalking or anything of that nature.

“It has been found that people who go on to commit sexual assaults have actually previously committed offences of that nature, so they need to be much more far-reaching.”

‘A small minority is too much’

Angela also believes an independent body looking at complaints against officers would give women more confidence in officers.

She added: “It would give people confidence that there are external checks.

“I recognise that the vast majority of police officers are good, hard-working, decent people, but even a small minority is a small minority too much.”

Angela as an officer in 2010. Image: DC Thomson

Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor, from Police Scotland, says the force is determined to address sexism, misogyny and violence against women “within our organisation and across society”.

She added: “We’ve invested in our vetting team, introducing an additional check for new recruits just before they are sworn into office and will commence a rolling programme to assure and renew vetting decisions in 2023/24.

“Officers and staff acting with our values and standards at heart will always be supported by the service. Those who reject what we stand for don’t belong in Police Scotland.

“We will take careful note of developments across UK policing and consider how they can support our drive to maintain the highest standards within Police Scotland.”

In a separate development, a retired Met Police officer from Perthshire has been charged with child sex offences.

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