Stop and search "prioritised disproportionately", warn officers

Constant pressure to achieve performance targets, particularly around stop and search, is overshadowing other police work and damaging officer morale, an official inspection has found.

Personnel in Police Scotland’s Ayrshire division – one of 14 across the country – told Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) the force was “disproportionately” prioritising stop and search over other vital areas.

It came as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs she still has confidence in Scotland’s Chief Constable Sir Stephen House amid a controversial few weeks for the single service. 

The force’s senior leadership has consistently reiterated that no targets are set for the number of stop searches carried out by officers, though one is in place for the number that yield a positive result.

However, Scottish Police Federation general secretary Calum Steele - appearing before Holyrood’s Justice Sub-Committee on Policing last week - said that the representative body had been contacted by members who have been told that they have volume targets.  
 
“Whilst we acknowledge KPI [key performance indicators] and performance targets are strongly reinforced in the division we noted that some officers and staff felt that the emphasis on targets had unintended consequences,” says the HMICS report laid before the Scottish Parliament this morning. 

“An example provided by officers was the use of ‘Stop and Search’, which although valued by the organisation was felt by them to be prioritised disproportionately over other valuable police work that was not measured.”

Morale of officers and staff has suffered as a result of the pace and nature of change going from eight forces down to one, HMICS' report says. A “constant pressure to achieve performance targets” is noted by inspectors among a number of issues raised by officers and staff as well as their representatives as contributing to low morale.

“There are no individual targets for stop and search and much work has been done by the National Stop and Search Unit set up last year to provide enhanced training and guidance to officers on its use,” said a Police Scotland spokeswoman.

A short-life working group set up by Police Scotland to consider a range of measures to replace the current option of consensual stop and search is meeting this afternoon. 

Asked by Labour MSP Elaine Murray during this afternoon’s FMQs whether she still has confidence in the head of Police Scotland, Sturgeon said: “Yes I do, I still have full confidence in Chief Constable Sir Stephen House.

“Stephen House is leading a police force that is helping to ensure that we have low crime levels in this country and I think we should all get behind and express confidence not just in the Chief Constable of Police Scotland but in all the police officers who work so hard, often putting their lives on the line, for us on a daily basis.”

Today’s HMICS’ inspection revealed that incidents of antisocial behaviour and disorder have significantly dropped across Ayrshire while public confidence rates for local policing are amongst the highest in Scotland.

Chief Superintendent Gillian MacDonald, Local Policing Commander for Ayrshire Division, said: “These are significant achievements and are testament to the hard work and commitment of my officers and staff to keeping people safe and to the support of our partners and local communities, which is demonstrated in the range of partnership working which takes place in and with local communities across Ayrshire every day.”

However, the number of individuals seriously injured on the roads in Ayrshire rose 17 per cent between March and October last year, the largest percentage increase in Scotland and against the backdrop of a drop nationwide.

Internal communication need to be improved, HMICS said, while some officers and staff “expressed the view that the organisation was not upholding its own values of integrity, fairness and respect in relation to its staff”.

The division intends to introduce monthly forums that bring officers and staff together with those in senior ranks after HMICS discovered “a significant and as yet unfulfilled desire from officers and staff for regular face to face dialogue with senior officers”.

Five recommendations have been made, among them that the Scottish Police Authority should commission a previously planned Police Scotland staff survey “as soon as practicable” and ensure it is undertaken independently.

For further analysis of the Local Policing Inspection of Ayrshire Division, sign up for Holyrood’s weekly justice newsletter here.