Police Decisions Criticised

The public are being 'left in the dark' when Police Scotland make changes, that's according to the Scottish Conservatives.

The party says major changes, such as the routine arming of police officers, are happening with people given little or no notice.

Last week, it also emerged that children are still being stopped and searched, despite a pledge to end the practice.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:
 
"Major changes – such as the routine arming of police officers – are happening with people given little or no notice.
 
"That's simply wrong.
 
"If police chiefs are going to make controversial changes to the way they watch over us, whether it be stop and search or more speed cameras, then the public deserves to know about that.
 
"The Scottish Police Authority has too often had to play catch up.
 
"One thing that should happen immediately is an agreement that police chiefs always give the SPA advance notice whenever they are planning a major policy change.
 
"Then the SPA should make sure all relevant bodies are made aware of it so that everything happens in the open.
 
"The problem here isn't political ignorance, it's the fact that the public are being left in the dark when massive changes are brought in.
 
"If the Scottish Police Federation can't see there's a problem here, then the arrogance we are seeing among senior police figures is clearly worse than we feared."