English cops warn over Police Scotland political scrutiny

Policing in Scotland has become a “political football” facing disproportionate scrutiny over simple mistakes, according to senior police officers in England.

Ian Wiggett, assistant chief constable in Greater Manchester Police , has warned that Police Scotland is vulnerable to political attacks because of the controversies surrounding its creation, despite the “inevitability” of mistakes and errors.

Mr Wiggett, the national lead for systems thinking and casualty bureau in England and Wales, likened media scrutiny of the force to the atmosphere around policing in the Netherlands, where a single national force has also been recently introduced.

In a series of tweets over the weekend, he wrote: “Situation in Scotland feel similar to NL after they created a single national force. Regions object to centralisation and loss of influence, while policing becomes a political football at national level.

“Given the inevitability of ‘adverse events’, it becomes a good vehicle to attack politically in those circs, police leaders can only ever hope to minimise the criticism, I suggest.”

Gareth Morgan, deputy chief constable in the Avon & Somerset Constabulary, added that the “dynamics and relationships in Scotland look and feel different”.

Mr Wiggett’s remarks come as Police Scotland struggles with a series of PR disasters, including controversy over the use of non-statutory stop and search, the death of a young couple in a crashed car discovered days after it was reported, and the unexplained death in custody of Sheku Bayoh.

The national force was created in April 2013 under Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who has consistently defended its record. Until that point, there were eight territorial police forces operating in Scotland.

Mr Wiggett suggested recent incidents would not have been so heavily politicised in England. Mr Morgan, who is from Scotland, added that the bad press felt like “a torrent at times”.

Responding to Mr Wiggett’s suggestion to “minimise the criticism”, Niven Rennie, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, tweeted back: “I think our methods of minimising have made matters worse unfortunately.”