Report raises legal concerns over counter corruption unit practices

Scotland’s police force is to overhaul its approach to counter corruption following the publication of a report that raises concerns about legality, proportionality and procedural fairness.

Derek Penman, HM Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, made 39 recommendations in a report published this week on Police Scotland’s counter corruption unit (CCU).

The review was ordered by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) after it emerged last year that the CCU had breached guidelines on gaining consent to access data after it tried to identify a journalist’s sources relating to a story about murdered prostitute Emma Caldwell.

Mr Penman said CCU’s data-handling processes were “significantly different from national standards and fell below the standards I would have expected”.

“My examination of CCU intelligence files also raised concerns over the routine management, oversight and wider governance of CCU inquiries, including the extent to which chief officers are actively briefed and can direct on CCU matters,” he noted.

He added: “The primary concern was over a general lack of transparency and accountability within the CCU, and frustration by police officers that when they raised complaints against CCU officers, these were not taken seriously or independently investigated.”

Aamer Anwar, the solicitor who represented more than 20 officers affected by the CCU, said: “Reading between the lines, both Police Scotland and the Scottish government must understand that this ‘rogue’ unit is not fit for the purpose but is associated with destroying the lives of innocent law-abiding officers.”