The chief constable of Police Scotland has said judicial change is not happening fast enough.
Jo Farrell described the Scottish judicial system as “very inefficient” compared to the Crown Prosecution Service in England, despite efforts in Glasgow Sheriff Court and Dundee Sheriff Courts, which she said were led by “very forward thinking” individuals.
She said the demands of mental health calls was consuming time equivalent to 600 police officers per year, out of a service of around 16,000. Ms Farrell said: “A roads policing officers said to me in the early weeks I was here, each time that case gets adjourned it’s the victim of the case who says to the police ‘Why is this happening?’.“What I’ve observed is a system that’s very inefficient.Asked if a Scottish Police Federation description of “reactive policing” was accurate Ms Farrell said: “I think they make a fair point.
“When they call to court, and this is a conservative estimate, only 15% of them will give evidence and then they’ll be called again and again.Ms Farrell said hate crime reports had increased in line with the expanded range of protected characteristics, but had tailed off from a deluge of mostly anonymous complaints when the new law was introduced in April.
A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “We work with Police Scotland, and the courts service who schedule trials, to have witness availability taken into account when trials are fixed.“COPFS believes effective case management has the capacity to transform the experience of witnesses in the justice system and reduce unnecessary attendance.
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