The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) is the executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for investigating complaints by members of the public against

Police Scotland Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...

; and the Scottish operations of the

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Civil Nuclear Constabulary The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) (Welsh: ''Heddlu Sifil Niwclear'') is a special police force responsible for providing law enforcement and security at any relevant nuclear site and for security of nuclear materials in transit within the Unit ...

Ministry of Defence Police The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) is a civilian special police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The MDP's primary responsibilities are to provide armed security and counter terrorism services to designated hig ...

, and

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History

On 1 April 2013, the

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. This legislation merged the eight separate police forces and fire and rescue services in Scotland, plus several central agencies, into single agencies covering t ...

brought together Scotland's eight territorial police services, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and the Scottish Police Services Authority into the new national police service, Police Scotland. At the same time the remit of the

Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland The Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland (PCCS) was the executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made by members of the public against the police force ...

expanded to include investigations into the most serious incidents involving the police. To reflect this change, the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland was renamed the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner. In June 2014 Kate Frame was appointed as the new Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, taking up the post in August. In June 2019 Michelle Macleod was appointed by ministers as the new Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, taking up the post in the August of that year.

Criticism

The PIRC have previously been criticised for using 'oppressive and dehumanising tactics' as part of its investigations by the body which represents police officers in Scotland, who stated that its members were fast losing confidence in the 'effectiveness and genuine independence' of the organisation. This was raised at a meeting of the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament. In May 2018, prominent lawyer Aamer Anwar called on the Commissioner Kate Frame to resign after claiming that organisation had failed to adhere to its values of integrity, impartiality and respect in relation to the investigation into the death of Sheku Bayoh.

Remit and jurisdiction

The PIRC provides independent scrutiny of how police bodies respond to complaints from members of the public.

References

External links

* 2013 establishments in Scotland 2013 in law Police oversight organizations Government agencies established in 2013 Ombudsmen in Scotland Executive non-departmental public bodies of the Scottish Government Law enforcement in Scotland Scottish commissions and inquiries Police misconduct in the United Kingdom Organisations based in South Lanarkshire Hamilton, South Lanarkshire {{law-enforcement-stub