Complaints About the Police
The role of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) are entirely independent of the police and investigate allegations of criminal conduct in the public interest.
Where your complaint involves an allegation that an on duty member of the police force has committed a crime, the Area Procurator Fiscal will deal with this. You can obtain a copy of their leaflet "Complaints About the Police – the Role of the Area Procurator Fiscal" from any Procurator Fiscal's Office which will explain this role in more detail.
Criminal proceedings against a member of a police force are dealt with in the same way as any other prosecution and the decision as to whether the member of staff will be prosecuted rests entirely with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
If the Area Procurator Fiscal decides to prosecute, the criminal proceedings will normally have to be concluded before any misconduct proceedings are considered.
Where the Area Procurator Fiscal decides not to prosecute, the matter will be referred back to the Deputy Chief Constable who will consider whether or not the circumstances amount to misconduct on the part of the officer and if so, how the matter should be dealt with. You will be advised about this decision.
In this section
- Types and definition of a complaint about the police
- Who can make a complaint
- How to make a complaint
- What information should you provide when making a complaint
- How will my complaint be investigated
- The role of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
- Malicious complaints
- Complaints about senior officers
- What if I am not satisfied with the way that the police handled my complaint
- Learning from complaints
