Police Scotland 'kicked out' staff for racism and sexism within the last year

In an interview with ITV News, the chief constable said she cannot yet say Police Scotland is no longer racist or sexist

Police Scotland has “kicked out” staff for racism and sexism within the last year, the force’s chief constable told ITV News.

When Jo Farrell took the job a year ago, she inherited an organisation which her predecessor, Sir Iain Livingstone, had just described as “institutionally racist and sexist” in a high-profile media conference.

Today, in an interview with ITV News, the chief constable said she cannot yet say Police Scotland is no longer racist or sexist, but she revealed people have been sacked in her mission to detoxify the force.

“Some of these were part of criminal proceedings,” she said. “Some were part of internal disciplinary procedures.”

And she says she is still working to make Police Scotland “anti-racist and anti-discriminatory.”

Asked when she thinks it will no longer be an institutionally racist and sexist police force, the chief constable said she couldn’t give a time frame but insists it’s her mission “every day.”

Another legacy inherited by Jo Farrell in her position as the head of Police Scotland is the investigation into the funds and finances of the SNP.

‘All of the investigation material has gone to the Crown Office,’ Jo Farrell says

When pressed on whether her officers have been overly cautious because of the individuals involved, she refused to answer.

She confirmed the case has now been handed over to the Crown Office, which is the prosecuting authority in Scotland.

Although Police Scotland’s chief constable is still answering questions about the past, today was supposed to be a briefing on her vision for the future of the force.

She wants to see more police visible in Scottish communities.

That means on foot, rather than in vehicles – a return to the old ‘bobby on the beat’ style to build trust and make people feel safe.

To be able to do this, the chief constable wants her officers to spend less time with people having a mental health crisis – something, she says, is currently taking up far too much police time and resources.

‘I don’t want officers sitting with people waiting for support for elsewhere, that is not the core role of Police Scotland,’ Jo Farrell says

The chief constable would like charities and the NHS to step in and help take some of this pressure off the police.

But it comes at a time of significant cuts to Scotland’s mental health services, with waiting lists already at record highs.

The chief constable admits this could mean Police Scotland officers having to make difficult decisions to pull people away from dealing with someone who is clearly in the midst of a mental health crisis, even if there’s nobody else to fill the void.

“We would consider if there is a threat to life,” she said.

But ultimately she admits there will be dilemmas.

She says there are other people who need help and support from Police Scotland, and her priority now is getting crime down.