Chief was told of homophobia, misogyny and racism in force’s ranks 3yrs ago

SIR Iain Livingstone knew racism, misogyny and homophobia was rife in Police Scotland’s ranks – but failed to make key changes for three years, a report unearthed by The Mail on Sunday today reveals.

Evidence that the outgoing police chief could have done more to combat the ‘endemic’ discrimination he said plagues Scotland’s single force is likely to raise eyebrows given Sir Iain’s damning assessment of officers last Thursday.

The Chief Constable sent shockwaves through the UK’s second largest force, which he has led for five years, when he said ‘deeprooted barriers’ needed to be

‘Dithering SNP Ministers failed to make changes’

removed to make Scottish policing anti-racist.

Now, this newspaper can disclose Sir Iain and SNP Ministers were warned about serious problems with the police in November 2020.

But just 58 out of 111 recommendations made by former Lord Advocate Lady Elish Angiolini have been achieved.

The most important – including an independent equality review to tackle racism and homophobia – have not been completed.

Calls for internal conduct probes to continue – even if an officer quits or retires – have still not been responded to.

Lady Elish’s suggestion that officers facing misconduct investigations should face public disciplinary hearings has also not been taken up. Last night, critics warned that Sir Iain’s ‘bombshell’ parting shot meant nothing if real action to spark change is not taken.

Scottish Conservative community safety spokesman Russell Findlay said: ‘The outgoing chief constable’s bombshell admissions must surely signify a watershed moment for Scottish policing, but his words will seem hollow if the SNP’s broken system of police complaints and regulation is not fixed.

‘This is about maintaining public confidence in policing and ensuring that the vast majority of good officers are protected, respected and valued.

‘We have seen what happened with the landmark Angiolini report. After more than two years, dithering SNP Ministers have failed to implement many of its key recommendations.’

Lady Elish’s damning account detailed how black and ethnic minority recruits were quitting because of racism, more than 20 years after a public inquiry chaired by Sir William Macpherson warned of ‘institutional racism’ in policing, following the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.

She also found ‘underlying sexism and differing degrees of machismo culture in different parts of the service’ and that ‘some male officers struggled to cope with having a female manager’. A ‘canteen culture’ of accepting discriminatory remarks among officers was said to be reminiscent of Life on Mars, the BBC time travel parody of politically incorrect 1970s police shows.

Despite concerns about the pace of the review’s implementation, the Scottish Government appeared pleased with the state of play.

A spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government has been working alongside policing partners to deliver the recommendations made by Dame Elish Angiolini in her independent review of police complaints handling, investigations and misconduct issues. The vast majority of the non-legislative recommendations from the review – 58 out of 72 – have already been delivered in partnership with police colleagues.’

A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Steady progress continues to be made to meet and discharge the recommendations made in Lady Elish’s review into complaints, investigations and misconduct in policing. This was a significant piece of work which underlined the range and depth of challenges for policing, those who scrutinise policing and the public we serve.

‘Police Scotland is engaging with partners regarding recommendations that require legislation.’