Police Control room staff didn't take Edinburgh 999 call seriously enough

The police watchdog’s found control room staff failed to take calls to a flat in Edinburgh seriously enough – with officers later finding a man dead inside.

On 25 March 2018, the 51 year old was found unresponsive on the living room floor, having taken a drug overdose.

In the late evening the night before, a downstairs neighbour dialled 999 to report a disturbance in the flat above. He reported hearing banging, shouting, raised voices and arguing coming from the flat – telling the call handler that there had been a fight in the flat before and that a female had been attacked within.

Police officers were told by the Bilston Area Control Room to attend a disturbance in the street, but were not instructed to go to the flat. PIRC found the staff member who managed the incident was dismissive of the reporter’s concerns and report due to her perception that he was a person who abused the 999 system to report minor matters, many of which she considered were not matters for the police to deal with.

The police officers who attended the reported incident searched the area, but did not go to either the flat, where the deceased was found, or speak to the reporter. The attending police officers then told the control room there was no disturbance going on.

The next morning - the man was found dead inside.

PiRC investigators made two recommendations:

The ACR staff member should be reminded of the need to deal professionally with all calls from members of the public and accurately pass relevant information to operational officers.

Where there is a named reporter, where appropriate, police officers attending a call should make contact with the reporter to clarify the information provided and undertake effective investigation, unless the reporter specifically states that they do not wish to be contacted by the police.

Police Scotland have responded to the report - saying they accept the findings and have carried out an internal review.