Police Scotland, the beleaguered national force, has been accused of letting the public down after polling revealed that almost two thirds of Scots believe that it is performing badly.
Sir Stephen House’s organisation, which has been hit by a series of controversies culminating in a young couple being left to die by the roadside, appears to have lost the nation’s confidence.
A poll for The Times shows that 63 per cent of voters think it is doing badly; 29 per cent think it is doing well. The net satisfaction rating is minus 34.
The findings will be a blow for the force but also for the SNP, as the nationalists enter the second day of their annual conference in Aberdeen.
The SNP presided over the merger of Scotland’s eight regional forces into a single organisation. The merger has been beset with problems, with the inception blighted by high-profile turf wars between Sir Stephen, who will leave his post next month, and Vic Emery, the former head of the Scottish Police Authority watchdog.
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There has been criticism over the use of stop and search, and the arming of officers, with Sir Stephen standing accused of importing the methods he used in Strathclyde to all regions.
The difficulties reached crisis point in July when Lamara Bell and John Yuill were left in their crashed car by the side of the M9, despite a member of the public having reported the accident. By the time officers arrived some three days and another call later, Mr Yuill was dead and Ms Bell was fighting for her life. She later died in hospital.
The Times poll found that dissatisfaction with Police Scotland was highest among men, with 70 per cent thinking the force was doing badly, compared with 58 per cent of women. Independence supporters are happiest with it — although 55 per cent think it is doing badly — along with Scots who plan to vote SNP next May. A full 42 per cent of those voters think it is doing well, compared with 19 per cent of Tories and 18 per cent of Labour voters.
Margaret Mitchell, the Scottish Conservatives justice spokeswoman, said the poll showed that “the people of Scotland are being let down by the SNP’s single force”.
She added: “This damning verdict from the public is no reflection on the hard-working officers themselves. But it says a lot about how the SNP created and has managed the single force. It has lurched from crisis to crisis, and the Scottish government has had no answers whatsoever.
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“Now people are beginning to question what it is the SNP is doing to try to improve law and order in Scotland.”
However, Neil Richardson, Scotland’s deputy chief constable, said: “In our most recent survey between April and June 2015 of 3,800 respondents, 77.8 per cent of people who actually contacted Police Scotland to report an incident or crime have high or very high confidence in the police. More than 90 per cent of those people surveyed also expressed satisfaction at their initial contact with Police Scotland.”
A Scottish government spokesman said: “The SNP government has delivered and maintained more than 1,000 extra police officers, helping to ensure that crime in Scotland has fallen to a 41-year low.”
Although there is overwhelming dissatisfaction with the core element of Scottish justice, the poll also shows that 45 per cent of voters think that, overall, the government is handing the brief well and 40 per cent think it is doing badly.
Forty-eight per cent think that it is handling the NHS well, and 43 per cent think it is handling it badly.