John Finnie MSP, Scottish Green Party

Local MSP John Finnie, Scottish Greens has called on Police Scotland to provide a Human Rights Assessment covering their arrangements for dealing with custodies. He made the request at the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Sub Committee on Policing . John Finnie is the Scottish Greens Justice Spokesperson.

The Scottish Police Federation has raised various issues about how the force deals with custodies which indicated that those arrested were often conveyed considerable distances from their point of arrest to suitable custody facilities.

The number of locations where custodies can be held has been greatly reduced in recent years. John Finnie believes that there needs to be a serious look into the practice.

John  Finnie said:

“Depriving someone of their liberty is an extremely serious issue and custodies must be held in appropriate facilities.

“However, with the closure of some cell blocks, it’s increasingly the case that those arrested are taken some considerable distance to be locked-up, with consequential loss of police officers to their community.

“I’ve asked that Police Scotland provide a full Human Rights Assessment covering their operating procedures”