By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
Scotland’s police watchdog has written to the Chief Constable to seek assurances over vetting in the wake of recent high-profile cases of officers being exposed as violent sex offenders.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) raised concerns about the time it is taking Police Scotland to carry out recommendations made three years ago to ensure, at the very least, officers and staff hold recruitment vetting.
The recommendations came in an HMICS report in October 2023 which highlighted that prior to the creation of Police Scotland, vetting was varied, inconsistent, and not always recorded effectively.
It revealed that no checks of officers and staff employed by the legacy forces were carried out when the new organisation was established in 2013, with some having no vetting record.
The watchdog’s latest concerns come after the disturbing details of crimes committed by two former Police Scotland officers emerged.
Earlier this year, police officer Alan Greer was revealed to be a violent rapist. He took his own life in May while under investigation for a string of violent sex attacks over a 14-year period.
In September, Campbell Petrie was found guilty of nine charges, including two of rape, as well as indecent assault, assault with intent to rape and assault to injury and danger of life, which took place between 2006 and 2023.
He was a serving officer at the time of the offences, and was arrested, charged and suspended from duty in December 2023. He retired from Police Scotland in December 2025.
HMICS lead inspector Maggie Pettigrew told the Scottish Police Authority’s complaints and conduct committee that the watchdog is “concerned” about the time taken to progress recommendation two from its report – to undertake an urgent review to ensure that all officers and staff have been subject to at least recruitment vetting.
She said: “We don’t underestimate the size of the piece of work that’s required to discharge it, but we did publish our report in October 2023 and the current update states that they indicate with a very high surety that all police officers and staff hold recruitment vetting… but we will require some evidence as to how that level of confidence has been reached.”
Members of the committee heard that a “historic data wash” had been carried out and all paper copy vetting from the legacy forces had been converted to the digital Core-Vet case management system.
Pettigrew added: “Following the recent press reporting, [HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Craig] Naylor (main picture) has written to Police Scotland asking for assurances about how robust that historic data wash has been, and what confidence it has over the action taken in relation to any responses that the data wash might have generated.”
David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, told 1919 that while he accepts the importance of vetting and the work being done to implement the HMICS recommendations, it has its limitations when it comes to identifying potential sex offenders.
It recently came to light that Greer had passed vetting checks to join the police, despite having two reports of criminal behaviour against women on his record.
“These cases… do shake public trust and confidence in policing, not least in relation to violence against women and girls. This is and must be a matter of the highest concern”
He was investigated by police in 2002 and 2005 for making inappropriate phone calls to women, with one case resulting in a formal police caution. However, he was accepted into Strathclyde Police in 2009, despite the force being aware of his previous offending.
“I don’t believe vetting is going to stop narcissistic men within the police service, and it’s not going to stop people who are going to commit crimes against women,” said Kennedy.
“The only way we stop that is by having a system whereby people aren’t scared of reporting a police officer for committing a crime. That’s what we need to fix.”
Chair of the complaints and conduct committee and SPA vice chair, Chris Creegan, also voiced concerns on the issue at a subsequent meeting of the full SPA board.
“As the Chief Constable and her colleagues know only too well, these cases, while different in certain important respects and of course small in number, do shake public trust and confidence in policing, not least in relation to violence against women and girls. This is and must be a matter of the highest concern for us all,” he said.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “The safeguarding of our values and standards is extremely important to the organisation, and we are committed to ongoing learning and improvement in relation to our vetting approach.
“We have implemented changes to policy and procedures as a result of the enactment of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Act 2025, and over recent years have twice increased the number of personnel in the vetting department.
“Recording of vetting before the creation of Police Scotland varied between the legacy forces. Although there were various recording methods prior to the current system, we know that all legacy police forces conducted vetting of officers and staff prior to their appointment.
“In addition to those holding recruitment vetting, there are more than 5,000 officers and staff who are vetted to an enhanced level which includes additional vetting reviews being carried out.
“The HMICS Assurance Review of Vetting 2023 recommendation in relation to the re-vetting process is also being progressed.
“In addition to the current recruitment vetting processes, additional checks for new recruits are conducted just prior to taking the oath of office.”
