Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Police in the Northern Constabulary are unhappy, the cause, they don’t want to be subject to overview because of cost.














Dear All

The Police in the Northern Constabulary are unhappy, the cause, they don’t want to be subject to overview.

They would rather have not to deal with Freedom of Information requests because they say it divert funds away from other police work.

So is it important that organisations such as the Police remain transparent?

In a democracy this should be seen as essential in order to serve the public trust.

The main issue that is stated is the financial aspect of doing the work. It would therefore be sensible to ask for additional funding from the Scottish Government.

Business and public bodies asked Northern Constabulary 178 questions, MP and MSPs made 166 requests while 15 came from solicitors.

So should requests be solely available to those who have power?

And the answer has to be no.

Research by the Scottish Information Commissioner published last year that suggested more than two-thirds of Scots wanted legal access to documents held by bodies such as private prisons.

That is because Scotland is a corrupt country, where people are denied their rights on a continual basis.

The system is so rotten that it is only because of Acts of Parliament such as the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2005 that information trickles out.

If the Police want more funds they should approached the Scottish Government with specific proposals such as a cut of monies recovered from the Proceeds of Crimes Act.

It would also encourage them to be more pro active in chasing down target criminals operating in Scotland.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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