Sex crime victims are recounting their ordeals in decrepit police rooms because of years of under-investment, says a police union boss.
Calum Steele, from Scottish Police Federation, showed the justice secretary damning pictures of Police Scotland’s leaking and crumbling buildings at a fringe event at the SNP conference on Friday.
They included an audio visual suite ridden by damp where victims of sex assaults are asked to relive what happened to them.
Referring to a rotting door that opens into the room, he told delegates: “Imagine the harrowing ordeal you’ve gone through and you are now faced with a police service that’s tasked with undertaking the most of horrific of investigations and that’s the first thing you see.
“That is a consequence of chronic under-investment of capital in the police force.
“That’s where we are today, every single one of you has to be angry about this.”
He said the police buildings are blighted by rooms which have mouldy carpets and damp ceilings that “absolutely stink”.
Police vehicles were being “held together” together by duct tape and cable ties “because we have no money”, Mr Steele also revealed.
Mr Steele, who is general secretary of the SPF, which represents rank-and-file officers, added: “That’s what we have to deal with now. We can’t undo three or four decades worth of under-investment by turning the tap off.
“If we do not turn our attention to dealing with these things now then our police service is going to go off a cliff edge.”
Michael Matheson, justice secretary, said a plan is being brought forward to try and resolve issues with the police estate.
He said: “These have not happened through the creation of Police Scotland, it’s through previous lack of investment in the police estate that will have to be addressed going forward.”
Mr Matheson accepted there had been problems with the creation of the single police force.
He said: “The demands to have a national approach in some ways resulted in not allowing local commanders the flexibility to be able to adapt to the local needs and circumstances in a way they would often want do.
“However, we can see that starting to change in the organisation.”
The minister added that the way police in Scotland are able to deal with sexual and domestic violence, serious organised and counter-terrorism has improved under Police Scotland and is now the leading force in the UK in these areas, along with the Metropolitan Police.
