a fair

The Charges Tayside has the lowest detection rate Traffic branch cars are "potential deathtraps". Officers are driving in excess of 130 mph, the cars have more than 100,000 miles on the clock and there are frequent breakdowns with engines blowing up and suspension systems giving out Most speed cameras don't work A lack of trained staff has allowed a backlog of paperwork to build up, allowing criminals to avoid prosecution The drug squad is a shambles with only three officers tasked to fight dealers Officers are tired, overworked, falling sick with stress and alienated from force top brass Tayside Chief Constable William Spence, right, may now be called before the Scottish parliament. Deputy Chief Constable Jim Mackay, above, conceded he did not consider the whistle-blowing officer to be lying

IT IS easy to see why the word "Judas" might be running through the mind of Tayside's Chief Constable William Spence today. There are calls for his head and he faces being dragged in front of the Scottish parliament for interrogation over his alleged mismanagement of the force - and it is all down to one man.

That man is one of Spence's best officers, but he will not be identified. He is a whistle-blower, and his claims have portrayed Tayside as the worst force in Scotland.

By Monday, when MSPs including John McAllion and SNP shadow justice minister Roseanna Cunningham start the process of turning the allegations into a political football, Spence and the other top brass in the force's Dundee headquarters will be under the greatest pressure of their careers. The officer's complaints have already triggered calls for a wide-ranging inquiry into the running of Tayside Police. Politicians say that if the officer's allegations can be proved, Spence's position as Chief Constable is no longer tenable.

The whistle-blowing officer has not pulled any punches. He claims the force's detection rate is a joke, officers are so demoralised they are falling sick, traffic cars are "deathtraps", the drug squad is a shambles and bureaucratic blunders are allowing criminals to avoid prosecution. Tayside police, the officer says, has a "dark side and is deceiving the public it serves". In Tayside, he claims, "if you are a drug dealer, housebreaker, car thief or speeding motorist you have less chance of being caught" than anywhere else in the country.

Tayside Police admit the whistle-blower's inside knowledge shows he has to be a high-ranking officer - at least an inspector and probably a superintendent. Every one of his allegations is in some way corroborated by statements made by other officers.

The whistle-blower claims Tayside has the "lowest detection rate of all eight forces in Scotland," claiming just under 19% of all house break-ins are solved and only 14.5% of car crimes are cleared up. Yet he also says Tayside had fewer crimes to investigate in the year 1998-99 than other forces - 32,508 compared to Lothian and Borders' 73,382.

Last year, Tayside police refused to publish the findings of an independent survey which it commissioned Abertay University to carry out. The report revealed serious morale problems in the force. A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland in 1997 also found morale problems in the force.

In a letter outlining his case against the Tayside force, the anonymous officer said: "In July, the allegation was made by a resigning detective officer that morale had reached a serious low because of poor communication and 'bulldozer' policy-making by management."

The traffic department is targeted for some of his fiercest criticism. "It has an ageing fleet of cars. Many have travelled in excess of 100,000 miles, and traffic officers describe their cars as 'potential deathtraps'. Traffic officers frequently state they break down, with engines blowing up. On occasions there are officers on duty and no cars to drive. Cars on duty can be driven in excess of 130 mph, and the potential for a disaster if an engine blows at that speed leaves nothing to the imagination."

The whistle-blower also claimed traffic officers were disgruntled that a pool of seven high-powered cars were used by the force's top brass before being passed on to traffic: "A number of these were earmarked for traffic to replace high-mileage patrol cars, but never got there."

This is just one of the major problems the officer claims are plaguing the traffic branch. There are signs for police speed cameras across the force area but, he says, the only ones working are a few along a small stretch of road on the A94 at the Forfar bypass. He claims the force bought an untested camera system that was useless, particularly along the notoriously dangerous A9.

Ironically, the success of the alternative system on the A94 means there is now a six-month backlog of speeding cases to deal with. Any motorist caught by a speed-cam has to be notified in writing within 14 days of an intended prosecution. If they do not receive a letter, they cannot be prosecuted. "Due to a lack of trained staff, many lucky motorists are escaping prosecution," claimed the officer.

Bad as these allegations are, his most damning concern the force's disastrous attempts to fight drug crime. According to the whistle- blower, the force hastily formed a surveillance branch last year, consisting of 16 officers from the drug squad. "These officers were already surveillance-trained and so the force saved money and time in their training," he claimed. "Once you become a surveillance officer you cannot be involved in reactive police work in drugs as you will blow your cover. Effectively overnight, Tayside police dispensed with its drugs branch - and over the last year has worked with one drugs officer in each of its three divisions."

He said most intelligence-led drug raids were "very basic in nature, involving a hit-or-miss strategy. No long-term surveillance work was carried out on individual dealers. The result is very minimal recoveries, and this certainly does not put the dealer out of business.

"Drug enforcement has been knocked back more than a decade in Tayside, and in comparison to other police forces is bottom of the league in numbers of officers dedicated to drug detection. The surveillance branch, due to financial constraints, has not been very effective and is not an answer to tackling the region's epidemic levels of drug dealers."

Tayside, according to police intelligence, is "awash" with heroin dealers - but, the whistle-blower says, "because there is not an effective drugs branch very little inroads have been made". The three drug officers on the force are severely overworked and under constant pressure. "It would appear to experienced officers that executives no longer give priority to drug dealers and crime," he said.

He says "cynical" officers believe Spence has not chosen to build a drugs squad because of the formation of the new Drugs Enforcement Agency later this year. "A number of experienced and trained drugs officers from Tayside will apply for the new DEA posts [and] will be costly in money and experience to replace for the force if they are successful," he says. "So if no new drugs branch is formed then no officers will be lost."

The chief constable's attempts to get a helicopter for the force have also driven a wedge into the ranks. After trying and failing to share the helicopter costs with other forces, Tayside seems determined to find the money itself. Police helicopters in England and Wales are funded directly by the Home Office, but in Scotland the cost comes from the police budget. "For the past year all heads of department have been told to tighten budgets, and police housing stock has been sold to create further funding for the helicopter," says the whistle-blowing officer.

The minimum cost of running the helicopter is #15,000 per week, and the force has previously hired a helicopter to police big events such as T in the Park. Over a year, the cost of running a helicopter would pay for an additional 52 police officers. Like all Scottish forces, Tayside is understaffed. "Most officers see the helicopter as an added luxury which during trial achieved very little to justify its existence," the officer added.

Ill-health is taking its toll on the number of bobbies on the beat. Ill-health retirements in 1999 have put force pension costs some #345,000 over budget. Tayside is also #291,000 over budget for the year 1999-2000.

"Tayside police is a mess," the whistle-blower said. "There are overwhelmingly negative feelings about an elitist management who are more worried about the furtherance of their own careers than their officers' morale. The force executive is out of touch with the community and their officers."

Tayside Police are keen to play down the accusations, but the force's attempts at a damage-limitation exercise have been less than able in rebutting the whistle-blower's claims. Overall crime is down in the area by 35% - but that isn't the same as a good clear-up rate. Tayside Police, said a recent HM Inspector of Constabulary report, had "an enthusiastic and committed staff" with "efficiency and effectiveness being achieved across the force" - yet it admitted there were morale problems.

According to Tayside chiefs, cars in the force fleet are up to scratch. They said that although there were some breakdowns, safety was paramount and high-speed pursuits were subject to close scrutiny. "It cannot be imagined that anyone would ever advocate driving at over 130 mph - contrary to policy, instruction and training," a spokesman said. However, Deputy Chief Constable Jim Mackay also admitted that there is no upper limit for officers.

Defending itself over claims of stressed and demoralised officers, the Tayside force said its issuing of stab-resistant vests and CS spray helped reduce the threat facing officers. "It is regrettable that your anonymous correspondent's comments are not only misleading but do not encompass the tremendous volume of positive efforts by officers," Mackay said.

However, the force did little to disprove any of the whistle- blower's allegations. Although Mackay said he was disappointed that a "disgruntled" officer had gone to the press, he claimed he would not start a "witch-hunt" to find him. Other officers, however, claim the force's top brass will certainly attempt to hunt out the whistle- blower.

Tellingly, Mackay conceded that he did not consider the officer to be lying - rather "telling half the story". It appears there are limitations to damage limitation. One senior member of staff even privately asked the Sunday Herald to "go easy on us be nice on Sunday".

Mackay refused to detail the number of officers used to fight drug crime. He accepted that many officers were highly stressed, but added: "I detect no fall in morale." On the issue of low detection rates, he said: "We are not complacent. The number of crimes in the area has gone down, so it is hard to sustain high detection rates." When asked if he felt, like many other high-ranking Scottish officers, that government budget constraints were limiting his force's ability to fight crime, he said: "I'm no different from any other chief officer."

Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Davidson, Tayside's representative on the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said the officer's comments were "accurate but selective", adding: "We have run vehicles over 100,000 miles and there are breakdowns." He admitted some speeders did escape prosecution, and said there were problems with speed cameras because salt put down on roads was corroding fittings.

On the problems in the drug squad, Davidson said he "differed" in his interpretation of what was happening, but said the officer was not lying. He added: "There could be an option for disciplinary procedures as some of the information revealed was confidential, [but] I doubt it would happen."

Other senior officers say the force is plagued with fake ill- health retirements. After 26 years, officers are eligible for high- yield pensions and it is claimed many feign sickness to reap the profits.

The Police Federation's Stewart Falconer agreed with Davidson that there was truth in the claims, but said the officer had "only given half the picture". "I'd be naive to say everything in the garden is rosy," he said. At least five officers are suspended over a variety of allegations, including assaulting members of the public.

Dundee East MSP John McAllion said: "These are tremendously serious allegations and I will be seeking an urgent meeting with the Chief Constable." Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, plans to table at least 12 parliamentary questions about the allegations, and intends to push the justice committee to investigate them and call William Spence in front of parliament. "I will write to Jim Wallace, the justice minister, saying we need an inquiry. That could totally shake up the running of the police across Scotland," she said.

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