Police Scotland has come under fire after offering high street gift vouchers worth up to £360 each to members of an LGBT 'citizens' panel' that called for officers to 'kindly' respect criminals' pronouns. The service established a group of 20 individuals, recruited through LGBT networks, to represent 'many diverse identities' and enhance the 'safety and wellbeing of people, places and communities'.
Panel recommendations and reactions
Members were asked to 'share an object that represented their impressions or feelings about the discussions', and trigger warnings were issued ahead of potentially 'distressing' conversations. Other proposals included compulsory participation in pro-LGBT activities for officers who are 'more prone' to having homophobic or transphobic views.
Former senior officers condemned the exercise as a 'self-indulgent act of virtue-signalling', arguing that police should be taught about 'crime investigation rather than what different rainbow flags mean'. Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachael Hamilton stated: 'At a time when officer numbers are falling and frontline resources are stretched after years of SNP cuts, the public expect policing to focus on tackling crime and protecting communities – not becoming distracted by political activism or virtue-signalling initiatives.'
Background and further proposals
The panel was launched after Chief Constable Jo Farrell made a public apology in 2024 to LGBT communities 'for the pain caused through injustices' including 'enforcing laws which criminalised love and identity'. It recommended that officers policing Pride events should be in uniform, while those present as part of a Police Scotland float or as individuals 'should be free to wear T-shirts or similar which identify their connection with Police Scotland'.
The panel also recommended that police 'ask for pronouns and understand that people may need to be addressed as something different than their legal ID', emphasising that officers 'must use the name and pronouns they are told'. Additionally, it called for the creation of a permanent panel to 'monitor' and hold police 'accountable' for their interactions with the LGBT community. Panel members also suggested that 'officers more prone to anti-LGBTQIA+ views' should be 'integrated thoroughly and compulsorily in the pro-LGBTQIA+ activities the police is carrying out'.
Criticism from former officers
One former senior officer, speaking anonymously, described the initiative as 'yet another self-indulgent act of virtue-signalling by Police Scotland'. Former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher remarked: 'Maybe asking for the description of an assailant should be a cop's priority when speaking to a witness, not the latest fad. If we focused on these basics, rather than ploughing resources and cash from dwindling government allocations into disputed causes, maybe we could be teaching our cops about crime investigation rather than what different rainbow flags mean today, which so often changes tomorrow.'
Dave Marshall, a former Police Scotland chief superintendent and author of The Fall of Policing, said: 'By engaging in identity politics of this nature, Police Scotland risks reinforcing the perception that it is prioritising one group over others.'
Chief Superintendent Nicky Russell, Tayside divisional commander and chairman of the Citizens' Panel Strategic Oversight Group, described it as 'humbling to have been part of this work'.
