Since the creation of Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), there has been limited local democratic scrutiny and no local accountability of the police service.

Policing is a service that was created by local councils and which relies on the trust and confidence of its communities. This deficiency has been partially acknowledged by the Strategic Partnership Agreement for Policing recently signed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). It commits the partners to strengthen their collaboration on a range of strategic priorities – including local democratic scrutiny and accountability. With the exact details to be ironed out, now would be a good time to apply the lessons of Baroness Casey's recent review of the Metropolitan Police service (the Met).