Bad Cop ... Again.

He may have been provoked by what can only be described as a bunch of neds ... but that doesn't make his actions and what he went on to do right. The Police are held by the highest standard, and this officer failed to meet it.

"A POLICEMAN punched a 14-year-old boy after he threw burning wood at firefighters. Constable John Carr then smashed the heads of the boy and another teenager together. Yesterday, he was convicted of two charges of assault after police lied under oath."

Bad Cops.

Very officially two bad cops. But lots of cops resign before they are forced to.

"TWO disgraced cops who lied to fit-up a law student and his pal have quit before they could be fired. Community officers Neil Jones, 35, and Andrew MacRobert, 28, were found guilty of making up breach of the peace charges against William Reid and Callum McCaig. They were suspended on full pay after the incident in Bothwell, Lanarkshire, in February 2006. Following a trial last April, a judge at Hamilton Sheriff Court told the Blantyre-based constables they had shamed their force."

Suspended Annimation.

"A SCOTTISH policeman has been suspended on full pay for the past four and a half years, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. The Strathclyde officer, who has not been named, is understood to have clocked up at least £100,000 in wages since he was sent home on full pay in 2005.The officer is one of five individuals at the force who have been on suspension for more than a year while they await criminal proceedings and internal disciplinary hearings."

Is he a bad cop? We don't know. But should it really take four years to find out? Justice delayed is justice denied, especially for the officer involved.

Yes Police.

"An influential committee of MSPs has criticised Scotland's top police officers association, warning it is unaccountable and should be subjected to closer scrutiny. The Scottish Parliament's public audit committee has called on the government to investigate measures to bring the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) under effective inspection."

Given the prominent role which Acpos fulfills and its major role in deciding the policing priorities for Scotland, Mr Smith would agree there needs to be far more political and public scrutiny of their activities. We'll see how long it takes for that to happen. Mr Smith won't be holding his breath waiting for it to happen.

Lost.

He's a bad cop ... albeit by accident.

"A POLICE officer on a drugs raid lost a notebook containing top secret information on suspects and operations. It was left behind after a raid carried out as part of Operation York, one of Scotland's biggest drugbusting operations. The book contained details of interviews with suspects - which could have been vital as evidence - as well as a list of about 40 suspected dealers and crucial personal information."

Another Bad Cop?

"A POLICEMAN has been accused of assaulting a teenage boy and destroying a recording of the attack. PC Brian Carswell, 48, denies grabbing suspected thief David Shields, 16, by the throat and pinned him against a wall during an official interview. When three other officers entered the room at Ayr Police Station, they found Shields crying with marks on his throat. Slightly built Shields, of Ayr, claimed 15- stone Carswell assaulted him and that he had recorded it on his mobile phone."

The courts will decide.

Thinner Blue Line.

When we have to make cuts in the numbers of police officers being recruited on order to protect the pensions of those that are already serving or have retired then it seems to Mr Smith that something is not right somewhere.

"Up to 30 fewer police officers are to be recruited in the north-east than was planned after councillors moved to plug a force pension funding shortfall."

Bullied Cops.

It would appear there are a few more bad cops in Lothian and Borders Police.

"SIX police officers with the Lothian and Borders force submitted complaints to bosses claiming they were suffering from "bullying and harassment" by colleagues."

Sloppy.

Not so much bad cops as sloppy cops, but it highlights the types of criminal that the cops are up against these days. The phrase "opportunist" doesn't do these thieves full justice.

"JOYRIDERS rammed a police 4x4 into a wall after stealing its keys. They broke into a police station which had been left unoccupied for just a few minutes. Cops found the £26,000 Toyota Rav4 smashed into a wall a mile from Gourock police office after it was stolen on the morning of New Year's Day."

Bad Cop.

And another one?

"A POLICEMAN has been suspended after he was accused of lying in court. PC Jeff McDermid denied threatening to beat up John Harper after trying to nail him for vandalising a car. But now McDermid faces his own trial after the vandal's story was backed up by the man whose car he trashed."

Bad Cop.

He's a bad cop, and he should have known better.

"A POLICE officer who shouted bigoted abuse and chanted sectarian songs at a Rangers game is facing the sack. On-duty officers warned PC Gregg Loudon to stop but he carried on singing and was arrested. Loudon, 30, was suspended without pay by Fife Police after his shameful behaviour at a Rangers' Champions League clash with Villareal. He is almost certain to be kicked out of the force after being found guilty of religiously aggravated breach of the peace and fined £400 at Glasgow Sheriff Court."

99 Years.

Mr Smith thinks that people have a right to be protected from racially aggravated anti-social behaviour and physical assaults, but is there really any point in hitting a 49-year old alcoholic with an ASBO that last 99 years? And then we wonder why the police and legal authorities are bringing the law and its operation into such disrepute?

"A HOMELESS man in Glasgow has been hit with a 99-year super-Asbo in a bid to tackle racist repeat offenders. In the longest Asbo ever imposed, Michael Gilligan was served with the criminal antisocial behaviour order after a series of racially aggravated assaults against security staff at a Gorbals supermarket."

Bad Hero Cop?

"A hero police boss has been charged and suspended over claims he lied to beat a speeding rap. Inspector Gavin McGowan is accused of falsely claiming he was on duty when his police car was clocked. He has now been charged with perverting the course of justice by colleagues."

The courts will decide, but given he was stabbed eleven times in the line of duty it is possibly a tragic end to a commendable and previously exemplary police career.

Reformed Bad Cop.

He was a bad cop, but has he learned his lessons and become a reformed character?

"A POLICEMAN banned from driving for doing 136mph is back behind the wheel - nabbing speeding motorists. Northern Constabulary officer Blair McMaster, 31, patrols the streets in a powerful BMW 3 Series. Yet just three years ago he avoided jail and was banned for a year for driving a speedy Subaru Impreza WRX at 136mph while off duty."

Bad Cops?

Justice will decide.

"TWO top cops who were at the centre of a miscarriage of justice case have been charged. Former Chief Superintendent Richard Munro and Detective Inspector Kenneth Chatham are accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice. If found guilty, it will be the first time British officers have been convicted in connection with a miscarriage of justice. Munro and Chatham were investigating officers in the murder of Andrew Forsyth in Dunfermline in November 1995."

Yes, Police.

"A POLICE agency set up to save public money has spent more than £2million on consultants in less than two years. A Sunday Mail investigation shows the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) spent £924,437 in its first year on private firms to advise on training, management, computers, advertising and public relations. The cost of consultants over the next six months was £809,848 - double the rate of spending in the first year. A further £273,798 was spent by the Scottish Government in the three months before the SPSA was formed, bringing the total to more than £2million. The same amount would pay for 75 new police officers."

A pretty clear example of the reality not living up to the aspiration. Wouldn't you rather have an extra 75 bobbies on the beat? There seems to be a very definite lack of oversight of what the agency is up to. Does that make them bad cops?

Shameful.

On a theme of bad cops, but tragically so.

The whole incident gives an awful insight into modern policing methods and levels of police competence.

"UNDER-FIRE police yesterday confirmed the body found in missing Alan Goulden's garden was his. They spent 10 weeks hunting for policeman's dad Alan while his body lay in a hedge just 10 feet from his front door. Yesterday, the Lothian and Borders force officially identified him and said a postmortem examination had ruled out crime. They have called in Strathclyde Police to investigate the bungled search."

Home Grown.

Not a bad cop, but a cop who should should have known better. But almost Keystone nonetheless.

"DRUG squad police busted a £1million-a-year cannabis factory - then found the landlord was a fellow cop. The drug farm was found in the picturesque Highland house owned by Constable Neil Bremnar. He works 90 miles away in Gairloch - on a Wester Ross beat like TV's dope-smoking cop Hamish Macbeth. Bremnar told bosses he had rented his house out to Chinese tenants. The stone cottage in Dornoch, Sutherland, was targeted during a wave of raids on gangs who turn family homes into cannabis farms."

Cop That.

"A CIVILIAN worker stole £120,000 from a police station - then buried it in his garden. But Robert Moffat, 43, was caught after embarking on a massive spending spree. He splashed out on a new bathroom, a motorbike, a car and a holiday. The cash had been seized as evidence in a drugs case then left in a hold-all at Hamilton police station. Moffat, 43, worked in the production room there. But it took months for cops to realise the huge stash of cash was missing."

At least the cops got him in the end, but if did take them months. Does that make them bad cops?

Allegedly ... A Bad Cop.

"AN ISLAND'S only policeman has been charged with two sex attacks and a string of gun offences. Special constable Patrick MacKinnon, 47, was arrested by colleagues on Canna."

And innocent until proven guilty. Bad cop?