Scotland’s biggest force has sacked three officers and a civilian member of staff for sharing sensitive information with criminals.

CLOSER vetting of potential police recruits is being demanded after it was revealed Scotland’s biggest force has sacked three officers and a civilian member of staff for sharing sensitive information with criminals.

Strathclyde’s Deputy Chief Constable, Neil Richardson, has revealed 27 of the region’s 199 known criminal gangs have invested time and money trying to infiltrate the police force.

The revelation has brought calls for the reintroduction of visits to the homes of new recruits. They used to help filter out unsuitable candidates but were axed before an SNP-led recruitment drive which resulted in 1000 new officers being taken on across Scotland in 2008/09.

Threats, sex, money, drugs and blackmail are among tactics used by criminals to either “turn” officers, forcing them to becoome informers for gangsters, or to coerce them into passing on sensitive information from the Scottish Intelligence Database and other sources."

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