Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012

23 Failure to return equipment

(1) It is an offence for a constable, without reasonable excuse or the permission of the Authority, to fail to return to the Authority, immediately upon being ordered to do so, any relevant item.

(2) It is an offence for a person who ceases to be a constable, without reasonable excuse or the permission of the Authority, to fail to return to the Authority, when ceasing to be a constable, any relevant item.

(3) A person who is guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 60 days or a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(4) Subsection (5) applies wherea sheriff or a justice of the peace is satisfied on evidence on oath that—

(a) there has been a failure to return a relevant item, and

(b) the relevant item is in any place.

(5) The sheriff or, as the case may be, the justice of the peace, may grant a warrant to any constable named in the warrant to enter and search the place at any reasonable hour, if necessary by force, and to take any relevant item which is found in the place.

(6) For the purposes of this section, a “relevant item” is anything issued to a constable for the carrying out of the constable’s functions.