At Last The Scotish Bobby Will Be PC,

thanks to a 140-page 'diversity handbook' containing tips such as 'Don't lean on a disabled person's wheelchair', the guide points out that it is unhelpful for officers to cover their mouths when talking to somebody who is lip-reading, and suggests the phrase 'blind as a bat' may cause offence, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland spent almost £5,000 on the project, consulting 75 different groups before handing out 7,000 copies of the booklet to all Scottish police forces, the pocket- sized book includes advice such as: 'Do not lean on a person's wheelchair, it is part of their body space and may move.' when dealing with a member of the public with a facial disfigurement, it tells officers: 'Do not ask what happened to them', the book also points out that cheery traditional greetings such as 'hen', 'pet', 'love' and 'my dear' should never be addressed to a woman, and officers are reminded that a woman who is provocatively dressed and 'paying attention to passing vehicles' may not necessarily be a prostitute, one serving police officer, who asked not to be named, told the Mail: 'In all my years of policing I've never seen a colleague leaning on somebody's wheelchair, or moving their walking stick without asking, 'Do we really need a 140-page booklet to tell us how to spot a prostitute, or not to describe a member of the public as "blind as a bat"? 'Give us some credit, for heaven's sake.' I wonder when this important and informative booklet will be available to all of the police forces in the UK?