IOPC chief admits watchdog needs to further improve

9 June 2020

The director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) says there is an opportunity to improve the speed of investigations but says this must not come at the expense of quality.

Michael Lockwood’s comments, which were made in an online meeting with Police Federation conduct leads, have been welcomed by Humberside Police Federation’s conduct lead Ian Spain.

“We have seen improvements in the way the IOPC works in the last 12 to 18 months and we have established effective working relationships with our contacts at the regional branch,” says Ian.

“Where there have been issues, we have been able to raise these and this has led to action being taken. That said, I fully agree with what the director general is saying. The IOPC needs to build on progress to date and ensure that its investigations are timely and proportionate while also making sure that any officers involved in a case are kept fully up to date with developments.

“We see first-hand the damaging effect prolonged conduct investigations can have not just on the health and wellbeing of the officers involved but also their families and friends who try to support them through the process.

“It is also frustrating that the IOPC has been able to take so long as the police officers’ workbook checks are 28 days for victim and witness updates and there can also be issues where officers are witnesses to coroners’ enquiries undertaken by the watchdog and we help there too.”

Ian was able to raise his own concerns with Mr Lockwood personally when he visited the Force last year

During the recent online meeting, Mr Lockwood gave a commitment that the IOPC would now notify officers if they would be served with a notice within three months.

Ian believes that would be a step in the right direction after Federation conduct leads had raised concerns that officers were being left in a very frustrating and uncomfortable position of not knowing what was happening with investigations for lengthy periods of time.

Mr Lockwood insisted the IOPC is ‘working hard’ to learn lessons and improve and said: “We know that, for police officers and staff involved in our investigations, this can be a time of considerable concern.

“To reduce this impact, we will introduce a new commitment that, when an investigation is not completed within three months, we will aim to confirm the status of all those involved – whether they are to be considered witnesses or to serve the appropriate misconduct notices.”

The Federation’s Time Limits campaign has called for investigations to conclude within 12 months as standard, from the point of an allegation being made. This follows the criticism the IOPC has encountered from the Police Federation over cases that have dragged on for five or more years.

Mr Lockwood also told the conduct leads the IOPC had streamlined its case management data entry and hired specialist report writers.

“This is a great opportunity here to future-proof investigations, he said. “If we can do them in two or three months, let’s do them in two or three months - but not at the expense of quality.”

He also pointed out the IOPC had closed 93 per cent of investigations within 12 months to the end of October 2019.

But he added: “We are not at the winning line yet. We need to make improvements which are sustainable by operating quicker, being proportionate and learning best practice from other organisations. I am in the process of visiting all forces and I am grateful for the advice already given to me by front-line officers I have spent the time speaking to.”

The IOPC inherited 538 legacy cases from its predecessor, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which were two years or older but has reduced these to 17 and, the director general said they ‘should be cleared by August’.

It is discussing participating in Post-Incident Procedures training with the College of Policing and has introduced a Quality Committee as well as investigator training to improve the standards of its investigations.

Mr Lockwood identified several thematic areas where he would like to focus on learning including mental health issues, domestic abuse, abuse of authority for sexual gain, RTIs and near misses in custody in a bid to improve police practice to reduce the number of incidents in these areas.

Phill Matthews, the Federation’s national conduct and performance lead, said: “We are encouraged that Mr Lockwood recognises his organisation still has a long journey ahead of it and has plans to continue to change and improve it. There is a willingness to work with us rather than against us to improve the complaints system that will benefit everyone.

“We will continue to hold the IOPC to account where an investigation could have been handled better and push for outcomes for members that are just and proportionate.”