Kent Police Federation highlights the impacts lengthy IOPC investigations have on officers

26 January 2021

The impact of lengthy and drawn-out investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct into the actions of innocent police officers – which can last for years – can be devastating.

Kent Police Federation Secretary Dan Pearce said that while police officers have no issue with being held accountable for their actions it was “mentally exhausting” for colleagues to spend years under investigation, fearing they would lose their jobs.

The Home Affairs Select Committee is currently looking into the timescales taken by the IOPC - the body charged with investigating police officer conduct.

As part of the Police Federation of England and Wales’s #TimeLimits campaign, the Federation will be giving evidence to Parliament tomorrow (Wednesday) on the detrimental and costly impact of lengthy disciplinary investigations on police officers, their families and their colleagues.

Dan said: “Police officers understand and support that complaints need to be investigated. However, these investigations must be completed in a timely manner not only for the benefit of the officer, but for the benefit of the complainant and the wider public of Kent.

“The impact that lengthy investigations have on officers cannot be overemphasised. Police officers, their families and their colleagues live through these investigations, which can take years. To live with the thought of losing your job every day is mentally exhausting.

“Even if the officer is completely exonerated, that initial feeling of relief is often quickly replaced with bitterness and anger towards the process.”

Dan added that the quality of the IOPC’s investigations was also in his view “found wanting”, and that police officers wanted and deserve the same rights as the public to swift and fair investigations.

He said: “Police officers know how to investigate and they rightly place the same professional expectations on those that are empowered to investigate them. When it comes to timeliness and the quality of investigations, the IOPC have been found wanting against that same standard that officers are being held against, yet there is no redress.

“The IOPC, especially the branch that deals with Kent officers, seems to favour phased disclosure that often does nothing but build in unnecessary delays. The Conduct Regulations support full disclosure being given to officers, yet this is still the exception. All officers expect is to be treated fairly.”

PFEW’s #TimeLimits campaign pushes for investigations into police officers to be capped at 12 months. The IOPC’s latest figures from 2019/20 show that two thirds of its open caseload was fewer than six months old and that cases open for longer than 12 months had decreased from 24 per cent to 17 per cent, a trend that Dan said he hoped would continue.

He says that the IOPC is starting to improve, but that this needs to continue.

He concluded: “In recent times, I have seen general improvements in the timeliness of IOPC investigations and there seems to have been a shift change to adopt the spirit of ‘learning’ as part of the new Conduct Regulations. It is imperative that this continues and that this position becomes the norm rather than the exception.”

Police Federation National Conduct and Performance Lead Phill Matthews said: “Protracted disciplinary investigations have ruined the careers of multiple colleagues, left a mark on their mental health, and placed pressure on their home lives and loved ones. It is clear the effects are devastating.

“Public trust in the system will erode if people do not think their complaints will be dealt with quickly. This issue is already something many complainants frequently express.

“We are encouraged the IOPC is keen to work with us rather than against us. However, the issue of investigations rumbling on for more than a year still continues, and enough is enough.”