Lengthy IOPC investigations are in no-one’s interest, says Federation chair

26 November 2018

The length of time taken by the Independent Office for Police Complaints (IOPC) to carry out its investigations is top of the list in terms of what members want Leicestershire Police Federation to tackle, according to the new branch chair, Dave Stokes.

On taking up his new role, Dave canvassed the opinions of members on what they wanted from him and the Federation.

“The most common answer related to the time it takes for misconduct investigations to be undertaken,” Dave explained. “As an example, during 2017 into this year, I represented a sergeant who made a decision relating to the deployment of police resources.

“The officer was served misconduct papers and an investigation was undertaken by the IOPC. After a year, it was decided that the officer had not breached any conduct regulations and that they had made reasonable and lawful decisions during their risk assessments. 

“I totally understand and support that officers should be accountable when there are allegations relating to breaches of the standards of professional behaviour. However, it is not in the interest of the public, the police service or police officers when investigations are unduly lengthy.

“The IOPC must understand that mental torture is unacceptable and that investigations should be completed with this in mind as well as maintaining professional practices within policing.”

Dave said he feels both the Leicestershire professional standards department and the chief officer team understand this.

He added:  “While we must maintain and improve professional standards, consideration as to the welfare of staff and timeliness of investigations is at the top of strategic reviews.”

Dave’s comments come as the Federation’s national conduct lead, Phill Matthews, called for timelines to be introduced for IOPC investigations saying the current regime was inhumane and was blighting lives.

Writing in a blog posted on the national Federation website, Phill, who is one of Leicestershire’s regional representatives on the Federation National Board, said: “We would argue that 12 months is a more than adequate length of time for any non-criminal investigation to be satisfactorily concluded, particularly as all the witnesses are usually already known. There is also often CCTV, body-worn video or other documentary evidence that is already in police possession.

“Of course, as police officers, none of us want to see the small number of bad apples escape justice. We genuinely do not want them in the service.

“But to uphold this draconian regime which is blighting so many lives is not only unacceptable, it is inhumane.”

Phill added: “In our view, justice delayed is justice denied – for everybody.”

The issue is set to be debated at this week’s meeting of Federation conduct leads from across the country.