IOPC improving but still “unacceptable” delays, report finds

2 March 2022

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) must become more transparent and publicly accountable, according to Suffolk Police Federation.

Branch chair Darren Harris has reacted to the findings of a Parliamentary inquiry into the police complaints and disciplinary process, which was published yesterday and found that, while progress has been made, the delay in concluding investigations remains “troubling”.

He said: “Suffolk Federation is grateful to MPs for taking up the issue of the length of time taken to conclude misconduct investigations. We note their findings that 91 per cent of the IOPC case backlog has been cleared up, but the length of delays to many investigations are still totally unacceptable.

“There is often no rationale for these delays, or they are caused by issues such as lack of disclosure or other proceedings. We support the dismissal of officers who are found to have committed misconduct, but in most cases the IOPC finds that officers are found to have done nothing wrong or simply made mistakes under pressure.

“This is why we fully support the national Federation in its Time Limits campaign to establish a binding time limit to avoid investigations dragging on needlessly, at great cost to mental health and public confidence – and not to mention the public purse.”

The 56-page report found that:

• Professional Standards Departments (PSDs) should be properly resourced to ensure complaints are handled to a high standard and in a timely manner
• PSDs should be more transparent and ethnically diverse
• The police discipline system needs to be simpler and more transparent
• Former police officers and military personnel serving as IOPC investigators would bring valuable experience and expertise
• Police and Crime Commissioners should be funded adequately to monitor the root causes of complaints
• Forces must adopt rapid, open and non-defensive response to complaints.

The report’s recommendations included funding Police and Crime Commissioners to work more closely with their forces to record and systematically monitor the root causes of complaints and how their forces resolve those issues.

It also called for the police discipline system needs to be simpler and more transparent, using accessible language, and for top-down culture of rapid, open and non-defensive responses to complaints about conduct.

It added: “The IOPC must use its powers effectively to minimise delays to investigations at an early stage of the process.”

Read the report.