“Too often, I’ve seen officers being dragged through lengthy investigations where careers and lives are destroyed"

29 November 2023

“I’ve seen officers being dragged through lengthy investigations where careers and lives are destroyed,” the Chair Elect of Sussex Police Federation has said.

Raffaele Cioffi was speaking after the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called for urgent reforms to investigations into officers. Currently the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) can take years to scrutinise officers’ handling of life and death incidents.

Sir Mark said: "Generally, police officers are more worried about the risks of the follow-up investigations from the IOPC than the risks from facing really difficult people. I find that really sad.” He added that armed police officers had told him they would rather face terrorists than other criminals, as there was less risk of a legal backlash. 

Raffaele said: “It is encouraging to hear that the Met Commissioner has provided some reality to the public on the current mindset of officers. 

“Sir Mark is correct – officers’ minds are occupied with the risk of a follow-up investigation from the IOPC and Professional Standards Departments (PSD). Of course officers should be held to account for their actions, but should it be the impossible standard of hindsight? 

“Too often, I’ve seen officers being dragged through lengthy investigations where careers and lives are destroyed. Officers’ accountability is important, but the judgement that is imparted on them should be done considering the circumstances that the officer was placed under at the time. Not from the comfortable position that investigators find themselves when reviewing our members’ split-second decisions.”

Raffaele referred to a recent incident where an off-duty Sussex Police officer used force to deal with an aggressive shoplifter. He said: “The officer was subjected to a lengthy and stressful misconduct procedure where he was judged on the standards of hindsight. Fortunately for this member, they had a very sensible Chair who found No Misconduct on behalf of our officer.”

Raffaele continued: “Officers are putting themselves in harm’s way and suffering physical and mental harm on the public’s behalf. If they make a genuine mistake, they find themselves having to answer to the IOPC, an ineffective investigative body that is solely focused on their complaint, and not in conducting an impartial investigation.

“Our members simply want to serve the public and remove those that choose to do harm within our community. They shouldn’t be held to an impossible, angelic standard that could never be achieved in any industry. Officers deserve better protection when it comes to accountability, especially around use of force.”