‘Is the IOPC truly independent?’ ask Fed chair

30 October 2024

The chair of West Mercia Police Federation has questioned the ‘true’ independence of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Steve Butler has criticised the time the IOPC has spent investigating PC Abbie Myers, despite her being cleared of causing death by dangerous driving and death by careless driving.

Steve described his frustration at the timeline of events and the time it has taken to conclude the investigations since the incident happened on 27 January 2022.

He said it was not until 18 July 2022 that the IOPC made a formal referral to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Since the incident, the thoughts of the officer and Steve have remained with the family of the man who died in a collision with the police car she was driving.

Steve said: “We are sympathetic to the family who have lost a loved one. The lives of two families have been turned upside down, but it was not the officer’s fault. And that’s not just my word - she has been cleared by law.”

Steve said that Abbie was finally charged in May 2023 with a trial date set for 22 April this year.

Acquitted

However, in March the CPS offered no evidence and she was acquitted of the two charges.

Steve said: “It took more than two years to get to that point.”

However, on 12 March, the IOPC said that the officer was still under gross misconduct procedures, Steve said.

“When it went to court and was dropped, we got a driver trainer report for the defence,” he explained.

“The prosecution, at the last minute, also got a driver trainer report as well.

Branch chair Steve Butler.

“Both of the reports said the officer was not at fault. Why didn’t they do that months ago? It’s farcical.

“When these two reports are saying the officer has done nothing wrong and hasn’t breached a policy, why does the IOPC want to still put her through a gross misconduct hearing?”

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has long been campaigning for a time limit for disciplinary proceedings against officers.

Through its Time Limits campaign, PFEW has been calling for it to be set at 12 months from the allegations being made.

Steve said: “The case was dropped by the CPS on 5 March, but the IOPC has still taken eight months to decide if it’s going to gross misconduct.

“It shouldn’t take that long.

Taxpayers' money

“And it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money, in my opinion, because these hearings don’t come cheap.”

Steve said it raised questions about the independence of the IOPC.

“I don’t believe it is independent because it seems to be acting on behalf of the public to get an outcome,” he said.

“There’s something not right about how they are so insistent on pursuing it.

“I think they want to justify the two and a half years of time they have put into it, and the amount of taxpayers’ money that’s gone into it.

“It’s cases like these that do not give officers confidence and reassurance that the criminal and complaints process is a fair, independent procedure.

“So no, I don’t think they are truly independent.”

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