IOPC chief pledges to build on improvements

10 June 2020

West Midlands Police Federation’s conduct lead George McDonnell has welcomed a commitment from the director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) that will mean officers are notified if they will be served with a notice within three months.

Michael Lockwood, joining an online meeting with Police Federation conduct leads, also said the IOPC was working hard to learn lessons and improve.

“This commitment from the director general to improve the way in which the IOPC conducts its investigations is, of course, good news,” says George, “For far too long, officers have faced prolonged inquiries that have left them in limbo for months and sometimes years. While we have seen some signs of improvement, we still need to see the IOPC build on this.
“These long investigations can have a massive impact on officers’ mental health and wellbeing and there can also be a knock-on effect for their families and friends.”

Mr Lockwood told the Federation reps: “We know that, for police officers and staff involved in our investigations, this can be a time of considerable concern. To reduce this impact, we will introduce a new commitment that, when an investigation is not completed within three months, we will aim to confirm the status of all those involved – whether they are to be considered witnesses or to serve the appropriate misconduct notices.”

He pointed out the IOPC had streamlined its case management data entry and hired specialist report writers, adding: “This is a great opportunity here to future-proof investigations. If we can do them in two or three months, let’s do them in two or three months - but not at the expense of quality.”

George is hoping that the progress made within the IOPC, and the commitment made to further improvements, will also be replicated at a local PSD level.

“Sadly, we are seeing local PSDs lagging behind and the IOPC seems to be leading the way in making firm commitments so as to expedite matters that greatly affect our colleagues and their families,” George explained.

“All too often there seem to be sound bites about officers’ welfare being paramount but they are just that – soundbites. They need to convince hundreds of officers still disaffected and lacking in trust and confidence that this is the case.

“There is a real danger that they will lose officers’ trust forever. We are not advocating anything that would be to the detriment of a complainant or the process itself but we need a commitment to more efficient practices, fair allocation of cases, more transparent processes and better accountability.”

During the meeting with the Federation, the director general explained the IOPC had closed 93 per cent of investigations within 12 months to the end of October 2019 but said: “We are not at the winning line yet. We need to make improvements which are sustainable by operating quicker, being proportionate and learning best practice from other organisations.
“I am in the process of visiting all forces and I am grateful for the advice already given to me by front-line officers I have spent the time speaking to.”

The IOPC inherited 538 legacy cases from its predecessor, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which were two years or older but has reduced these to 17 and they “should be cleared by August”.

The IOPC is discussing participating in Post-Incident Procedures training with the College of Policing and has introduced a Quality Committee as well as investigator training to improve the standards of its investigations.

Mr Lockwood identified several thematic areas where he would like to focus on learning. These included mental health issues, domestic abuse, abuse of authority for sexual gain, RTIs and near misses in custody in a bid to improve police practice to reduce the number of incidents in these areas.

Phill Matthews, the national Federation’s conduct and performance lead, said: “We are encouraged that Mr Lockwood recognises his organisation still has a long journey ahead of it and has plans to continue to change and improve it. There is a willingness to work with us rather than against us to improve the complaints system that will benefit everyone.
“We will continue to hold the IOPC to account where an investigation could have been handled better and push for outcomes for members that are just and proportionate.”

• The IOPC has come in for criticism from the Police Federation over cases that have dragged on for five or more years, as highlighted by the Time Limits campaign which is calling for investigations to conclude within 12 months as standard, from the point of an allegation being made.