Police Accountability

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Police Accountability and the Quality of
Oversight The Independent Police Complaints
Commission and Police Oversight in England and
Wales Nick Hardwick IPCC Chair
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Aim

• to increase public confidence by demonstrating
  the independence, accountability and integrity of
  the complaints system and so contribute to the
  effectiveness of the police service as a whole

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Core Values

• Justice and respect for human rights
• Independence
• Integrity
• Valuing Diversity
• Openness

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• Why create an independent body to conduct
  civilian oversight of the police?
• How does the IPCC fit into other police
  oversight mechanisms in England and Wales?
• 18 months of operation
• What are the successes?
• What are the challenges?
• Where next?

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External pressures for an independent body

• Lord Scarman inquiry into 1981 Brixton riots
  widespread and dangerous lack of public
  confidence in the existing system
• 1999 The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
• what steps can and should be taken to ensure
  that serious complaints against police officers
  are independently investigated
• European Convention on Human Rights
• Article 2 Everyone's right to life shall be
  protected by law

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Public confidence in the police

• Public confidence in police is higher than other
  criminal justice agencies
• BUT falls after contact with the police (BCS
  2002/3)

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The Police Complaints Authority (PCA)1985-2004

• Full-time membership overseeing investigations by
  police but no powers to investigate
• Presumption of non-disclosure
• Police decide what is recorded and supervised
  no right of appeal, no call-in

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What were the key problemswith the old system?

• Lack of credibility the police were
  investigating themselves
• Disproportionate cost and delays
• Lack of transparency

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Whats the job to be done?

• 2003/4 23,849 individual items of police
  complaints
• Almost 1/5 of all complaints about police
  incivility
• Other significant areas of complaint
  non-serious assaults general neglect or failure
  in duty
• 2003/4 100 deaths of members of the public
  during or following police contact

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The Police Reform Act 2002 - the new complaints
system

• Covers all ranks of police officer, police staff
  and contracted police staff in England and Wales
• Greater access to the complaints system
• New rights of appeal for complainants
• New obligations to provide information during and
  after an investigation, subject to a harm test
• System for police conduct ONLY, does not cover
  force policy - direction and control

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The Police Reform Act 2002 - the new complaints
body

• The Independent Police Complaints Commission came
  into operation April 2004
• Independent investigators to tackle serious
  police misconduct
• IPCC also has a guardianship function to ensure
  effectiveness of the entire police complaints
  system

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The Police Reform Act 2002 - the new complaints
body

• Mandatory Referrals
• death or serious injury
• serious assault
• serious sexual assault
• serious corruption
• criminal behaviour aggravated by discriminatory
  behaviour
• serious arrestable offences
• IPCC can also call in or forces can voluntarily
  refer matters of public concern

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The IPCC and policing oversight in England and
Wales
Tripartite governance of individual police forces
Chief Constable, Home Secretary, Police
Authorities
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The IPCC and policing oversight in England and
Wales
Chief Constables
IPCC
HMIC
Community Policing Consultative Groups
Police Service
Police Authorities
Independent Advisory Groups
Audit Commission
Home Office
Police Standards Unit
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The IPCC - structure

• 17 Commissioners who, by law, have never served
  with the police guarantors of independence
• Building to 150 investigators by close of 2005/6
  total staff to rise to nearly 350
• Budget 2005/6 - 28.5 million
• Based in 4 regions North, Central, London/SE,
  Wales/SW
• Advisory Board of key police and non-police
  stakeholders

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The IPCC - Investigations

• Independent IPCC carries out the investigation
  using its own investigators
• Managed IPCC has direction and control of
  police investigators
• Supervised IPCC Commissioner agree police
  Investigating Officer, terms of reference
• Local Police investigation
• The majority of complaints will continue to be
  locally resolved

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The IPCC Investigations 2004/5
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The IPCC Appeals 2004/5
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The IPCC - Guardianship

• Setting, monitoring, inspecting and reviewing
  standards for the operation of the police
  complaints system
• Promoting confidence in the complaints system as
  a whole, among the public and the police
• Ensuring the accessibility of the complaints
  system
• Promoting policing excellence by drawing out and
  feeding back learning

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18 months on the successes

• Wide range of independent and managed
  investigations deaths following police contact,
  public order incidents, stop and search,
  homophobic discrimination
• Proportionate investigations - police firearms
  investigation completed in under 4 months,
  believed to be half the time of the preceding
  system
• Professional investigations developing
  concentrated expertise and experience in
  investigating serious incidents, eg police
  firearms discharges

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18 months on the successes

• Quick-time scene assessments over 100 early
  attendances at scenes by IPCC investigators in
  year 1
• Ability to change investigation type as
  investigation develops and changes
• Established IPCC in regions Commissioners and
  staff teams link to police officers, force
  complaints handling departments, community
  organisations, the public

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18 months on the challenges

• How do you maintain public confidence?
• dialogue with communities on a national and
  regional level
• taking action when concerns are raised
• outcomes
• transparency
• BUT concerns that people with less confidence
  are less likely to make a complaint

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18 months on the challenges

• How do you maintain police confidence?
• develop standards with police stakeholders
• working with all levels of policing ACPO, PSDs,
  Police Federation, UNISON
• outcomes
• transparency
• BUT also need to grow police confidence in the
  complaints system as a positive way for forces to
  hear and respond to community concerns

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18 months on the challenges

• How do we have a positive impact on policing as a
  whole?
• quick-time learning fed-back into operational
  policing eg baton-guns
• research based on themes arising from cases eg
  mental health, RTIs
• outcomes
• transparency
• BUT how do we balance the IPCCs guardianship
  role with the Chief Constable right to determine
  force policy?

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18 months on the challenges

• How do we balance the rights of the public and
  the police?
• eg Openness
• public want as much information as possible, but
  also individual privacy
• IPCC needs to ensure disclosure does not
  compromise prosecution or discipline
• rights of police subject of complaint

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18 months on where next?

• Grow investigative capacity and maintain
  commitment to reducing burden on police resources
• Take on new business Serious and Organised
  Crime Agency (SOCA) and HM Revenue and Customs
• Lessons about mental health and policing, deaths
  in custody how do we inspire changes in
  policing?
• How do we ensure confidence in disciplinary
  outcomes when we are not able to decide what
  happens?

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www.ipcc.gov.uk