Without a robust system of enforcement, new police complaints legislation could be lost in a bureaucratic vacuum

Chris Topping, Head of Actions Against the Police, comments:

The Home Office has this month launched new legislation designed to shake up how complaints made against the police are handled and improve the discipline system for officers.

The changes, which came into effect on 1 February, should ensure that complaints can be dealt with quickly, effectively and proportionately, not just for the benefit of the public but also for the police.

As well as simplifying the complaints system, the changes have been created to give the Police and Crime Commissioners a greater role in increasing independence and improving complaints handling.

There are some areas, such as the introduction of a 12 month time frame in which cases should be dealt with, which are encouraging. Unfortunately, police complaints can be put onto the backburner and under the current system and the challenges of austerity, we have seen the timelines for dealing with complaints lengthen, with even the simplest cases often taking over 12 months to be dealt with, so this would be a welcome change.

So far, so good – but the devil really is in the detail with this new set of rules. Although designed to transform the current system, it’s challenging to say what real impact the legislation will have at this point, not least because the regulating body, the Independent Office for Police Complaints (IOPC), has only just published its guidance on how it plans to enforce this legislation

One concern is that this legislation has been introduced very suddenly and there is a danger that serious issues may not be dealt with as seriously as needed and that this change could actually worsen the situation and shift police complaints process backwards.

The IOPC is already under regulated and there is a danger that unless cases are incredibly serious, like death in custody, they may be passed back to the police force in question to investigate and then deal with any appeal.

We also appear to be moving towards a scenario where complaints around issues like incivility, which can actually have a significant impact on the public, could be relegated to being dealt with via performance reviews rather than being transparently and properly investigated.

We have 43 police forces across the country, all operating with different professional standards departments. However, even with the new guidance from the IOPC it is easy to see that there is still a lack of a clear, cohesive structure where complaints are handled in a uniform way?

A robust and independent enforcement system is clearly essential when introducing a new system of governance, and it remains to be seen whether the watchdog will be robust and independent in seeking to hold forces to account. The history of the IOPC and its predecessors the IPCC and the Police Complaints Authority do not give us grounds for optimism.

The police are responsible for ensuring safety in our communities. At Broudie Jackson Canter, we specialise in holding those authorities to account when power is misused or abused.

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