MPs have heard about the impact of lengthy conduct investigations on police officers – direct from Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).
The evidence of three PCCs to a House of Commons committee echoes the Police Federation of England and Wales’s (PFEW) long-running Time Limits campaign, which calls for Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigations to be restricted to 12 months.
Staffordshire Police Federation chair Phil Jones welcomed the testimony of the PCCs to the Home Affairs Select Committee.
He said: “Too many members are left in a state of limbo for far too long, with huge uncertainty hanging over them, because of protracted misconduct investigations.
“Officers are stopped from getting promotions, transferring or even moving home because of the uncertainty, and that can have a huge impact on the wellbeing and welfare of them and their families.
“We welcome the evidence of the PCCs to the committee. It’s yet more evidence of the devastating impact lengthy investigations can have.
“There’s no reason they should take as long as they do. A time limit needs to be set and the IOPC has to be held to account if it fails to meet those deadlines.”
The Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into the role and remit of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) heard evidence from three PCCs and two academics about how police conduct complaints are handled.
North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan was among the PCCs to give evidence.
She said: “The timeliness issue was causing all sorts of issues for individual officers. In fact, the impact of it was much wider, in terms of views of lack of competency on the part of the IOPC and lack of fairness to officers.”
Sue Mountstevens, Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset, acknowledged that progress had been made at the IOPC especially in restricting the time limit to 12 months before an explanation has to be given to the PCCs, but also mentioned that greater accountability was necessary, adding: “I wonder where the accountability is to the IOPC if they go longer than 12 months.”
Alun Michael, Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales, said: “We ought to look at the acceptable length of time being reduced from 12 months to something much shorter than that.”
Phill Matthews, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) national conduct and performance lead, gave evidence to the committee in late January and described the deep and damaging effects long-term investigations can have.
After this latest evidence from the PCCs, he said: “It is really positive that all seem to agree that 12 months for an investigation is more than adequate and that PCCs would like that to see that reduced and have more ability to hold the IOPC to account for the time investigations take. PFEW will continue to campaign relentlessly to ensure fairness for our members.”
