APCC Chair responds to Home Secretary's statement on police misconduct and investigations + review of the IOPC
Responding to the publication of the Home Secretary’s statement to Parliament on police misconduct and investigations, along with Dr Gillian Fairfield’s independent review of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, APCC Chair, Donna Jones said:
“I welcome the amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill announced today by the Home Secretary that are intended to streamline and speed up decisions by the Independent Office for Police Conduct on referrals to the Crown Prosecution. It is right, too, that a victim’s right to challenge an IOPC decision not to refer a case to the CPS is being strengthened by putting it on a statutory footing.
“It is vital that the right balance is struck so that officers feel confident to carry out their duties, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances, and that the public - especially black communities where trust in the police is lower - can be sure that officers are held properly accountable for their actions.
“It is, of course, essential that the IOPC, the body tasked with overseeing the police complaints system, operates effectively and in a timely manner, and commands trust amongst the public and those who are being investigated.
“PCCs are concerned that the whole accountability process currently takes far too long, and, in recent years, we have seen the highly complex issues raised by these cases interrogated during drawn out public inquiries or argued all the way to the Supreme Court. It is not right that those at the centre of incidents where there are questions about the discharge of a police firearm – members of the public and police officers – are left in limbo, and I look forward to changes to the IOPC that will address this. However, structural and procedural change must be appropriately funded.
“I am pleased to see the focus on making the police accountability system more efficient. I would encourage the government to publish the promised White Paper and the subsequent public consultation on the legal test and threshold for instigating police misconduct proceedings swiftly, so that the fundamental change that is needed can be implemented speedily, offering certainty to all involved."
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