WIREDGOV

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has concluded an investigation into the response by Lancashire Police to the concerns for welfare of Sandra Wright prior to her death.

Sandra Wright, 61, and from Blackburn, was found deceased at her home on 7 August 2015 after police forced entry to the property.

The investigation looked at how concerns for Ms Wright’s welfare made on the 6 August 2015 in a call to Lancashire Police by a member of the public were handled and specifically whether the actions of the operator complied with national and local policing policies.

The investigator was of the view  that the Customer Contact Advisor’s (CCA) advice to the caller on 6 August, to attend Ms Wright’s address and if necessary re-contact the police, was reasonable and appropriate.

However, the investigation identified evidence that the CCA failed to obtain sufficient information from the caller to make an informed decision on deployment; failed to follow policy by not creating an incident log for an incident in which they had made an important decision and, in not creating the incident log, failed to record any pertinent details of the call which could have later been useful to officers attending or any subsequent investigation. The investigator formed the view that there was a case to answer for misconduct for the CCA.

During the interview with the IPCC investigator, the CCA accepted their failures and described how they would now correctly handle a call of this nature.

Lancashire Constabulary proposed that management action be taken against the CCA. This has now taken place.

IPCC Commissioner Carl Gumsley said: “My thoughts and condolences are with Ms Wright’s family and friends. Despite efforts to raise concerns about her welfare, officers were not despatched to her address until the following day. The call handler who took the call on 6 August has now received management action and I hope lessons have been learned from these events.”