Independent Police Complaints Commission
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IPCC issues guidance to improve the handling of discrimination complaints
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has today issued revised guidelines to improve the handling of discrimination complaints, as well asa set of key principles to help police forces improve the accessibility of the complaints system.
The publication of the IPCC’s revised Guidelines for handling allegations of discrimination follows a number of critical reports by the IPCC, which found significant failings in the way that four forces carried out such investigations and engaged with complainants.
The guidelines will assist police to properly and effectively handle allegations of discrimination, including discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, or disability. A series of training workshops for police professional standards departments are being held by the IPCC across the country to support the roll-out of the guidelines.
Dame Anne Owers, Chair of the IPCC, said: “It is crucial for public confidence in the police and the police complaints system that allegations of discrimination are handled properly. Fairness is a core principle underpinning the concept of policing by consent, and unfair or unlawful discrimination fundamentally undermines this principle.
“In drawing up this guidance, we have listened to people who have experienced discrimination firsthand and to groups who have supported people to make complaints about discrimination. We have also consulted the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the College of Policing and police forces. This has given us a valuable insight into how to improve the way complaints involving discrimination are handled.
“This clear, practical guidance sets the standards that complainants, families and communities should expect when allegations of discrimination are made.”
Alongside the discrimination guidelines, the IPCC has also published a set of key principles to help police forces improve accessibility to the complaints system.
The IPCC reviewed information on force websites and other sources of information to see how well forces made this information available to the public, and how they support complainants with specific needs.
The review found a lack of consistent good practice. Some of the information online and in police stations was inaccurate, difficult to understand or inaccessible, and there was little use of social media. Some forces did not accept complaints from people in police custody.
Dame Anne Owers said: “We have consistently heard from the public that access to the police complaints system needs to improve. The aim of these principles is to ensure that people who are dissatisfied with the service they have received are better able to make a complaint. This in turn will increase levels of confidence in the complaints system and in policing itself.”
The IPCC is working with forces and the College of Policing to ensure that the discrimination guidelines and the accessibility principles are embedded in police complaints processes, guidance and training.
Note to editors:
The development of the discrimination guidelines and review of access to the complaints system is part of the IPCC’s ongoing oversight work – working with forces and others to improve complaints handling, sharing learning between forces to improve operational policing, and increasing trust in the complaints system, particularly among groups whose confidence is lowest.
In 2013, the IPCC published a report on the Metropolitan Police Service’s handling of race discrimination complaints. In 2013/14 we undertook a similar review looking at how West Midlands Police, West Yorkshire Police, and Greater Manchester Police dealt with allegations of discrimination. These reviews concluded that, in general, complaints about discrimination were not handled by the police forces in a sufficiently robust, fair or customer-focused way.
These four forces have since contributed to development of the revised guidelines and have taken steps to address the issues highlighted in our previous working, includingdevelopingaction plans.
The Discrimination Guidelines can be found on our Statutory guidance page.
To view the Access to the Complaints System report visit the Research and statistics section of our website.
Below you can listen to Commissioner Cindy Butts discuss the Guidelines and the Key principles
