Independent Police Complaints Commission
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Misconduct case to answer for West Midlands Police officers after missing man found dead
The IPCC has completed an investigation into the response by West Midlands Police to reports concerning a missing man who was later found dead at West Bromwich.
Kazimierz Radloff, aged 64, from Dudley, was found dead on July 6 last year (2015). An inquest in August recorded that he had committed suicide. Two days before Mr Radloff’s body was found, relatives told police that he had indicated he intended to take his own life.
The IPCC’s investigation found that police initially treated him as someone in breach of bail conditions rather than as a vulnerable missing person. Evidence indicated that a lack of intelligence checks and information sharing meant opportunities were missed to escalate the search.
Following the IPCC’s investigation, the force decided that three West Midlands Police Constables and an Acting Inspector had a case to answer for misconduct. They will all be subject to management action including words of advice.
However in the IPCC investigator’s view there was no indication that earlier intervention by police would have altered the outcome.
The IPCC recommended to the force that all officers should receive guidance on working with interpreters after the investigation found that, contrary to policy, an interpreter had been left unsupervised while taking a statement from one of Mr Radloff’s relatives.
The IPCC is now publishing its investigation report which can be found here.
