Annual report shows increased referrals and improvement in timeliness of investigations but more work to do

25 Jul 2019 11:34 AM

The latest annual report published shows significant improvements in the timeliness of investigations completed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in 2018/19 at a time when the organisation is receiving more referrals than ever.

During 2018/19, the IOPC received 4,097 referrals – more than ever before – while still focussing on improvements, with four out of five investigations now completed in 12 months. This is the best we have ever performed.

Key achievements during the reporting period included:

• improved timeliness of completing investigations. On average, the time taken to complete an investigation was reduced by almost three weeks compared to the previous year and by almost six weeks compared with 2016/17
• receiving more referrals than ever before from police forces (4,097), as well as 3,001 appeals from members of the public
• completed 717 investigations into serious incidents and police misconduct, 30 more than we opened.
• closed 82 per cent of cases carried over from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Of the 538 cases inherited from the IPCC in January 2018, by the end of March 2019 only 93 remained in progress in March 2019.
• made 30 sets of learning recommendations which have influenced policing practice and helped deliver improvements which have saved lives.
• continued major investigations into Hillsborough and Rotherham.

During the year significant public engagement was undertaken to inform and guide our work, including:

• established a Youth Panel which sought the views of more than 800 people aged between 16 and 25 to identify why young people lacked confidence in the police complaints system
• set up an External Stakeholder Reference Group to provide feedback and help inform key themes and work
• commissioned a review of how people with mental health conditions interact with the police complaints system and shared the results across England and Wales
• held thematic roundtable discussions on domestic abuse, road traffic incidents and mental health with people drawn from a variety of specialised areas to inform the areas we focus on
• established a report line for police officers to report wrong doing, which was used 73 times during the year.

IOPC Director General Michael Lockwood yesterday said:

“In our first year of operation, we made a concerted effort to address the concerns people raised with me when I became Director General. This saw a strong focus on reducing the time taken to complete investigations and we are now completing four out of five in less than 12 months. Our focus on identifying organisational learning and on working with and listening to our stakeholders is now much greater.

“At the same time, we know there is more work to do and we are not complacent about this. We’ll be further streamlining our investigation processes, strengthening our work on data, and introducing better ways to share the lessons learnt from complaints and investigations.

“Next year we also expect to see legislative changes implemented, alongside delivering our existing commitments.”

The IOPC oversees the police complaints system and investigate the most serious incidents and complaints involving the police. We use learning from our work to influence changes in policing. All our work is done independently of the police, government and interest groups.

Police forces deal with the majority of complaints against police officers and police staff. Police forces must refer the most serious cases to us – whether or not someone has made a complaint.

We also oversee the complaints system for certain other organisations, such as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the National Crime Agency (NCA), and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA). We investigate certain serious complaints and conduct mattersrelating to staff from these organisations.

We also investigate criminal allegations against police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and their deputies and contractors working for the police.