IPCC investigations into GMP whistleblower’s allegations concluded

19 Jun 2017 02:10 PM

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has published summary reports of the three independent investigations it carried out into Greater Manchester Police (GMP), following serious allegations made by a whistleblower.

The whistleblower, who is a former GMP police officer, made allegations including cronyism among senior officers; failure to follow correct procedures; failure to investigate complaints properly; and corruption.

The IPCC independently investigated three of the most serious allegations, as outlined below, and GMP has now concluded all disciplinary action linked to those investigations.

Following an IPCC assessment, other allegations made by the whistleblower, were returned to GMP for them to deal with appropriately.

Investigation one

Investigation one centred on the disposal of human tissue following GMP’s criminal investigation into Dr Harold Shipman.

The investigation looked at whether the decision to dispose of the tissue was lawful and whether the affected families had been engaged appropriately by the force.

As a result of the investigation, in the investigator’s opinion, GMP had acted within the law and scope of the policies in place at the time in relation to their decision to dispose of the human tissues and the decision not to inform the families.

As a result, no officers were found to have a case to answer for misconduct and no further action was taken by GMP. The IPCC report was shared with GMP on 26 April 2016.

Investigation two

This investigation looked into claims that a covert operation into the activities of a suspected sex offender was handled poorly.

The IPCC investigation centred on a surveillance element of the wider operation, where officers chose not to intervene when the alleged abuser was observed entering a building with two young people.

In the investigator’s opinion, although the decision not to intervene was in line with the investigative strategy, the actions of a detective superintendent and a detective inspector, who led the planning and implementation of the strategy, could amount to misconduct.

The report was shared with the force on 23 September 2016. GMP held a misconduct meeting for the officers in March 2017 which resulted in performance measures and a development plan being put in place for both officers.

Investigation three

This investigation looked into how GMP conducted a covert operation into the activities of an organised crime gang.

It was the IPCC investigator’s opinion that the lead officer in the operation, a detective chief inspector (DCI), demonstrated naivety in his arrest strategy and approach to protecting the public.

As a result, the IPCC recommended to GMP on 5 April 2016 that the DCI had displayed behaviour that could amount to misconduct.  GMP held a misconduct meeting in March 2017 which concluded that the DCI’s actions should be dealt with as a performance matter.

Learning recommendations around training and supervision for less experienced lead detectives were also made to the force.

The IPCC also reviewed whether GMP’s internal investigation into the use of a covert audio device by the same DCI, prior to this operation. In the investigator’s opinion GMP had dealt with this issue adequately.

The three summary reports have been published here