Asking suspects about police force is ‘outrageous’

PROPOSALS from the Independent Police Complaints Commission for police officers to seek “feedback” from suspects who have had force used against are “outrageous”.

That’s the view of Mark Smith, Chairman of Essex Police Federation, who said such a move could “open floodgates for complaints which have no basis”. 

The IPCC has recommended that “all police forces provide people who have had force used against them with information about how to give feedback about their experience”.

“It’s absolutely outrageous,” said Mr Smith. “You’re dealing with a very, very volatile situation, whether it be on the high street or the riots in London, and people are arrested or attacking police officers, because quite often what starts off maybe as a fight between groups of individuals, as soon as the police turn up the police then become the subject they want to attack.

“Now, if you’re attacking police officers and being arrested why should we be asking people, ‘Did we use the right force against you?’, because of course they’re going to say ‘No’. That’s their first line of defence, as in to get away with what they’ve been doing.

“We already see on the street, when you make an arrest, the first line of defence from the person that’s been arrested is, ‘I’m going to make a complaint against the police’, because they hope that that will make the police step back and maybe not investigate quite as well.

“There’s already a lack of respect to police officers by certain individuals on the streets, we’re seeing violent crime on the up, I think this is just opening the floodgates for complaints which have no basis.”

Recommendation 5 of the Independent Police Complaints Commission Police Use of Force report stated: “We recommend that all police forces provide people who have had force used against them with information about how to give feedback about their experience, including information about making a complaint.

“Complaints are a valuable source of information that can help to improve police practice.”

In the 94-page IPCC report there was no mention of the 23,000 assaults on police officers in England and Wales over the past year, amounting to 63 a day.

There were 35 mentions of the word “assault” in the report – not one referring to those suffered by police.