TIME and time again the IOPC fail when they seek to investigate police conduct. And the net loser of that failure is the public and confidence in policing<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message from Essex Police Federation Chairman Steve Taylor.<\/p>\n
The Federation is \u2018wholeheartedly\u2019 backing a new national campaign aimed at regulating the time it takes for IOPC misconduct investigations to be concluded.<\/p>\n
Some Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) cases can take five years or more, leaving officers\u2019 lives and careers in limbo.<\/p>\n
The Sean Rigg case involving Met Police colleagues took 11 years to resolve.<\/p>\n
A new PFEW \u2018Time Limits\u2019 campaign wants to set a statutory maximum length of time for cases to be completed.<\/p>\n
IOPC Director General Michael Lockwood told a recent PFEW conduct seminar that he had spent time with officers to understand their concerns and that measures were being looked at to speed up proceedings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWholeheartedly, Essex will be supporting the Time Limits campaign,\u201d said Essex Police Federation Chairman Steve Taylor.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime and time again the IOPC fail when they seek to investigate police conduct. And the net loser of that failure is the public and confidence in policing.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s this public confidence in policing and the health and wellbeing of officers which is most affected by dragged out investigations Steve added.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery few people know or even care who the IOPC are, but everyone knows who the police are and it\u2019s important that we maintain, to the very highest standards, wherever possible, their confidence in us.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn innate asset of that confidence is our ability to stand up to investigation, to engage and to be seen to correct mistakes, to learn, and to remove those from the organisation, ultimately, that need to be removed, where that\u2019s the appropriate thing to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll that speaks directly to confidence in our policing. And that is why we need time limits, because without holding the IOPC more firmly to account, they\u2019re allowed to abuse confidence in policing in the way that we\u2019ve seen them do time and time again in Essex with these failed investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 12-month period in which to complete misconduct investigations should be ample time Steve says and he hopes any changes will have a positive impact on officer wellbeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no good reason why misconduct matters can\u2019t be dealt with within 12 months. They\u2019re not at the most serious end of the spectrum, by definition. And yet they are most of the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the IOPC need to be held more tightly to account and this is one of the ways of doing it. It\u2019s also a useful tool to help keep PSDs on track to deliver timely, transparent investigations,\u201d Steve added.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike trauma, those subject to investigation deal with it differently. In the worst cases, it can have a disastrous effect on home life, on work life, on promotions being put on hold, people being suspended for years on full pay at home. I\u2019ve been in that position. It is not a pleasant place to be. We want to be at work, we want to be working for our communities and doing the job we all signed up to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe advocate the welfare support programme and signpost those officers who would benefit from that programme to them, to help them through this difficult period. The fact that we even have the welfare support programme, which was brought about exactly for this reason, is a testament to just how serious the consequences can be for those subject to investigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"