Police put under “appalling pressure” by IPCC

POLICE officers are being put under “appalling pressure” and being driven to quit the job over lengthy investigations by the IPCC, a national meeting has heard.

A top lawyer confronted IPCC chief Dame Anne Owers in front of more than 100 police custody officers at Police Federation’s national Custody Seminar this month.

Ian Kelcey, who represents Police Federation members, demanded to know how new structural changes to the IPCC would improve the situation for custody personnel and claimed it was like “drawing hen’s teeth” to get any information about cases.

Mr Kelcey said: “Some of the delays have been unconscionable. Very often death in custody cases can take 18 months before you even get a report. In other cases, people have been charged, gone to court, been tried and convicted in that time. But if you ask your staff to provide information about the progress of these cases, it’s actually harder than drawing hen’s teeth.

“Officers are thinking, ‘do I really want to continue in this job?’ I think it’s appalling to potentially lose people with that level of experience. It’s appalling for them and their families. Do you really think that the changes will improve the functionality of your organisation?”

IPPC chair Dame Anne suggested the length of investigations could be attributed to “delays in evidence gathering”, other agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service and forces’ Professional Standards Directorates. She did concede that “new staff took longer than it should” to carry out investigations, and their organisational structure and misconduct backlogs were clogging up progress.

Dame Anne was speaking to the Police Federation of England and Wales’ (PFEW) annual national Custody Seminar, where a recurring theme had been the difficulties posed by rising numbers of detainees with mental health problems.