Misconduct Process Must Not Be Kangaroo Court

THE continued use of legally qualified chairs in the police misconduct process makes it fairer and prevents “kangaroo courts”, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

The national Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) is feeding into the upcoming Home Office review on dismissals and will champion the continued use of legally qualified chairs (LQCs) for their role in ensuring police misconduct hearings are fair and transparent.

LQCs are joined on the panel by an independent member and a senior officer. They were introduced in 2016, before which hearings were presided over by either an Assistant Chief Constable or a Deputy Chief Constable.

Those days must not return, said South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent.

He said: “We have got a fair system, with independent, legally qualified chairs, who are actually coming to, on the whole, right and correct decisions. And that has to stay.

“We cannot have kangaroo courts and we cannot have senior police officers making arbitrary decisions based on an individual opinion. It’s absolutely crazy. We don’t have tribunal protection in the vast majority of cases.”

PFEW Conduct and Performance Lead Phil Jones commented: “We have grave concerns over any insinuations Chief Constables should be involved in the decision-making process at disciplinary hearings again, which would see a return to the dark days where officers were dismissed in the eyes of those present even before any evidence was considered.”