IOPC Investigations Still Too Long

THE Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is now completing 90% of their investigations into officers within 12 months, but South Yorkshire Police Federation has said that too many of their cases still stretch on for years.

Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “It’s got to be welcomed that things are going in the right direction. But we still see examples of cases that have been going on for years and years and years.

“And also, simple cases shouldn’t be going anywhere near 12 months – they should probably take weeks, or a couple of months at most, but are going well up to the 12 months. That’s the problem.

“The mental health impact that can have on officers, the stresses it can put officers under is immense. I welcome the fact that the IOPC is monitoring this, and I welcome the fact that it’s being discussed. But for me there needs to be absolutely mandatory times coming in, which give them specific rules that they have to apply for extensions if it’s going to go past six months, 12 months and so on.

“We still need more work on this, because there are some officers who have been waiting for years in our force, and that is absolutely ridiculous.”

Steve added: “There’s got to be more transparency and there needs to be a recourse if they don’t do this. The IOPC police themselves. There needs to be an ombudsman or something of that nature, who can look at a case and say, ‘Oh hang on, this is a simple case. It’s six months’. On the flip side, I think we have to be reasonable that if they’ve got an extremely complex case, then that may take well over 12 months. That’s fine, as long as it’s proportionate.”