DRAWN-out IOPC investigations into officers\u2019 conduct is having \u2018crippling effects\u2019 on their mental health, South Yorkshire Police Federation has warned.<\/p>\n
The PFEW has submitted evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee in a bid to highlight the detrimental impact of lengthy disciplinary investigations on members and their families.<\/p>\n
It has placed \u2018hard-hitting\u2019 case studies showing how investigations can ruin the lives of police officers in front of MPs as part of a formal enquiry into the IOPC, which is due to investigate the watchdog over the next few months.<\/p>\n
It all backs up what South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent says he has seen first hand.<\/p>\n
Steve said: \u201cLengthy investigations have a crippling effect on officers\u2019 mental wellbeing and their wellbeing in general \u2013 including their family life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen first-hand in some of our officer investigations that go on for years just how extremely damaging it is to people. It\u2019s just not acceptable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just puts their lives on hold. I can speak as somebody who wasn\u2019t under investigation from the IOPC, but I was under a lengthy investigation myself, and for that period of your life everything\u2019s on hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just has a massive effect on everything in terms of your health and your relationships with your family and your children. Times that by three or four years and the worry is a massive burden or them to take.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve hopes the review into the complaints system will ultimately lead to the IOPC being independently regulated. He added that South Yorkshire Police Federation is fully behind the PFEW\u2019s bid to get time limits for investigations imposed.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt\u2019s important the IOPC gets some kind of regulation, and we absolutely support the stricter timelines their investigations need to be held against.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t get away with it for members of the public who are under suspicion so there\u2019s no reason why the IOPC should.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s encouraging that the pressure for them to do that is having an effect and that they\u2019re starting to realise they\u2019ve got to play ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has to be a positive development, and we just want it to be officially put into writing, so they\u2019ve got nowhere to go with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless something\u2019s extremely complex then an expectation to resolve investigations within 12 months is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PFEW have called for more routine cases to be resolved within a set time frame as they can drag on for years with outcomes continuously delayed or caught up in red tape.<\/p>\n