THERE needs to be a body or an ombudsman to hold the Independent Office of Police Conduct to account.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the view of South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent after six police officers who endured unfairly long misconduct investigations received substantial compensation and a formal letter of apology from the IOPC following a successful legal challenge by the Police Federation of England and Wales on their behalf.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, it shouldn\u2019t be that we have to do it as a Police Federation,\u201d said Steve. \u201cBecause there should be a body holding the IOPC to account. But as we know, there isn\u2019t. So in the absence of that we\u2019ve got to be the ones who do that. I can see that this is going to happen more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) agreed to the pay-outs in February this year after PFEW lawyers took legal action on behalf of the Metropolitan Police officers. All six were subjected to lengthy investigations which took between four and seven years, following three incidents in London on separate dates in 2011.<\/p>\n
The cases were concluded in February this year, after the IOPC, formerly known as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), settled the cases in favour of the PFEW-supported claimants.<\/p>\n
Steve added: \u201cThere needs to be a body to oversee the IOPC anyway, or at least be an ombudsman to refer them to. Practices have to be improved. We cannot allow these situations to continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are destroying Police Officer\u2019s lives, but also there\u2019s a serious issue here of the public purse being completely and utterly used for stuff that is totally inappropriate. And where is the accountability for using tax payer\u2019s money for poor investigations?\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the Police Federation of England and Wales said: \u201cFor ever and a day, the IOPC has been completely unaccountable for the way in which they run protracted investigations, displayed bias in the process, and behaved in an underhanded manner which has negatively impacted on the lives of police officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe settlement calls the IOPC to account and makes it crystal clear PFEW will not tolerate our members being treated this way. It also sets an important precedent for colleagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a clear shot across the bows of the IOPC that the days of protracted investigation and treating officers like second class citizens are over, along with the mindset associated with this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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