SOUTH Yorkshire Police Federation wants low-level police misconduct cases to take no longer than 12 months to resolve.<\/p>\n
Some Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) cases can take five years or more to be concluded leaving officers\u2019 lives and careers in limbo.<\/p>\n
One high profile case involving Met officers took 11 years to resolve.<\/p>\n
Now the Police Federation of England and Wales has launched a Time Limits campaign aimed at introducing a statutory maximum length of time for the IOPC to conclude investigations into police misconduct – a move being backed in South Yorkshire.<\/p>\n
Federation Chairman Steve Kent said; \u201cWhat we would ask for is a 12-month time limit on low-level investigations. We appreciate there may be the odd occasion, if an investigation is extremely complex, when it may go a little bit beyond that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if it does then they must satisfy a judicial process to do that, in the same way that we do when the police are extending people bail etc. It does seem to me that the police are being held to account when we are taking too long to investigate people, because the mindfulness is of the individual\u2019s and the suspect\u2019s mental health and how it\u2019s affecting their family life.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there seems to be absolutely no regard whatsoever for police officers who are under investigation. And 11 years, as we know in the Sean Rigg case, just highlights how catastrophically out of control they [the IOPC] are in terms of the length of their investigation. They need to be held to account for that, in the same way that we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lack of awareness around how long some IOPC led cases can take among the general public is probably behind why the watchdog has not been scrutinised before, Steve believes.<\/p>\n
He wants to see it being held more accountable for its performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as the public become more aware of the issues that the IOPC has, it\u2019s then, in turn, putting more pressure on it because I think there\u2019s a bit of a realisation that there is no accountability for the IOPC. \u2018Who is overseeing the IOPC?\u2019, is a question I think anybody would like to ask. It seems to me that they\u2019re acting completely independently, they\u2019re acting without any recourse.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue is massively important. It\u2019s a horrendous time for officers when they\u2019re off duty, suspended or restricted because they\u2019re under investigation. Having been there myself, it\u2019s not a nice time. They could do with it being sorted as timely as possible so they can get on with their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
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