The Independent Office for Police Conduct should give up its responsibility for complicated police investigations, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Steve Kent was talking after the police watchdog\u2019s annual report appeared to suggest investigations were conducted in a timely manner – with 83% of cases being closed within 12 months.<\/p>\n
The Police Federation has long been calling for the speed of investigations to increase, so that officers\u2019 wellbeing, careers and families aren\u2019t left in limbo.<\/p>\n
But the latest figure paints \u2018a false picture\u2019 Steve said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Does that address the majority of cases, which are very easy to file? If so – that is great.\u00a0 But what it doesn\u2019t do is identify the complicated cases that are going on for years and years. It wouldn\u2019t be appropriate for me to talk about specific cases, but we do have some in our force. So there absolutely needs to be time limits on the IOPC in terms of their investigations.\u2019<\/p>\n
The IOPC beat its 2023\/24 target by completing 83% of core investigations within 12 months – an increase from last year\u2019s rate of 75%, according to its recent report. <\/a><\/p>\n \u2018In my view, I don\u2019t believe the IOPC should be investigating, I don\u2019t think they have the resources to investigate, and I don\u2019t necessarily think they\u2019ve got the skillset to do complex investigations. What the IOPC should be, is a supervisory body that oversees professional standards throughout the country and makes sure that they are doing clear, thorough and transparent investigations. That would sit far better with the respective skill sets – and that\u2019s how it should be,\u2019 Steve added.<\/p>\n