Complaints against officers

[Fedster + 1,307]

The IOPC has published its latest edition of 'Learning the Lessons' magazine, which focuses on roads policing.

Date - 17th December 2020
By - Chloe Livadeas

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has today published the 38th edition of the publication 'Learning the Lessons'. Director General Michael Lockwood describes roads policing as a “key area of focus for our work”. 

Previous issues have covered police interactions with young people, missing persons and custody.

The ten case studies of IOPC investigations cover high-speed pursuits, driving authorisation and the use of life hammers.

One case study examines issues around joint working and authorisation of pursuits that cross force borders. Another gives clarity on best practise in relation to activating audio recording during a pursuit.

The publication also features words from Anthony Bangham, the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Lead for Roads Policing.

He said: “Thousands of pursuits are concluded safely every year. This demonstrates the high level of training officers receive and the skill they apply in dealing with one of the most challenging operational activities we undertake."

But he said the risks should be reduced and ultimately eradicated.

In 2019/20, there were 24 fatal police-related road traffic incidents 

“When a pursuit does end in a collision that results in death or injury, it attracts widespread media coverage and of course proper scrutiny from independent investigations,” said CC Bangham.

The issue references a study of the Metropolitan Police’s pursuits between 2016 – 2018. Published in September by a University College London professor of transport safety, it states that pursuits are one of the most risky activities the police undertake and research suggests it is not always a proportionate response.

3.7 per cent pursuits analysed resulted in an injury and only one per cent of pursuits involved an injury to a member of the public not involved in the pursuit.

It said that “poor risk assessment, red mist and bravado were viewed as decreasing safety”.

One of the case studies in the magazine involved an officer who twice rammed a suspect with a police car who had tried to escape on foot, giving him a fractured shoulder. The officer was charged with dangerous driving and later acquitted. He retired from the force ahead of a misconduct hearing which would have seen him dismissed.

The officer gave “no comment” when he was asked by investigators if he was experiencing “red mist” during the incident.

Interview data from the UCL study suggested pursuit safety could be improved by drivers giving clearer justification of why they decided to pursue, more training of operators to perform risk commentaries, more use of pre-emptive strategies, and continuing checks and balances provided by control room staff.

Fear of personal repercussions (concerns of facing criminal investigation in the event of a crash, and public scrutiny) apparently made all staff involved in the management of pursuits risk averse.

The study recommended refresher driver training in-line with other operations which can involve lethal force such as firearms, improving risk commentary training for operators and more widely available technologies that track or immobilise a vehicle and curtail a pursuit, such as drones.

The next Learning the Lessons issue will focus on child sexual abuse and is due for publication in March 2021, the IOPC said. 

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[SimonT + 1,185]

I don't pursue, I have let my licence go and have no interest in getting it back. 

Officers are right to be worried about investigation and possible charges. I have colleagues who have been through the ipoc process and it was draining and detrimental. 

I came within a gnats wing of getting a full ipoc investigation myself and it was a worrying time I had no means to influence. 

[Jack McCoy 303]

On 18/12/2020 at 11:25, SimonT said:

I don't pursue, I have let my licence go and have no interest in getting it back. 

Officers are right to be worried about investigation and possible charges. I have colleagues who have been through the ipoc process and it was draining and detrimental. 

I came within a gnats wing of getting a full ipoc investigation myself and it was a worrying time I had no means to influence. 

I have twice declined to be pursuit trained and will continue to do so. I've seen cops get dragged over the coals for genuine mistakes yet other cops get away with borderline criminal behaviour whilst behind the wheel and nothing is said to them despite it being highlighted by multiple officers, with varying levels of service.

 

[BizzieBee 100]

On 18/12/2020 at 11:25, SimonT said:

 

I don't pursue, I have let my licence go and have no interest in getting it back. 

 

I don’t blame you. This is beyond Policing now and requires a change in the law. But they don’t want that. 

The criminals know this already and have their own tactics in place. The only force with any balls is the Met. And they need it given the demographic and criminality.  
 

It still isn’t enough.

The CoP, pips, crowns and tipstaves won’t say anything (See: Pensions, QPMs) 

But yet they wonder why travelling criminality is so high and persist in pursing other angles. Often their own. 

[Zulu 22 + 4,569]

The IOPC is becoming a criminals charter in their pursuit of officers and why, because they are doing their job protecting the public. There are many officers who stand up to be counted and there are some who are not prepared to and yet they still earn the same pay at the end of the month.

Pursuit drivers are highly trained but regardless of training there is always something that can go wrong. It would be something if the authorities and the CPS in particular were as eager to prosecute criminals.

[pcmode 40]

I'm surprised that 1% of injuries were sustained by a 3rd party member of the public as judging by media coverage I would have guessed it to be larger. Reducing risks is fine if it doesn't leave you toothless, such as when the policy of not getting into a pursuit with a rider if they took their helmet off led to the ridiculous crime wave a few years ago. A pursuit is always going to carry a risk, and i think it will be difficult to reduce the 1%. I'm of the opinion that if a criminal gets hurt through something they've chosen to do, that's on them. A police officer has personal responsibility, so should the criminal.

I'm not and can never be pursuit trained as things stand, but with firearms it's a similar situation. There seems to be a lack of confidence across forces that in the absense of a terrorist incident an officer might not be backed by the force. Even if you knew that you did exactly what you were supposed to and trained to do, you're still at risk of potentially years of proceedings.