Slow IOPC investigations leaves innocent Cops with permanent scars and serious mental detriment

20 July 2021

The slow approach to investigating police officer actions by Independent Office for Police Conduct leaves innocent Cops with permanent scars and serious mental detriment, Cumbria Police Federation has said.

Chairman Paul Williams said that while police officers have no issue with being held to account for their actions, the time it takes to conduct and conclude IOPC investigations was unacceptable.

Speaking at the Police Federation of England and Wales Conference in June Independent Office for Police Conduct Director-General Michael Lockwood admitted the organisation must do better on the time it takes to complete investigations.

“We don’t want a police officer under a cloud longer than they need to,” he told the first ever Virtual Annual Conference.

Paul said: “It’s a very welcome admission and things are starting to improve but there is still so much to be done. The IOPC holds policing to account so in turn should be held to account themselves and realisation of the amount of pressure officers are put under for such a long time when the vast majority of the time they have done nothing wrong.

“I want the IOPC to understand this leaves permanent scars and serious mental detriment to officers undergoing such an ordeal.”

He added: “It’s not acceptable to do this to those who are putting themselves on the line making split second decision making to then suffers months and sometimes years of scrutiny. The words are there but I want to see action as this has been a long time coming.”