22 August 2023

Federation: Chief Constables seeking to usurp legally qualified chairs is deeply concerning

Dorset Police Federation has spoken out about “deeply concerning” proposed changes to the police conduct process.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said he wanted to shake up the system to give senior officers greater powers of dismissal, arguing this month that the decision should be with chiefs, rather than legally qualified chairs.

This month’s High Court ruling regarding Victor v Chief Constable of West Mercia Police - where a probationary officer who was found guilty of misconduct and received a final written warning was subsequently sacked from policing as her vetting was removed – has also caused concern.

James Dimmack, Chair of Dorset Police Federation, said this would give chiefs “two bites of the cherry”.

He said: “The issue of chief constables seeking to usurp legally qualified chairs is deeply concerning. I have said many times before that legally qualified chairs [provide] a fairer and more secure way of adjudicating misconduct cases.

“Now it seems chiefs are using vetting as a way to obtain two bites of the cherry, which is both unpalatable and a retrograde step in how we hold officers to account.

“If an officer has misconducted themselves, they deserve to be dealt with. That should be undertaken within a controlled, proportionate and robust process. The results of this process should then be adhered to, not withstanding any appeals. To use an unintended loophole of vetting to circumnavigate this process in order to do as they wish regardless is dangerous, disrespectful of the process and in my view morally reprehensible.”

Legally qualified chairs were introduced under changes to the Police (Conduct) Regulations made in 2015, to replace senior police officers as the chairs of misconduct panels to make the process more transparent, independent and fairer. Legally Qualified Chairs are individuals who remain independent of the police in order to provide fair and impartial oversight of these hearings.

Mr Rowley wrote in The Times earlier this month: “I’m leading the strongest doubling down on standards in 50 years, but to deliver the far-reaching reform the public rightly expect to see I need others to do more. I have been consistent in calling on the government to reform police misconduct processes, so that police chiefs can be more decisive in dismissing rogue officers and restoring public confidence.

“The honest majority of our officers share my determination to relentlessly focus on identifying and removing those who let us all down and cause untold damage to public trust. But the final say on dismissals doesn’t sit with me or other chief officers but with external panels led by lawyers known as legally qualified chairs.”