IOPC and investigation outcomes

Earlier this week The Guardian published an article titled Fewer than one in 10 police officers fired after gross misconduct finding and published on 18 January 2021.

The article expressed a view that the lack of dismissal of police for gross misconduct is a failure of the IOPC. This is not correct and is a commonly held misunderstanding of our role.

Each year, we conduct around 700 investigations regarding serious misconduct or corruption and provide a finding on whether we believe there is a case to answer or not. Police forces themselves manage less serious investigations.

Where our investigation finds police actions were so serious that they are considered criminal, we will ask the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider prosecution. Otherwise we will send our investigation findings to police forces, and they determine the next course of action.

In neither scenario does the IOPC determine the outcome.

While we respect the respective remits of the CPS, courts and disciplinary panels, we do not always agree with their conclusions. We don’t always reach the same conclusion on analysis of what is sometimes a complex set of evidence and where different legal thresholds apply.

We know this has also often surprised stakeholders and families and would welcome a review to look at whether decision-making by panels is suitably consistent, and in line with the College of Policing’s guidance on outcomes in police misconduct proceedings.

Legislative changes last year mean we have new powers to hold police to account. For example, we no longer have to challenge and direct conduct proceedings - our case to answer finding will stand and forces will have to conduct proceedings.

We can also play a greater role in hearings that follow our investigations by presenting cases at a conduct proceeding alongside the police force.

Just as the health system looks at both prevention and cure, our investigations also have a strong focus on why things occurred and what might prevent it from happening again. This means looking at training, management support and the culture. Disciplining an individual officer is not going to change much if poor policies, procedures or lack of training is what enables the problem to occur in the first place.

Since our establishment three years ago, we have made over 200 learning recommendations which have changed national and local policing practice from how police respond to stalking to managing pursuits. 

This has helped strengthen policing practice and must also be one of the measures we are judged by, along with how the whole system works together to ensure police who breach the standards of professional behaviour should be held to account.

Later this year we will start publishing annual statistics on the outcomes from our investigations to ensure further transparency about our work. In the meantime, if you’d like to read more about our impact and focus on learning, you can read out latest Impact Report for 2019/20.