IOPC response to Government's review of police accountability

The Home Secretary yesterday (23 October) announced the Government’s intention to review the police accountability systems and outlined new measures in a statement in the House of Commons. 

Commenting on the announcement, IOPC Director General Rachel Watson said:

“We welcome the announcement and I am pleased the Home Secretary has committed to making the changes in law which we put forward as part of our response to the previous Government’s Accountability review.  

“We are particularly pleased that measures which we recommended, to bring Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) referrals of criminal allegations against police officers in line with members of the public and to speed up processes between the IOPC and the CPS, will now be progressed.

“Rigorous independent scrutiny is a vital part of policing by consent and we must get the balance right between scrutiny which protects the public but doesn’t leave the police afraid to use their powers to keep us safe.  

“We have been saying for some time that the arrangements for holding police to account need fundamental reform and have called for a wider review to address systemic barriers to timeliness in the misconduct system and to improve public and police confidence in the system.  

“We welcome this announcement which seeks to put in place measures to improve timeliness and ensure there is greater clarity on the legislative framework. We look forward to working with the Government to support this.”