This is the report of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and Operation Resolve investigations into the role of the police in the Hillsborough disaster and the actions of the police in the aftermath. It concludes the IOPC’s and Operation Resolve’s work, which began in 2012, following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) Report. This work involved securing evidence for new inquests into the deaths that resulted from the events at Hillsborough Stadium on 15 April 1989, conducting criminal investigations that led to a series of trials, and investigating 352 complaints and conduct matters related to police actions before, during and after the disaster.
The report is structured in line with the investigations’ terms of reference and focuses on the actions of the police forces and officers involved. It summarises the outcomes of the complaint and conduct investigations as well as the key evidence that led to those outcomes.
Using new evidence obtained by the investigations, as well as existing material, it re-examines a number of issues which have been scrutinised extensively by previous investigations and inquiries, showing how this new evidence adds further insight into what took place. It also explains why, after obtaining and examining more evidence relating to the disaster than any previous investigation, the IOPC and Operation Resolve have found nothing to change or challenge the core public understanding of the disaster that was established by the HIP Report and findings of the new inquests led by Lord Justice Sir John Goldring (the Goldring Inquests).
The report also covers the evidence gathered around aspects of the disaster and its aftermath that have not previously been investigated.
