The importance of independent scrutiny of the police – our Director General’s latest blog
The killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody last month in Minneapolis, sent shock waves across the world and ignited protests. We published a blog from Michael Lookwood, our Director General, highlighting the importance of independent oversight of the police. The blog was also published as an opinion piece in The Independent.
Police officers have significant powers that can impact on people’s liberty and lives. While the UK has a strong – and very different – system of accountability to that in the United States, the wider police service must listen and respond to the concerns being raised. We remain committed to working with those who share a common desire for systemic and cultural change so we do not repeat mistakes from the past.
Our response to increased community concerns around Taser-related incidents
We highlighted increasing community concerns about the disproportionate use of Taser against black men and people with mental health issues. This was in response to opening several new investigations into incidents in London, Manchester and the West Midlands. Robust oversight of cases involving Taser is essential for maintaining public confidence in the police use of this kind of force.
While it is the IOPC’s role to investigate the most serious matters involving Taser, police and crime commissioners (PCCs) also have an important role in providing community assurance about scrutiny of Taser use. Michael Lockwood has written to the Deputy Mayors for Policing and Crime and the West Midlands PCC seeking assurance about how they are providing appropriate scrutiny of Taser use at a local level.
We will continue to speak with community stakeholders, advocacy organisations, PCCs and police forces to understand the different concerns and identify whether further work is needed in this area.
No criminal investigation re Boris Johnson referral from the Greater London Authority
We announced our decision that we will not conduct a criminal investigation into allegations that the Right Honourable Boris Johnson used his position while Mayor of London to benefit and reward American businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri.
The IOPC’s Operation Lansdowne review found no evidence to indicate that Mr Johnson influenced the payment of any sponsorship monies to Ms Arcuri, or that he influenced or played an active part in securing her participation in trade missions.
A full copy of the decision and associated documents has been published.
Silent Solution campaign: helping those at risk of domestic abuse
With domestic abuse reports increasing during the COVID-19 lockdown, we were concerned that people in danger may not be aware of a potentially life-saving service.
The Silent Solution system – overseen by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) – enables a 999 mobile caller who is unable to make a noise or speak, to press 55 when prompted to inform police they are in a genuine emergency.
Last year we launched a campaign to promote the service with support from the NPCC, Women’s Aid and Welsh Women’s Aid. While the 2019 campaign reached more than 16 million people via media and social media, there remains a need to continually promote awareness of the service.
Updated IOPC graphics have been shared with police forces, the NHS and domestic abuse charities. You can help by downloading and sharing them, and by retweeting the posts on our @policeconduct account using the hashtags #MakeYourselfHeard and #SilentSolution.
We also submitted evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into the Home Office preparedness for COVID-19 (Coronavirus): Domestic Abuse and Risks of Harm within the Home. Domestic abuse is, unfortunately, a common feature in our work and we investigated or are investigating the circumstances surrounding police contact in 23 domestic-related fatalities from the year 2018/19. Thirteen of these relate to an alleged murder, and 12 of these victims were women. You can read our submission on the Committee’s website.
Remembering Stephen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death in a racist attack in south London on the night of 22 April 1993. His murder was a tragedy for his family and the local community. But Stephen’s murder was only the start of the story that saw a family fighting for justice for the next two decades, with changes that would make a significant impact on our society.
Michael Lockwood, our Director General, wrote about the legacy of Stephen on the anniversary of his death, which is now known as Stephen Lawrence Day. An extract is below.
“In response to the Macpherson Inquiry, our predecessor organisation, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, was created in 2004. This established a means by which serious public complaints, conduct matters and death or serious injury matters arising from police action or inaction could be investigated independently by a state body that was separate from the police service in England and Wales.
“This remains our focus today as the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Stephen Lawrence’s legacy is our ongoing obligation to provide independent scrutiny of policing practice – ensuring police remain accountable and lessons are learnt. It’s also intrinsically about the role we can all play in creating and maintaining a society that treats everyone with fairness and respect.”
Appointment of our new Deputy Director General, Operations
We recently announced the appointment of Claire Bassett as our new Deputy Director General Operations. Claire will lead a team of around 700 people investigating the most serious and sensitive complaints and allegations about police forces in England and Wales.
Claire’s experience in investigation and management roles in the government and non-government sectors will be a great asset in leading our ongoing reforms to transform the police complaints system. She will join us in September 2020.
Investigations following deaths, serious injuries and police use of force
Police forces must refer to us all deaths or serious injuries that happen during or following police contact. Investigating these matters is one of our key functions.
April and May saw us open several investigations into the circumstances surrounding officers using Taser:
- A Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer is facing a criminal investigation after a man suffered life-changing injuries after being Tasered in Haringey, north London.
- We are investigating after a man was Tasered by Greater Manchester Police on the forecourt of a petrol station.
- An investigation is underway after an MPS officer deployed the Taser red-dot function while carrying out a stop and search on a man in south London.
Read more about our work around police use of force.
We began an independent investigation following the death of Mr Matthew Terrill, 46, in police custody in Sheffield on Wednesday 22 April 2020. South Yorkshire Police referred the matter to us, and our investigation is at an early stage.
We announced the outcome of our investigation concerning the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer who shot Anthony Grainger. Mr Grainger was fatally wounded in Cheshire during a police operation in March 2012. Following the conclusion of the Anthony Grainger Public Inquiry in July 2019, additional evidence arose that was relevant to our investigation of the officer. After assessing this, we found no case to answer in relation to the officer’s conduct.
We also released a statement following the dismissal of a gross misconduct case against former GMP ACC Steven Heywood. We concluded he should face a public hearing to answer allegations that the evidence he provided to the Anthony Grainger Public Inquiry may have breached police professional standards relating to honesty and integrity and performance of duties.
Read more about our other investigations into the circumstances surrounding the Anthony Grainger case.
Witness appeals – can you help?
We have launched several witness appeals to assist investigations:
- An appeal for witnesses to a fatal road traffic incident in Wembley after an Audi was seen travelling at speed by Metropolitan Police officers in a patrolling police vehicle. A short time later, the Audi crashed into a tree and the 26-year-old driver died at the scene.
- An appeal for witnesses after a fatal collision in Droitwich. Marlon Vella was riding a Yamaha scooter travelling in the same direction as a West Mercia Police vehicle, which was responding to an emergency call. Mr Vella was travelling ahead of the marked police car when his scooter collided with a tree.
- An appeal for witnesses to a 24 March incident involving police contact with a man in Blackburn. The man died in hospital soon after being spoken to by a police officer on Higher Church Street and stopped for the purposes of a search on suspicion of drugs offences.
- An appeal for witnesses to an incident in Coventry where a man died shortly after being detained by West Midlands Police.
Other investigations news
A Kent Police officer received a written warning after a misconduct case against him was proven. Police Constable William Russell faced a misconduct hearing for a breach of the police standards of professional behaviour after he slapped a detainee and made a derogatory comment while the man was in handcuffs and had his head covered with a spit hood.
We provided our investigation report to the Crown Prosecution Service, which found there was a case to answer for a criminal prosecution. PC Russell was acquitted following his trial at Brighton Magistrates’ Court in December 2019.
A former Essex Police inspector was charged with sexual offences following our investigation into complaints alleging that he abused his position for sexual purpose. Jonathan McLeod resigned from the force in March 2020. He is due to appear in court in July 2020.
Two key members of our Roads Policing Subject Matter Network recently updated Police Oracle on how the IOPC is developing a better understanding of training and technical issues around police pursuits.
Our latest report on deaths following police contact shows fatalities from road traffic incidents are on the rise. There were 42 fatalities from road traffic incidents involving police in England and Wales in 2018/19, an increase of 13 from the previous year and the highest figure for a decade. 30% of those were pursuit-related incidents.
We are currently developing eight technical advisors to gain specialist knowledge of roads policing issues and ensure a more consistent approach to investigations.
Over the past 12 months, the IOPC has made several recommendations following road traffic incidents which have led to national changes. This includes training on the use of life hammers and use of tactical contact.
You can read the full article in Police Oracle if you have a subscription.
Our Director General’s engagements in April and May
Michael met with Dame Sara Thornton, previously Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and now the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. This was a general catch up about issues and challenges, and to discuss whether there is any shared learning for us. He also met with Martin Hewitt, the current NPCC Chair, to discuss the police response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michael met with John Apter, Chair of the Police Federation. They discussed how the pandemic has impacted on capacity within forces, as well as how new police powers were being applied. Michael was able to share some of the initial feedback we have received. He also attended a virtual conference organised by the Police Federation. Attendees included Federation representatives from police forces across England and Wales. Michael spoke about our achievements over the last two years, and some of our plans for the future.
After meeting with National Anti-terrorism Lead, Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Michael agreed to meet with some frontline counter-terrorism officers later this year. This will be a useful opportunity to explain our role and hear some firsthand experiences of counter-terrorism work.
Following her appointment as Shadow Policing Minister, Michael met with Sarah Jones MP. Sarah was particularly interested in our thematic work – specifically around domestic abuse. As Sarah is a Croydon MP, we’ll be delighted to arrange for her to visit our Croydon office when possible.
Investigations started and completed
In April and May 2020, we completed 84% of the investigations we closed in 12 months or less, compared to 76% in April and May 2019.
We continue to focus effort on closing older cases, which has had an impact on our recent performance data.
Appeals
*This figure may change as a result of data being recorded after the figures are collated.
The % of upheld appeals is worked out from the number of appeals upheld over the total number of valid appeals completed.
PDF version of our April performance data.
PDF version of our May performance data.
Find out how we are performing against our targets.
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