Glossary

Appropriate Authority 
In police complaints, the Appropriate Authority is the police chief officer or policing body (such as PCC) that is responsible for recording the complaint and making the final decision on it.

Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)    
A forum for chief police officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was replaced in 2015 by the National Police Chiefs’ Council. 

Body continuity
The formal process by which police officers and others ensure that as the body of a person who has died is moved, identified and where necessary examined, all those involved are dealing with the same body. The process should be fully documented so that there is no unauthorised contact with the body.

Case to answer
In police complaints and conduct matters, an officer has a case to answer when there is enough evidence that a reasonable misconduct meeting or disciplinary hearing panel, could find misconduct or gross misconduct proven on the balance of probabilities.

Civil litigation
A term used to describe for non-criminal legal disputes. 

CJA statements
Statements are made in the majority of criminal investigations by police officers and other witnesses. They are made under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 1967 and include a signed declaration of truth. They are sometimes referred to as CJA statements. 

Complaint
The IOPC defines a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction with a police force expressed by or on behalf of a member of the public.

Conduct matter
Any matter which is not and has not been the subject of a complaint, where there is an indication (whether from the circumstances or otherwise) that a person serving with the police may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner which would justify disciplinary proceedings.

Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice
Where two or more people agree to commit an act, or series of acts, intended to pervert the course of justice. To prove the offence, there must be evidence of both the agreement and the intent of that agreement.

Covert activity
Surveillance activities carried out in a calculated way to ensure that people who are under surveillance are unaware that it is taking place.

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
The CPS prosecutes criminal cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organisations in England and Wales. The CPS makes decisions independently of the police and Government.

Decision maker
The IOPC decision maker is responsible for setting out their opinion about what action should be taken regarding a complaint or conduct investigation. The decisions and opinions that the IOPC decision maker can make are set out in law. 

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)
The head of the CPS. 

Disclosure
Providing interested parties with copies of, or access to, all material for a court procedure. In this report, it may relate either to disclosure before criminal trials or disclosure in relation to the Goldring Inquests.

Discreditable conduct 
Under paragraph 1 of the 1985 Code of Conduct, discreditable conduct was committed where a member of a police force acted in a disorderly manner or in a manner prejudicial to discipline or reasonably likely to bring discredit on the reputation of the force or the police service.

Floppy disk
A computer storage medium used in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

GEN 18 form
A form used by SYP for recording details of all sudden deaths, whether suspicious or not.

Generic hearing
The second phase of the Popper Inquests, which examined the circumstances leading up to the deaths during the disaster. The generic hearing is sometimes referred to as the “resumed inquests”.

Goldring Inquests
The inquests into the disaster that were opened in 2013, after the Lord Chief Justice quashed the verdict of the original inquests. The new inquests were led by Lord Justice Goldring.

Green Guide (Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds)
The Green Guide was the official Government publication ‘The Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds’. First published in 1973, it was recognised as the core guidance for all football grounds to follow. 

Gross misconduct
A breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour so serious that dismissal would be justified. 

Ground commander
The senior police officer who was responsible for overseeing the events inside the football ground and the officers deployed there. The ground commander was part of the senior command team managed by the match commander. 

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. 

Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP)
The HIP was set up in 2009 to oversee maximum public disclosure of all documents relevant to the disaster held by central government, local government and other statutory bodies. The HIP was also tasked with producing a report that explained “how the information disclosed [added] to public understanding of the tragedy and its aftermath”. 

Hillsborough Steering Committee
The Hillsborough Steering Committee was set up on 16 April 1989 to act as a focal point for the large number of solicitors’ firms instructed to represent the bereaved families and/or those injured in the Hillsborough disaster. 

HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System)
An IT system designed to support large police investigations and follows the processes used in major incident rooms. It provides a standard and controlled means of storing, categorising and linking the information gathered by police—letters, emails, transcripts, statements, reports etc.—as well as the actions investigators took. A new account is typically created for each investigation. Both the IOPC and Operation Resolve used HOLMES in their investigations; SYP and WMP did the same.  

Inquest
Inquests are legal inquiries into the cause and circumstances of a death. Their parameters are clearly defined in law.

Interested person (IP)
In the IOPC’s work, an IP is someone who has a legitimate reason to be kept informed about another person’s complaint or conduct matter. In the Hillsborough investigations, the families of those who died in the disaster were offered IP status for a number of complaints and conduct matters that investigators identified as being of probable interest and relevance to them.

Interview under caution
A police interview with an individual suspected of a criminal or police disciplinary offence, where at the start of the interview, the interviewee is cautioned about their rights. The caution can be for a criminal offence or police misconduct.

Major Incident Room (MIR)
The purpose of an MIR is to serve as the hub for the collection of evidence related to a major incident. MIRs operate to a standard administrative process (MIRSAP), which helps bring order to the information gathered and the use of investigative resources. 

Manslaughter by gross negligence
Where a death is a result of a grossly negligent (though otherwise lawful) act or omission on the part of the defendant.

Match commander
The officer in charge of the police operation at a football match. 

Medico-Legal Centre (MLC)
A purpose-built centre in Sheffield designed to provide the facilities and services required for the investigation of a sudden or unexpected death. It comprises the offices of HM Coroner for South Yorkshire (West) District and the public mortuary. It opened in 1978. 

Misconduct
Misconduct is defined in the Police Reform Act 2002 as “a breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour”. However, where a matter is being dealt with under the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020, the following definition applies: “a breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour that is so serious as to justify disciplinary action”.

Misconduct in public office (MIPO)    
A criminal offence that can only be conducted by public office holders while they are carrying out the duties of that office. It is committed when the office holder “wilfully neglects to perform his duty and/or wilfully misconducts himself to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder, without reasonable excuse or justification.”

Negligence
A civil wrong or tort that defines any conduct or failure to act that breaches an established duty of care.

Operational order
A document that links information regarding an event or incident with the structure of the police response and the operational resource requirement.

Pen
An area of a terrace that was completely fenced in so that access in and out was controlled. There were seven pens on the West Terrace in 1989.

Perverting the course of justice
A serious offence which is committed when a person intentionally carries out an act which could interfere with ongoing or anticipated judicial proceedings, whether it has that effect or not. 

Popper Inquests
The original inquests into the Hillsborough disaster. They were led by the then Coroner for South Yorkshire (West District) Dr Stefan Popper.

Prepared statement
Section 34 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 gives anyone interviewed as a suspect the right to be silent when being interviewed. However, at the start of the interview suspects are cautioned that an adverse inference may be drawn if they choose not to answer questions and so do not provide evidence that they later rely on in court. If the suspect reads out a prepared statement (or their lawyer does so on their behalf) then no adverse inferences can be drawn in respect of matters dealt with in the statement.

Professional standards
The Standards of Professional Behaviour that apply to all police officers in England and Wales. 

Referral
A submission from an appropriate authority about an incident that is serious enough to be sent to the IOPC. It can be in the form of a complaint or conduct matter, or it could involve death or serious injury after contact with the police.

Regulation 16 Notice
This is a notice of the alleged breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour, served under Regulation 16 of the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012 (for people no longer serving with the police).

Safety Certificate
The Safety of Sports Ground Act 1975 introduced a requirement for larger stadia to obtain a 'Safety Certificate' from the local authority and comply with the terms and conditions of that Certificate. 

Salmon letter
A letter sent to a person or organisation who may be subject to criticism when a public report is published. The purpose of the letter is to give the person or organisation the opportunity to prepare a response. 

Stuart-Smith Scrutiny
An independent judicial scrutiny of evidence related to the disaster which was not made available to previous investigations. It began in 1997 and was led by Lord Justice Murray Stuart-Smith.

Telex
A method of sending simple written messages over the telephone network. Messages were printed out on specialist printers. It was discontinued in 2008.

Terms of reference
Terms of reference set out the scope and objectives of the IOPC and Operation Resolve’s investigations. 

The Taylor Inquiry
An independent inquiry led by Lord Justice Peter Taylor into the Hillsborough disaster. It was a non-statutory departmental inquiry, not a statutory public inquiry. 

Treasury Solicitor's Department
A government department that provided legal services to central government and other public bodies. It changed its name to the Government Legal Department in 2015.