Excessive force alleged during son's arrest - Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, March 2022
In June 2020, a man made a complaint about the way his son had been treated when he was arrested in a non-recent incident. He felt that the police used excessive force against his son, that they disregarded him saying he was unable to breathe, that they discriminated against him because of his race, and that they intimidated a bystander who was recording the incident.
Due to the time that had elapsed between the incident and the complaint being made, some evidence that may have been useful was not available as it had not been retained. Other evidence, such as use of force forms, which would have assisted our investigation had not been created at the time, although police guidance and policies stated they should have been.
We considered all the relevant evidence that was available, which included the bystander video footage of the arrest, contemporaneous witness statements, and custody records. Our investigators also obtained further witness statements from the police officers involved.
Our investigation concluded in June 2021.
We concluded there was no indication any police officer had behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or had committed a criminal offence.
We carefully considered whether there were any organisational learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.
In this case we identified organisational learning.
IOPC reference
Recommendations
The IOPC recommends that Devon and Cornwall police take steps to ensure officers and PCSOs are aware of their duty to accurately record their uses of force in use-of-force-forms, and for attendance at all incidents which require a record be made for evidential purposes, they create a record in the most appropriate form (i.e pocket-notebook entry or statement, as well as retention of Body Worn Video Footage).
This follows an investigation which concerned the restraint and arrest of a man that was videoed by a member of the public. Eleven officers told IOPC investigators that they had personally used force on the male, yet only one officer submitted a use of force form. The expectation is that officers complete a use of force form in respect of the force they personally used, and as such, this use of force form did not detail all the force used against the male; it made no reference to the use of limb restraints, spit hood or CAPTOR spray (an incapacitant spray), nor the multiple officer lift. The Use of Force policy states that “Officers will complete the appropriate use of force report form whenever they use physical force…the relevant custody Sergeant (designated or non-designated facilities) will ensure adherence to this procedure, but it remains the ultimate responsibility of the officer using the force to ensure that the use of force report form is completed”. Only one officer completed a meaningful pocket-notebook entry in respect of this incident (one PC and one PCSO noted their attendance but nothing further), despite 26 telling the IOPC they were present at the incident. Only three officers provided statements about this interaction, which were submitted as evidence for the investigation into the male for assaulting emergency workers. Devon and Cornwall police’s pocket notebook policy states an entry should be made following “Incidents which require a record for evidential purposes where no original notes are made elsewhere “. During the arrest attempt, the officer utilised the code zero function on their radio (signifying that an officer was in urgent need of assistance), resulting in attendances from other police constables, detective constables, sergeants and police community support officers, meaning that this issue is not unique to one team, but widespread.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
These have been recorded on Pentana Ref - [Redacted]
They have been allocated an owner – Ch Insp – Alliance Operations Department.
Initial response from Ch Insp :
A SharePoint [intranet] message is to be published reminding staff and officers of the requirement to formally record Use of Force (using video evidence where possible).
Work remains ongoing with the Niche project (project manager) to help ensure key Pronto fields feeding Niche are mandatory including the addition of a supervisor sign off. [The force is currently in the process of transferring from the Unify I.T. system to Niche]
Although the request has been backed by C/Supt as Legitimacy Lead, this functionality is not yet confirmed. These input and supervisory controls would help assure the completeness, accuracy and quality of information recorded for Use of Force.
Messaging will also go out via the Use of Force Operational Group (next meeting 14 April 2022) to remind SPOCS to underline to their respective departments and commands of the absolute requirement to complete Use of Force forms (and BWV - where policy is to be updated to mandatory use) in all instances where force us used.
The next Use of Force Operational Group is on the 14 April 2022 so further updates may follow.
The IOPC recommends that Devon and Cornwall Police should take steps to ensure Exeter officers are aware of their duty of cooperation during IOPC investigations.
This follows an investigation in which IOPC investigators were met with delays in obtaining statements from numerous police witnesses. The IOPC contacted the officers, providing details of the information required from them and requested that they provide statements within seven days. Only 10 of the 29 officers contacted met this deadline. Nine officers took more than 14 days to complete their statements, with one taking 31 days and another taking 40 days to respond. Three officers required intervention by the force’s professional standards department before they completed statements; one officer responded after the IOPC notified him of the intention to use its powers to compel him to attend a witness interview. Finally, a number of the statements were not completed correctly (for example they were not signed correctly, or the number of pages was incorrect), and required further updating, with this also incurring delays of up to 25 days.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
These have been recorded on Pentana Ref -[Redacted] (They have been added to the previous recommendations as they relate to the same incident).
These are allocated an owner – Supt the area commander for Exeter, East & Mid Devon.
The current update from Supt:
“Our response to recommendations 2 and 3 will be a cascade briefing to all officers and PCSOs in the LPA. We will collate returns from all supervisors to ensure that all officers and PCSOs have received the briefing. We will work with the Federation on this.”
The IOPC recommends that Devon and Cornwall police should take steps to ensure Exeter officers and PCSOs are aware of ACPO guidance (Association of Chief Police Officers Communication Advisory Group Guidance 2010) in respect of members of the public taking photographs. This follows an IOPC investigation which dealt with a number of complaints, one of which referred to officers and PCSOs attempting to block a member of the public from filming the arrest.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action
As per recommendation 2.