The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

which, since 8 January 2018, is responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

forces in England and Wales. Most allegations of police misconduct are investigated by police forces' own professional standards departments (with oversight by the IOPC). However the IOPC does conduct independent investigations of serious allegations of misconduct or criminal offences by police officers and other law enforcement officers. 'Mandatory' referrals are usually made to the IOPC should a person die or sustain serious injuries following police contact. Additionally, a force's professional standards department may also make a 'voluntary' referral – in which a force will ask the IOPC to consider if they wish to investigate independently, supervise a force professional standards investigation, or decline and refer the investigation back to the force to investigate without any IOPC input. The office received over 4300 referrals from police forces and completed about 700 investigations in the 2019/20 year. __TOC__

Structure

The functions of the Independent Office for Police Conduct were previously undertaken by the

Independent Police Complaints Commission The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales. On 8 January 2018, th ...

(IPCC), which was established in 2004 and abolished upon the creation of the IOPC. The Independent Office for Police Conduct originated from the

Policing and Crime Act 2017 The Policing and Crime Act 2017 (c. 3) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It received royal assent on 31 January 2017. Synopsis The act enacts various changes to existing rules involving PCCs, complaints through the IPCC, amendm ...

and unlike its IPCC predecessor, does not have a commission structure and is headed by a director general, supported by deputies, regional directors and a director for Wales. The first director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct was Michael Lockwood, previously Chief Executive of Harrow London Borough Council.

Additional powers

The Policing and Crime Act 2017 furnished the Independent Office for Police Conduct with powers which the IPCC did not have: *a power to initiate its own investigations without relying on a force to record and refer *powers to determine appeals and recommend remedies *a shortened process for deciding whether a case should go to a disciplinary hearing In April 2017, the IPCC took over responsibility of oversight of complaints in relation to the

Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) is the foremost intelligence and investigative agency for labour exploitation in the UK. Its role is to work in partnership with police and other law enforcement agencies such as the National Crime ...

and from 2018, the new Independent Office for Police Conduct, in certain circumstances, takes responsibility for oversight of complaints in relation to fire and rescue service personnel.

Parliamentary report

A report of the Home Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons published on 1 March 2022 found bad communications and lack of transparency were damaging complainants and officers. The report said that the public has little confidence that complaints would succeed or that officers guilty of misconduct would be sanctioned appropriately. Delays are too long, the report stated, “There needs to be a change of culture in police forces. It should not be necessary to compel officers to cooperate with investigations. This culture change must be from top to bottom to ensure that complaints are handled quickly and openly, delivering punishment for misconduct where necessary and clearing officers who have not committed an offence.”

Operation Midland Operation Midland was a criminal investigation which the London Metropolitan Police carried out between November 2014 and March 2016 in response to false allegations of historic child abuse made by Carl Beech. The operation focused on investiga ...

had left complainants “feeling let down by a system failing to treat their complaints with the severity they merited”. Other complainants felt similarly let down.

Resignation of Michael Lockwood

In December 2022, Michael Lockwood resigned from his position as IOPC director general due to his being subject to a police investigation. He said this was for "personal and domestic reasons".

Suella Braverman Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman (; ''née'' Fernandes, born 3 April 1980) is a British barrister and politician who has served as Home Secretary since 25 October 2022. She previously held the position from 6 September to 19 October 2022 ...

, the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

, said that she had asked him to either resign or be suspended, because of a historical allegation.

Notes

References

External links

Annual Report
{{Authority control Ombudsmen in England Ombudsmen in Wales Police misconduct in the United Kingdom Home Office (United Kingdom) Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Law enforcement in England and Wales Police oversight organizations 2018 in British law