The Police Complaints Board (PCB) was the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

organisation tasked with overseeing the system for handling complaints made against

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

forces in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

from 1 June 1977 until it was replaced by the Police Complaints Authority on 29 April 1985. Like its replacement, the Police Complaints Authority, its successor 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 ...

, and the present

Independent Office for Police Conduct The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is 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. It replaced the Independent ...

, the Police Complaints Board was operationally independent of the British police.

Creation

Until the creation of the PCB in June 1977, complaints against police officers were handled directly by the forces concerned, although the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

could refer a serious complaint to another police force for investigation under a mechanism set out in Section 49 of the

Police Act 1964 The Police Act 1964 (c. 48) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that updated the legislation governing police forces in England and Wales, constituted new police authorities, gave the Home Secretary new powers to supervise loca ...

. The investigating force would forward a report to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who could decide to prosecute the offending policemen. Following a series of scandals involving the Metropolitan Police in the mid-1970s, and criticism of a perceived lack of independence in the existing process, the Police Complaints Board was created by the Police (Complaints) Act 1976.

Powers

The new board could scrutinise a report produced by an investigating force and satisfy itself that justice had been done, or instruct the chief constable of the force against whom the complaint had been made to take disciplinary proceedings against the offending police officers. The PCB did not cover

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, which was the responsibility of a separate body, the Police Complaints Board for Northern Ireland also set up under the Police Act 1976. Nor did it cover Scotland, which retained the mechanism set up by the Police (Scotland) Act 1967.

Criticism and reform

The 1981

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

riots, and the

Scarman report The Scarman report was commissioned by the UK Government following the 1981 Brixton riots. Lord Scarman was appointed by then Home Secretary William Whitelaw on 14 April 1981 (two days after the rioting ended) to hold the enquiry into the riot ...

on it which investigated, amongst other things, allegations of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

against the police led to pressure to reform the PCB. The result was that the board was abolished and replaced by the Police Complaints Authority in the

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (c. 60) (PACE) is an act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise of t ...

. A significant change was that the PCA was given extra powers allowing it to supervise police investigations into complaints, which has been taken further in its successor, the

which replaced it on 1 April 2004 and which has the ability to carry out its own independent investigations.

References

{{Authority control Police oversight organizations Ombudsmen in England Ombudsmen in Wales Police misconduct in the United Kingdom Home Office (United Kingdom) Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Law enforcement in England and Wales