COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE POLICE

Why Complain?

The question is – why not complain? Many people are perhaps justifiably cynical about the police’s methods of dealing with complaints. After all, the investigation is conducted by the police themselves rather than an independent body. But there are many good reasons for complaining. It’s a simple procedure and will only take at most a few hours of your time. By contrast it will cost the police force being investigated a relatively large amount of time and money. If formal complaint proceedings are continually brought against the same police officers these will become a major headache to the police forces in question. All complaints have to be recorded by the police force, and any complaints which are upheld will adversely affect the police force’s statistics.
Complaints may directly affect the way in which police behave on demos. If the police act unlawfully or discriminately towards you and you take no action, then they will think they can get away with it and continue to abuse the rights of other activists in the future. But if they regularly receive complaints about their behaviour and find themselves under constant investigation then they may have to reconsider their actions. Their chances of promotion will be affected, and they will have the threat of disciplinary proceedings constantly hanging over them. They may gain a reputation for being “problem” police officers and have their careers adversely affected – perhaps permanently.
Even if your complaint is not upheld, you will have placed a burden on police resources and been a nuisance to the police. This can lead to a complete change in policy by the police in their attitude to activists – as was demonstrated a few years ago when large numbers of hunt saboteurs made complaints about a particular draconian policy adopted by the Kent police.

How to Institute a Complaint

The police complaints procedure is governed by Sections 66-88 of the Police Act 1996. If you think you have grounds for complaint against the police you can bring complaint proceedings against the officer or officers in question. This can be done by writing to the individual constabulary in question, but it is much easier to write to the independent Police Complaints Authority (PCA) who will forward your complaint to the appropriate police force for you. The initial complaint will be investigated by the police themselves under the supervision of the PCA. When the investigation is complete a report will be submitted to the PCA who will decide what further action to take. The address for the PCA is:
Police Complaints Authority,
10 Great George Street
London
SW1P 3AE.
Tel: 020 7273 6450
http://www.pca.gov.uk/
If you do want to write to the police force directly, a comprehensive list of all police force websites in the country can be found on the ‘policelaw’ website. Just click on the Contact Us link on the relevant page: http://www.policelaw.co.uk/#hotlist

The Complaints Procedure - What to Write in Your Letter

Keep the original letter of complaint fairly brief. State the name of the officer or officers whom you are complaining against, and the police force where they are based. If you do not have their names, identify them by their number if possible. If you cannot do this, you should provide the police with any other identifying evidence – e.g. a photo, or description stating the time and location of the incident, the officer’s vehicle registration or anything else which may assist in the identification. Give brief details of the nature of your complaint. State whether or not you wish there to be a formal or informal investigation, and whether or not you are happy to be visited by the police at your home. The PCA will forward your letter to the Chief Constable of the relevant force.

Formal or informal?
Always insist on a formal investigation. When the Chief Constable receives your letter of complaint he is bound by law to investigate it. Complaints can be resolved either formally or informally. If it seems to the Chief Constable that the complaint is suitable for informal resolution then he is under a duty to try to resolve the matter in this way and will appoint an officer within his force to do so. This would apply to relatively trivial complaints where the police officer’s conduct is not alleged to be of a criminal nature. The police are likely to want to resolve complaints informally wherever possible, as this is the most cost effective way to deal with it and reduces the burden on police resources. An example of an informal resolution would be where the chief constable verbally apologises or offers reassurance that there will be no repeat of the behaviour. However the chief officer may only resolve a complaint informally if you consent to this. It is your right by law to have the complaint investigated formally if you so require whatever the nature of the complaint. Therefore if you state in your initial letter to the PCA that you do not wish to have the matter resolved informally and want a formal investigation then no attempt should be made to resolve it informally.

Location of the interview
You should also state that you do not wish to be visited at home by the investigating officer. This is a tactic commonly employed by the police, whereby they attempt to resolve the matter there and then by persuading you not to bring formal complaint proceedings. Unless you are happy for the police to come to your home, you should state in your initial letter that you wish to arrange to make a formal statement at your local police station.

The Statement
Once the chief constable or investigating officer determines that the complaint is to be resolved formally an officer will be appointed to investigate the complaint – either from the same police force or from another one. He will write to you informing you that an officer has been appointed to investigate your complaint. The letter will include the name of the investigating officer along with a contact phone number and address. The investigating officer will usually be from the same police force unless the complaint is very serious. Most police forces have their own professional standards department and the officer will normally be based there. He will not be a colleague of the officer who is the subject of your complaint.
You should contact the investigating officer and arrange to make a formal statement at a location of your choice - either at your home or at the nearest police station. The statement is usually taken in a fairly relaxed and informal manner. Remember you are the one making the complaint and the officer is there solely in order to facilitate this. You may have a friend or solicitor with you if you choose, to help you make the statement. You will dictate the statement to the officer who will make a handwritten record. You can say exactly what you want to say in the statement, and the officer may not add his own comments.
When you have finished you will be invited to read the statement and to sign at the bottom of each page. You are free to alter anything you’re not happy with, so make sure the statement is exactly right, as this will form the substance of your complaint. If you have any independent evidence – eg video evidence – you should supply a copy of this to the investigating officer. If there are any witnesses who are willing to make statements then you will need to give their details as well, so it’s best to establish prior to the interview which witnesses are happy to make a statement. Once he has taken your statement the officer will then make further enquiries. These will include taking a statements from the officer being investigated and from any other relevant parties.

What Happens Next

When the investigation is complete the investigating officer will submit his report to the Chief Constable of the force and will write to you inform you of this. The Chief Constable must first decide whether the report indicates that a criminal offence may have been committed by a police officer within his force. If so, he must submit a copy of the report to the Director of Public Prosecutions who will make a decision on whether or not to prosecute. The Chief Constable must in any case submit a report of the investigation to the PCA. He must state whether or not disciplinary proceedings have been commenced against the police officer and if not he must give his reasons for not doing so.
The PCA may direct the Chief Constable to bring disciplinary proceedings against his wishes. In the case of more serious investigations, the investigating officer’s report will be submitted directly to the PCA who will then decide whether or not to bring disciplinary proceedings.
When the PCA have decided what form of action – if any – to take they will inform you of this in writing, giving their reasons why they believe that further disciplinary action is necessary or not. You cannot appeal against their decision
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