Making a Police Complaint
The Police are responsible for maintaining public order and safety, enforcing the law, and preventing, detecting, and investigating criminal activities. In short, the Police are responsible for keeping everyone safe. However, they can be far from perfect and claims against them can be made if someone has been a victim of:
- Wrongful arrest or false imprisonment
- Malicious prosecution
- Police negligence
- Excessive force or assault – including the use of Taser guns
- Human rights breaches
According to the IOPC, in the year 2019/2020, over 28,000 complaints were made against the Police. This figure can be broken down to see the number of complaints each force received, with the Metropolitan Police having the most claims, a whopping 20% of the overall figure.
Making the police aware
To start, the claimant will need to make their complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), previously known as the IPCC or the Professional Standards Department in the relevant police force.
It is important to make the complaint within 12 months of the incident taking place, as police may not investigate anything that happened longer than 1 year. The police will decide from here, whether the complaint has any merit, as only ‘recorded’ complaints are dealt with.
There is no official time limit in which a complaint has to be resolved, however, the officer dealing with it is obliged to inform the claimant how long it is likely to take and provide updates on the progress of the complaint at least once every 28 days.
Where the complaint is not recorded, the police force is required to explain the reasons why. If there is no response to the complaint, then the claimant can appeal.
Possible outcomes
At the end of an investigation, the force may identify learning or improvements that they need to make. They may also find that disciplinary action is appropriate.
The disciplinary actions that can be taken may include:
- A written warning added to the officer’s personal file. If the police officer is found to have committed any misconduct in the two years (extended to five years in some circumstances) following this warning, it is likely to lead to a final written warning
- A final written warning added to the officer’s personal file
- Reduction in rank
- Dismissal without notice
If there is no disciplinary action to be taken, forces may take other actions:
- If an officer’s performance needs to improve, together with their manager they can undertake a fact‑finding process and then reflect on and discuss what they need to do to improve their performance. The focus will be on putting an issue right and preventing it happening again by encouraging those involved to reflect on their actions and learn. This is known as the Reflective Practice Review process.
- They may identify gaps in guidance or policies – for example, the guidance that call handlers follow – and update it
- Supervising officers may offer informal advice to their staff, identify any training needs and arrange for these to be met.
Claims against the Police
If the outcome of a complaint against a police force leaves the claimant dissatisfied, for whatever reason, the next step would be to seek advice from a legal practitioner, where they can advise on whether there is a solid case.
If a claim is about a wrongful arrest or false imprisonment, a claimant has 6 years from the date of the arrest to make a claim. If a claim is in regards to an assault, a claimant has 3 years from the date of the incident to claim.
The outcome of a claim will be for compensation, the amount that a person could gain depends on a lot of factors, such as the type of incident that occurred and the effect this had on their life.
If you believe you’ve been unfairly treated by the police, or by other detaining authorities, get in touch with our expert litigation solicitors. You can find out more by visiting our Claims Against the Police services here, or you can call us on 023 8023 4433.
Disclaimer: Information on this webpage is not intended for legal purposes or advice. If you require legal advice or services, you should seek a professional legal practitioner.
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