Protocol for Handling Complaints by Hampshire Police Authority S Complaints and Professional

Appendix 1

PROTOCOL FOR THE MONITORING OF PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS HANDLING COMPLAINTS BY HAMPSHIRE POLICE AUTHORITY’S COMPLAINTS AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE

1AIM OF THE PROTOCOL

1.1The aim of the protocol is to ensure that the role of the Police Authority in monitoring professional standards the complaints process as part of its core duties around promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of policing locally is carried out by the Complaints and Professional Standards Committee (the Committee). This Committee will consist of appropriately trained members.

2OBJECTIVES OF THE PROTOCOL

2.1Under Section 15 of the Police Reform Act 2002 the Police Authority’s statutory duties are:

To keep itself informed about complaint and discipline matters within the Force.

To provide the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) with information and documentation to enable it to carry out its designated role as guardian of the police complaints system.

To refer a complaint or misconduct matter to the IPCC when the Chief Constable does not and where it is appropriate to do so.

To act as the “appropriate authority” in the recording and investigation of complaints and conduct matters against officers of ACPO rank.

2.2The Committee also is also guided by its own terms of reference as set out in Appendix A of this protocol.

2.3The objectives of this protocol are therefore to provide a framework by which the Committee will fulfil the Police Authority’s responsibilities for monitoring professional standards within Hampshire Constabularyand oversight of complaints.

3FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS

3.1The Committee will meet at least four times a year

3.2These meetings will consist of four sessions:

-A public session during which the Committee will receive reports from the Chief Constable and the Clerk on matters relating to general complaints which have been received by Professional Standards Department of the Force (PSD), including statistical data.

-A confidential session during which the Committee will receive confidential reports from the Chief Constable and the Clerk office relating to complaints, misconduct cases, civil claims raised by members of the public and other confidential matters.

-A further confidential session during which the Committee will receive confidential reports from the Clerk relating to complaints received from members of the public against Chief Officers. Representatives from the Constabulary will not be present during this session.

These three sessions will run sequentially and be held at Police Authority offices.

-A fourth confidential session held at Police Headquarters during which the Committee will have opportunity to dip sample completed complaints cases which have been dealt with by PSD.

4ANALYSIS OF STATISTICS AND TRENDS AND STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

4.1At each meeting of the Committee, members will consider a report from PSDwhich will provide quarterly statistics on the work of the department including:

The overall number of complaints recorded, live cases and completed cases, the number of direction and control cases recorded and the number of internal conduct cases recorded. Comparative data for the same quarter in preceding years will be shown.

The ethnicity of complainants with comparative data for preceding years.

The outcome of completed cases

The types of cases recorded

The timescale for the completion of cases

The number of complaints by OCUBCU and a breakdown of complaint category and result.

Who the public is complaining about

Details of complaints per 1000 officers

4.2As part of this process, the statistics will be compared with the family of most similar forces supplied by the IPCC (when available).

4.3In addition to the review above, the Committee will also consider and discuss what the complaints statistics provided by PSD say about overall policing style and management within the Force and any changes in management which have resulted with particular reference to any learning from these.

4.4The Committee will seek to identify particular trends and ascertain what positive action has been taken by the Force to respond to such trends.

4.5The Committee will also consider employment matters in cases where these have an effect on misconduct matters and what, if any, changes need to be implemented.

4.6The Committee will also ensure that high profile and serious cases that pose a risk to public confidence are dealt with appropriately, including referral to the IPCC if necessary.

5AUDIT OF CONSTABULARY POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES

5.1The Committee will receive on an annual report from the Chief Constable at the first meeting of the new year (financial)on the work of PSD in the previous year to include:

Evidence that the Chief Constable has satisfactory policies, processes and procedures in place relating to the handling of complaints and the process by which these are discharged.

Examples of training carried out to ensure that Managers carry out policies as above and evidence that all Managers are well versed in these.

Evidence that these policies are being applied fairly and consistently in practice.

Resourcing issues within PSD compared to the family of most similar forces, taking into account the number and type or complaints received and the reasons for any significant differences.

How PSD analyses complaints and the actions taken to ensure that the lessons learned are disseminated with the Force and are consistently monitored within staff development reviews.

5.2The Committee and the Chief Constable will consider what, if any, improvements can be made to the complaints system as a result of the Annual Report of the IPCC and any other specific issue reports that are published.

5.3The Committee will receive regular update reports from the Chief Constable on the progress of the timed Action Plan arising from HMIC Inspection of PSD, together with any difficulties which may be arising from its implementation.

6DIP SAMPLING PROCEDURE

6.1The Committee will select the individual completed case files which they wish to dip sample during their review of the statistical information provided by PSD.

6.2The number of files selected will depend upon the Members of the Committee present.

6.3PSD will make these files available to the Committee in a private room at Police Headquarters.

6.4Members will usually look at files individually and an officer from PSD will be available to respond to any concerns raised.

6.5The purpose of dip sampling is to review the process for handling complaints as they are operated by the Force, to check this against stated policy and procedure and to form a view about the effectiveness and fairness of the management judgement in this area. A checklist for this purpose is attached to this protocol (appendix B).

6.6The Committee will include in their dip sampling, a selection of files which were subject to local resolution to ensure that the IPCC’s aim to give greater scope to the Force to resolve certain complaints at local level is being utilised effectively.

6.7Once the file has been reviewed and any additional information required has been provided, the Member will stamp and sign the file to indicate that the process has been completed.

6.87Following the dip sampling exercise, Members will discuss any concerns they have and will decide whether these need further explanation from the Force.

6.98The Chairman will complete and sign a “Quarterly Review of Finalised Complaint Files” form, one copy will remain in PSD and a further copy will be provided to the Clerk of the Authority.

6.109The Chairman of the Committee will include a review of the dip sampling exercise in his Chairman’s verbal report at the subsequent meeting of the Committee.

6.11An annual summary of findings from the dip sampling process will be sent to the APA for information sharing at the Professional Standards network.

7HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS AGAINST CHIEF OFFICERS

7.1The Police Authority is the “appropriate authority” for considering complaints and conduct matters received in respect of chief officers of the Force.

7.2In accordance with IPCC guidance, the Authority should have procedures in place for recording complaints or conduct matters about ACPO ranks and identifying when a matter should be referred to the IPCC (mandatory referral grounds and public confidence issues when a potential serious allegation is made against an ACPO officer).

7.3A complaint is classified as a matter brought to the attention of the Committee by or on behalf of a member of the public.

7.4Where a potential criminal or disciplinary offence is referred for the attention of the Authority, this is classified as a conduct matter.

7.5The Clerk’s office will refer any complaints to the Police Authority’s legal adviser.

7.6The Committee has a duty to obtain and preserve evidence and will ask the Chief Constable for any file or investigation which it will hold until the conclusion of the complaint.

7.7A report will be prepared for the Committee’s consideration in the following format:

Name of complainant

Date of complaint

Status of complainant

Nature of complaint

Action taken to date

Current situation

This report will also update the status of all current complaints against Chief Officers.

8COMPLAINTS RELATING TO DIRECTION AND CONTROL

8.1Direction and control of the Force is defined as the operational responsibility of the Chief Constable and includes those operating under his formal delegated authority.

8.2Complaints raised by members of the public that relate to direction and control are defined as:

Operational policing polices (where there is no issue of conduct)

Organisational decisions

General policing standards in the Force

Operation management decisions (where there is no issue of conduct)

8.3The Committee has a duty to agree a procedure for handling of complaints about direction and control of the Force with the Chief Constable in line with Home Office guidance (issued 12/04/2005). The Committee will require the Chief Constable to review the procedure annually and present a report outlining any proposed changes at the first meeting of the year (financial).

8.4The Committee should be satisfied that the Force procedure is responsive to the needs of complainants, proportionate in the handling of the complaint, open and transparent and flexible to allow for complaints to be dealt with at the most effective level.

8.5The Committee has a key role in overseeing and scrutinising the Force’s performance and will receive details of direction and control complaints within the quarterly statistical data provided. These statistics are to include types and outcomes.

8.6The Committee will dip sample direction and control complaints to ensure that these have been dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner and that they were correctly recorded as direction and control.

8.7PSD will provide details of complaints relating to direction and control but which were not recorded as such as part of the quarterly reporting regime.

9CIVIL CLAIMS

9.1Some members of the public may make a civil claim against the Force rather than make a complaint. These claims are handled by the Force Solicitor and the Committee has a responsibility to ensure that the Force procedure for dealing with matters arising from civil claims are consistent with complaints and conduct matters under the Police Reform Act 2002.

9.2The Committee will receive statistics relating to all civil claims received by the Force Solicitor and passed to PSD in line with the analysis requested at paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2.

9.3The Force Solicitor will provide a report to each meeting of the Committee on civil claims which might have a misconduct implication.

10RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER STAKEHOLDERS

10.1The Committee will seek to meet the Regional Representative from the IPCC on an annual basis.

10.2The Committee will seek to meet the Regional HMIC onan annual basis.

10.3The Committee will as appropriate meet with other local stakeholders including the Police Federation, the Black Police Officers Association, the Lesbian and Gay Police Officers Association, the British Association of Women Police, the Superintendents Association and UNISON.

10.4The Committee will seek to consult with complainants about satisfaction with the way their complaints were investigated possibly by way of a questionnaire.

11REVIEWING THIS PROTOCOL

11.1This Protocol will be reviewed annually and updated as necessary.

October 2007January 2006

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