A Guide to Police Complaints

When Can You Complain?

You may pursue a complaint against an individual police officer or officers who you believe may have behaved unlawfully or unprofessionally. The following information is intended to assist you in deciding whether your complaint is justified and how you can pursue it.

What is the Police Complaints Authority?

The PCA state they are an "independent body overseeing complaints against serving Police officers in England and Wales". They aim to carry out their duties impartially and thoroughly in order to safeguard an individual's rights from abuse by the Police. The Court of Appeal, explained in R (Green) -v- PCA and Others Court of Appeal, 26 March 2002 that:

"The PCA exists to serve the purposes of (1) securing proper behaviour by police officers by ensuring that allegations of improper behaviour are fully investigated and wrongdoers brought to book, by means of (2) a process which is fair, and perceived to be fair, to both parties to a complaint, and which is such as (3) to promote public confidence in the police."

What is the time limit?

Complaints against individual Police Officers must normally be lodged within 12 months of the incident taking place. In exceptional circumstances the Chief Officer may agree to investigate complaints out of time.

How do you complain?

You may complain in one of two ways:

In Person

Attend at any police station and ask to speak with the Duty Inspector. The Duty Inspector may take details of your complaint and on some occasions the Duty Inspector may take a full statement. On other occasions he may take brief details and pass these on to the relevant Discipline and Complaints Department for the force complained about, who will contact you with a view to obtaining a detailed Statement.

In Writing

It is preferable to submit you complaint in writing and for us to assist you in preparing your witness statement. In order to initiate your complaint you should submit it either directly to the Police Complaints Authority or to the relevant Force Discipline and Complaints Branch. They will then allocate an appropriate Investigating Officer, who will decide in serious cases whether the case needs to be supervised by the PCA.

What type of complaint can I pursue?

The Police Complaints procedure is enacted through the Police Act 1996 amending the previous provisions in Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

There are two ways to pursue a complaint. Generally, the Investigating Officer when meeting with you will advise you on his/her experience of pursuing/investigating complaints whether you have good prospects of success. This is a tactic often employed to seek the withdrawal of the complaint or to persuade you to informally resolve it. You will already have our opinion on how to proceed. You will need to decide what you want to achieve. If you want the officer to be disciplined a "formal investigation" will only achieve that aim.

Informal Resolution

This is only appropriate for the less serious complaints. It allows you the opportunity to resolve the complaint without a formal enquiry. It usually involves the Investigating officer informally discussing the problem with the officer with an attempt at conciliation. It is a matter for you whether the complaint takes this course, because the police cannot insist on it. It can only take place with your consent and provided the conduct alleged does not potentially give rise to either criminal or disciplinary charges.

Formal Investigation

For the more serious allegations a 'formal investigation' should take place. The information below explains this procedure in more detail.

How do you prove your case?

The burden of proof is on you, the Complainant. You will need to submit to the Investigating Officer all the relevant information and documents in support of those matters about which you complain. A complaint about an incident taking place after April 1999 need only be proved on the "balance of probabilities" when deciding whether a disciplinary charge should be made against the officer.

If the Crown Prosecution Service decides that there is sufficient evidence to lay criminal charges, the burden of proof is "beyond reasonable doubt".

What happens next?

Once you have lodged your complaint in the proper form, an investigation will commence. Your complaint will usually be investigated by the same police force employing the police officers against whom you are complaining. Once the Investigating Officer is satisfied that he has received sufficient information/evidence to conduct an investigation, the officer(s) will be interviewed. They will have been formally served with a notice that a complaint has been recorded against them. Usually, they answer questions. On the rare occasion the officers may decline to answer questions about the incident or a particular aspect of your complaint. This interview is tape recorded.

When the Investigating Officer has completed his investigations, he/she then prepares a report which is submitted to the Police Complaints Authority. This report will include the Investigating Officer's recommendations. Unfortunately, this document under current law is privileged and therefore you will never see the contents of that report.

Section 80(1) of the Police Act 1996 provides that "No information received by the Authority in connection with any of their functions … shall be disclosed … except so far as may be necessary for the proper discharge of the functions of the Authority, to other persons."

The Police Complaints Authority will consider the evidence, together with the Investigating Officer's recommendations. They will then prepare a report of their findings, which will be sent to you. This report may or may not recommend disciplinary action against the officers, although it should outline in detail what evidence they have considered when coming to their decision.

How long will this whole process take?

In our experience, the complaints procedure usually takes about nine months from the moment the complaint is lodged (see below). Naturally, if your complaint results in a criminal prosecution or disciplinary charges, this matter could take longer to resolve.

When can Police officers be in breach of the Discipline Code?

The Police Discipline Code outlines the conduct which could lead to disciplinary charges if their conduct falls below the required standard. These can include the following:

  • Discreditable conduct, i.e. disorderly behaviour;
  • Disobedience of orders, i.e. disobeys or neglects orders;
  • Neglect of duty, i.e. fails to carry out with due promptitude and diligence matters which he should have;
  • Falsehood or prevarication, i.e. neglectful, false or inaccurate oral or written statements, etc.;
  • Improper disclosure of information;
  • Corrupt or improper practice, i.e. improperly using his position or without due Authority, etc.;
  • Abuse of Authority, i.e. oppressive execution of duty such as without good or sufficient cause, or the use of unnecessary violence;
  • Racially discriminatory behaviour.

Any breach of the Police Discipline Code (Police (Discipline) Regulations 1985 SI 518 Sch.1.) or the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes of Practice will be a good ground for a complaint.

What can happen to the Police Officers?

If your complaint is upheld, depending upon the nature of the complaint the following action may be taken against the officers:

  1. Constructive Advice;
  2. Admonishment;
  3. Fines;
  4. Dismissal;
  5. Criminal Charges.

If the police officer is charged with a criminal offence or is to be disciplined there is likely to be a hearing before a court or tribunal. You may be required to attend to give evidence at these hearings, because the police officer may not accept what you have alleged.

Disciplinary action

In 1998-99, the PCA considered the detailed evidence in 4,134 fully investigated cases. This total included 4,025 fully investigated complaint cases and 109 non-complaint cases. During the year police officers were charged with a total of 333 disciplinary offences. This compared with 237 charges in 1997-98. This represented a 41 per cent increase.

On some occasions the complaint may be upheld but the circumstances do not justify placing the officer before a formal hearing. In such circumstances, other disciplinary options may be pursued. The officer may, for example, be given a formal admonishment, usually by an assistant chief constable. In most police services such admonishment is recorded and may be cited in any subsequent disciplinary proceedings. In less serious cases the officer may receive formal advice either from a divisional commander or an assistant chief constable. This step is intended to convey the concern of the police service about the conduct which gave rise to the complaint and to stress the need to do better in future. When breaches of discipline arise from ignorance or inexperience the officer may be given 'constructive discussion' or guidance. This is intended to improve future performance and so to prevent further complaints.

During 1998-99, 861 officers were admonished or were given formal advice or guidance following a complaint by a member of the public or an investigation voluntarily referred to the PCA.

In addition, the CPS decided to bring criminal charges against 28 officers as a result of public complaint investigations completed during the year. This was an increase of 10 compared to the previous year.
Nevertheless, the total of 1,194 disciplinary outcomes recorded during the year 1998-99 represents 29 per cent of the 4,134 fully investigated cases.

Duty of the Police

Individual officers have a positive obligation to report misconduct for the first time in the new Code of Conduct and procedures are in place for them to be able to report on fellow officers.

The Police Complaints Authority: The statistics

The PCA supervise investigations of a more serious nature, due to the limited resources available to them. The following information published by the PCA indicates the type of case which is referred and the action that is taken by them.

Analysis of cases accepted for supervision in 1998-99:

Death or serious injury 444
Actual bodily harm* 168
Corruption 14
Serious arrestable offence 43
Other complaints referred voluntarily 85
Referral required by the PCA (called in) 7
Voluntary referral of non-complaint matters 192
Total 953

*Only one in three cases of alleged actual bodily harm were accepted for supervision.

Outcome of complaints in 1998-99:

Number of cases fully investigated 4,134
Total disciplinary charges resulting 333
Other action taken, e.g. admonishments 861
Total actions taken 1,194

Disciplinary actions as percentage of 'fully investigated' cases - 29%

Officers charged with criminal offences - 28

The number of disciplinary outcomes (29%) was 3% higher than in 1997-98.

Who are the complainants? (1998-99)

Generally, four out of five complainants are male and one out of three is unemployed. The main complaints come from the 25-44 year old bracket.

Ethnicity  
White 73%
Black (African Caribbean) 11%
Asian (Indian sub-continent) 5%
Other 1%
Not Recorded 10%

Categories of complaint

In 1998-99 complaints where drink was involved fell from 32 per cent of complaints in the previous year to 22 per cent. Also, the number of complaints about the use of stop and search powers fell sharply from 429 to 331, a fall of 23 per cent.

Complaints of assault are always of particular concern. The statistics cover three main categories: those involving the use of rigid handcuffs which remained at much the same level at 1,057; those of assault in police vehicles which fell by 13 per cent to 586; and those involving the use of CS spray, a total of 476. CS spray complaints were fully monitored for the first time in 1998-99. A separate report has been issued by the PCA advising officers on the use of CS gas.

Time taken

In 1992 the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the PCA signed a voluntary agreement laying down timescales for each stage of the complaints process. Police services aimed to complete their investigations in 120 days whilst the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the PCA work to 28 day targets for consideration of investigation files.

The PCA has no influence over the time taken to complete unsupervised investigations.
In 1998-99 the PCA has taken on average 47 days to review a full investigation compared with 50 days the previous year. Dispensation decisions should take place within 28 days.

Requirements

The above is an outline of what is required of you and what the PCA can do. It is essential that your statement of complaint is accurate and that you co-operate with the complaint investigators with their enquiries. If you have an ongoing criminal case, the police will record the complaint but it will be held in abeyance until the matter before the Magistrates' or Crown Court has been concluded.
If you do not co-operate with the complaint investigators, for example by failing to respond to letters or failing to attend appointments, they will apply to the PCA to have the matter "dispensed" with. If they successfully apply for dispensation you will not be able to continue with the complaint.

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