The Police (Conduct, Complaints and Misconduct and Appeal Tribunal) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 came into force on 15^th December 2017 and have made a number of important changes to police misconduct procedures. The four central changes to be aware of are:

a. The removal of the need for officers under investigation to obtain the consent of the Appropriate Authority before resigning or retiring;

b. The introduction of a new procedure to proceed with misconduct investigations and hearings notwithstanding that the officer concerned has left the police service;

c. A new power to misconduct hearing panel Chairs to provide information relevant to the barred list; and

d. An amendment to the Police Appeals Tribunals Rules 2012, allowing former officers to appeal against the findings of a misconduct panel.

A short post on a change in the Home Office Guidance. It now states that the selection of LQCs should be on a “fair and transparent basis”. Good practice will be selection through a “rota system”. A rota system may not necessarily work with LQCs’ other professional commitments. Often, appropriate authorities will inform all LQCs of a hearing and select them on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis. That said, if more than one LQC responds, there is no reason why a rota system cannot then apply. Note, also, that the Guidance suggests that the manner of selection should be made clear to all parties to the hearing, which really means the respondent officer(s).

The relevant part of the HO Guidance is as follows: [emphasis added]

2.215. The appropriate authority is responsible for appointing all three panel members. The LQC must be chosen from a list of candidates which is selected and maintained by the local policing body through the process described in Annex F. The appropriate authority should select the LQC at the earliest opportunity following the decision to refer to misconduct proceedings. In accordance with procedural fairness and principles of natural justice, the selection of the LQC should be on a fair and transparent basis. Good practice will be selection through a rota system by which the next available LQC is selected for the next hearing. Bad practice will be to select on the basis of which LQC will be more likely to give the verdict required. The manner of selection should be made clear to all parties to the hearing.

The Independent Review into Serious Incidents and Deaths in Custody undertaken by Dame Elish Angiolini is an important work, making 110 recommendations for improvement. The following paragraphs address some of the key-findings relevant to the police

On 23 July 2015, the then Home Secretary, the Rt. Hon Theresa May MP announced a major review into deaths and serious incidents in police custody. In October 2015 Dame Elish Angiolini was appointed as its independent chair.

The independent review was tasked with looking at the issues surrounding deaths and serious incidents in police custody. This included the events leading up to such incidents as well as existing protocols and procedures designed to minimise the risks. It looked at the immediate aftermath of a death or serious incident and the various investigations that ensue. Importantly it also examined how the families of the deceased are treated at every stage of the process.

The report, which was published on 30 October 2017,  makes 110 recommendations for improvement, categorised under twelve thematic headings: restraint, custody environment, health and wellbeing, funding for families and family support, communications, investigations, coroners and inquests, accountability, training, learning, statistics and research.