Page 93 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

Holding people to account for their actions creates an impetus to adhere to
standards and avoid bias-informed actions.

Police accountability

4.39 The IOPC was founded in 2018, replacing the much-maligned Independent
Police Complaints Commission. It is an investigative body with no power to
decide outcomes. Once a decision is reached, it must refer the matter either
back to the relevant police force (where misconduct is found) or to the CPS
(where criminal conduct is found) for a final decision to be made. An
investigation is prompted by either a self-referral by the police, 251 or from an
individual raising a complaint. The IOPC assesses the issue, determining
whether, inter alia, it is serious enough to warrant further action by the
IOPC. 252 Where this threshold is not met, the IOPC passes the complaint onto
the relevant police force to investigate itself, unless there are exceptional
circumstances. 253

4.40 We consider this process to be both weak and convoluted, and poorly
understood by the public. As a result, the IOPC receives few complaints, with
an even smaller number upheld. This may be because many people do not feel
that it is worth making a complaint in the first place. For example, between
2010 and August 2020, 6,319 complaints were made against the TSG. Of these,
only 27 were upheld by either the IOPC or MPS, as applicable. It is worth
noting that these successful complaints all took place after 2018 suggesting
potential improvement in IOPC procedures. 254

4.41 The IOPC’s ‘lack of teeth’ is a major barrier to improving police
accountability. 255 Once a complaint is referred back to the police, it falls to a

251 There are circumstances where the police must make a referral, including where there has been a
death or serious injury, or where certain criteria are met as set out in Chapter 9 of the IOPC statutory
guidance. See IPOC, ‘Statutory Guidance on the police complaints system’, (February 2020).
252 For the IOPC’s additional considerations, see IOPC, ‘Core Indicator Guidance: Assessing IOPC
referrals’, (February 2020).
253 IPOC, ‘Statutory Guidance on the police complaints system’, (February 2020), para 2.7.

254 H. Dyer and D. Gayle, ‘Revealed: fewer than one in 200 complaints against Met unit upheld’, The
Guardian, 15 October 2020.
255 M. Busby, ‘Fewer than one in 10 police officers fired after gross misconduct finding, The Guardian’,
18 January 2021.

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