Recording your complaint
Your complaint will be recorded by Cheshire Police’s
Professional Standards Department, who has overall responsibility
for recording and handling complaints about the conduct of
individual officers or members of police staff. The Professional
Standards Department is completely separate from the officers or
members of staff complained about.
Once your complaint is accepted and recorded as being about the
conduct of a police officer or member of police staff, it will be
dealt with in one of two ways:
Local resolution
Local resolution is an informal approach to resolving
complaints. It allows forces to learn lessons and improve the way
they do things. Many people prefer their complaint to be dealt with
in this way. You cannot have your complaint dealt with using local
resolution unless you agree to it.
If you agree to have your complaint addressed through local
resolution, a local manager will discuss your complaint with you
and draw up an action plan covering the issues you have raised.
If at the end of the local resolution process you are
dissatisfied with the process followed, you have a right of appeal
to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). For more
information, visit the IPCC website www.ipcc.gov.uk
Local investigation
If your complaint is not suitable for local resolution, an
investigation into your complaint will be carried out by a police
investigator. Where more serious or complex complaints are
concerned, the investigator will be assigned from the Professional
Standards Department In matters of local management concern, a
supervisory officer from the Area or Headquarters Department
concerned will be appointed to deal with your complaint.
You will be informed how your complaint will be investigated,
what co-operation is required from you, how a decision will be
reached and what action will be taken at the end of the
investigation. The type of investigation will depend on the nature
and seriousness of your complaint and the likely outcome. An
investigation might range from telephone enquiries conducted in a
few hours to a more extensive process perhaps taking a number of
months.
You can appeal to the IPCC if you are unhappy with the outcome
of the police investigation into your complaint. For more
information, visit the IPCC website (www.ipcc.gov.uk).
How quickly will my complaint be resolved?
We cannot predict how long it will take to deal with your
complaint fully, but we undertake to categorise, assess and record
a complaint within 10 days of it being reported.
If the complaint appears to be minor in nature, a senior officer
or member of staff from the relevant Area or Deprtment of the Force
will be asked to speak to the complainant and the staff involved.
This will hopefully enable the matter to be resolved locally. We
aim to conclude this process within 28 days. We hope this simple
approach will mean the complaint can be brought to a conclusion
that satisfactory to the complainant.
Some cases take more time to investigate than others and in some
cases we have to refer a complaint to the Crown Prosecution Service
(who are impartial in the matter and has responsibility for
considering allegations against police personnel that amount to
criminal conduct). We do, however, undertake to conclude our
investigation and any subsequent proceedings over which we have
control as soon as reasonably practicable.
What if my complaint isn't resolved?
Appealing against the way the police have handled your
complaint
If you have made a complaint against the police and you are not
happy with the way it has been handled, you may be able to appeal
to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), who deals
with three types of appeal:
- Appeals against a complaint not being recorded
- Appeals against the Local Resolution process
- Appeals against the police investigation into your
complaint
For more information visit the IPCC’s website
http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/Pages/appeal.aspx
The role of the Independent Police Complaints Commission
Complaints about the conduct of people serving with the police
can be sent to the IPCC, but the IPCC does not have the power to
record complaints. If you complain to the IPCC, it must, by law,
forward the complaint back to the force involved for consideration.
Due to the exceptionally high numbers of complaints made to the
IPCC, it can take a number of weeks before a complaint is forwarded
to the relevant police force. In order to have your complaint dealt
with as quickly as possible, we advise you to complain to Cheshire
Police using one of the methods set out in these pages.
The IPCC also investigates the most serious complaints and
allegations of misconduct against the police in England and Wales.
These complaints are referred to the IPCC by police forces. The
IPCC may decide to investigate an incident using its own
investigators (referred to as an independent investigation).
Alternatively, it can manage or supervise a police investigation
into the matter. The IPCC will only conduct independent
investigations into incidents that cause the greatest level of
public concern – for example, deaths in or following police
custody.
Other types of complaint
Complaints about the overall policies or procedures of a police
force are often referred to as ‘direction and control issues’.
These can include complaints about the organisation of a police
force or general policing standards in your local area. These
complaints cannot be dealt with under the Police
Reform Act 2002.
These complaints can be made by contacting the Professional
Standards Department in any of the ways listed in these pages.
Will complaining affect my other rights?
Making a complaint does not affect your rights to pursue civil
litigation against the Force.
Professional Standards Department
The Professional Standards Department is responsible for
assessing and recording all public complaints and allegations of
misconduct or breaches of professional standards of any police
officer or member of police staff.
Headed by a Detective Superintendent, the department consists of
trained and experienced investigators, supported by dedicated
civilian staff. Our staff come from a variety of policing
backgrounds.
The department is committed to ensuring emphasis on treating you
with fairness, dignity and respect and ensuring that you have fair
access to our services at a time that is reasonable and suitable to
you.
Investigations
All members of the Constabulary are required to live up to
nationally agreed standards of professional behaviour. Any breach
of these standards of behaviour may result in disciplinary
action.
Many less serious complaints can be resolved quickly by local
supervisors and managers without the need for a full enquiry, with
the remainder being dealt with by professional standards
investigators.
At the conclusion of any investigation, a decision is taken as
to whether any officer or member of staff has done anything wrong
and, if so, what action should be taken. In serious cases
concerning gross misconduct, this may involve a formal disciplinary
hearing at which the person may be dismissed. In lesser cases of
misconduct where a breach of professional standards is either
admitted or found proven, a range of lesser disciplinary sanctions
is available as a sufficient sanction.
Very serious matters will be referred to the Independent Police
Complaints Commission (IPCC) for investigation, who have their own
non-police investigators. Cheshire Constabulary will always
co-operate fully with the IPCC in such cases.
Lessons Learnt
It is most important for the Constabulary to use the information
gained from investigations to improve its service to the public.
Professional Standards Department staff work closely with local
police commanders to provide them with feedback and lessons from
complaints received and investigated, as well as identifying staff
attracting more complaints than others. Such information enables
local senior officers to address unprofessional behaviour by their
staff in a positive way.
Professional Standards Department staff attend meetings,
training courses and seminars throughout the Constabulary to raise
awareness of these issues and to ensure the lessons learnt are
passed on to the widest possible audience.
All members of the Constabulary are encouraged to help tackle
unacceptable behaviour by reporting wrong doing direct to their
supervisors and managers or by leaving details on a confidential
report telephone line. The Force has procedures to support
individuals who do the "right thing" and bring this unprofessional
conduct to attention. The Professional Standards Department also
actively monitors the organisational integrity of the Constabulary,
including auditing and checking specific aspects of work or
procedures and seeking to identify members of staff who, by their
conduct, might be a present or future risk to the Force.
Contact
The Head of Professional Standards
Cheshire Constabulary Headquarters
Clemonds Hey
Winsford
Cheshire
CW7 2UA
You can email the department at professional.standards@cheshire.pnn.police.uk
or fill out the online complaint
form.