Police officers in England and Wales accused of violent and sexual misconduct are less likely to face disciplinary action under the revamped complaints system than the previous discredited regime, figures suggest.
An investigation by the Guardian and BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 programme found that only 8% of the 22,000 allegations scrutinised by local forces under the new system were referred for possible disciplinary proceedings in 2020-21, whereas 10% of the 21,000 allegations investigated under the old regulations were referred in the same year.
The new system was rolled out by the government at the start of 2020 in an effort to repair public confidence in the police, which had been damaged by a perceived lack of accountability. But the shake-up left local forces in charge of handling the vast majority of complaints against their own officers, with ministers and police chiefs at the time promising a greater emphasis on “learning from mistakes”, rather than punishment.
The dataset, which was obtained from the Home Office under freedom of information rules, reveals that none of the 13 allegations of sexual misconduct by officers were referred for possible disciplinary action under the revamped system, while 23 of the 36 allegations relating to sexual conduct were referred under the old regulations.
The data also shows that only 3% of the 2,157 allegations of misuse of force were referred, whereas 5% of the 2,742 allegations of assault by officers led to possible disciplinary action under the old system.
The revelations come amid a deepening crisis in policing, with public confidence shattered by a series of scandals, including the convictions of two serving officers – Wayne Couzens for murder and rape and David Carrick for a string of rapes. Their misconduct was allowed to continue, despite a history of allegations or complaints against them.
Rachel Hewitt complained to the Metropolitan police after her son, Jamar Powell, then aged 16, was made to kneel in the middle of a road with a stun gun pointed at his head during a search by armed police in September 2020. Nothing was found and he was released without charge.
Hewitt told the programme, which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 11 April, that her son had feared for his life and was still living with the consequences. “He is 19 – he was 16 at the time – and meant to be out there living his life … but instead, he got this cloud over him,” she said. “[He] is suffering from severe post-traumatic stress.”
Her complaint, which was handled under the new regulations, was considered by the accused officers’ line manager, a Met inspector. He decided the incident did not warrant formal investigation and the “service provided was acceptable” in all respects.
The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), which investigates only the most serious or sensitive incidents, reopened the case after Hewitt appealed. Two of the officers involved are now facing misconduct charges, with the CPS considering charging one with occasioning actual bodily harm. But Hewitt said the system seems designed to put people off complaining: “I completely see now why there’s such a lack of faith in the police complaints system.”
Powell said his mother had been struggling to get answers to what happened to him for more than two and half years. “She’s a fighter but not everyone is … it shouldn’t have to be that difficult,” he said.
The Met said officers responding to reports of a male with a samurai sword searched five teenage boys, a number of whom matched the description. It said both misconduct proceedings would take place in due course, with one of the constables currently on restricted duties.
Police Action Lawyers Group said police forces were routinely paying damages for complaint cases that had been dismissed by their own internal complaints processes.
“It is commonplace for police legal teams to settle civil claims when the complaints process has not upheld allegations of misconduct,” said Sophie Naftalin, a lawyer from the group. “It shows the quality of the investigation is inadequate, and is designed to obfuscate and justify the behaviour by officers, rather than meaningfully hold individual officers to account.”
The Home Office said the reputation of British policing has been damaged, but it was asking police chiefs to root out any officers unfit to serve and launching a review into police dismissals.
“The government introduced significant reforms in February 2020 to strengthen the complaints and discipline systems, refocusing the system to tackle serious misconduct – this included clarifying the definition of misconduct, so that it is now a breach of the standards of professional behaviour, so serious it would justify disciplinary action.”
