Senior Police Officer Complaints 2014 - Dec 2020

Keywords

Complaints, PSD, Professional Standards, Upheld, Senior

Publication number

1174

FOI reference number

15197

Request title

Senior Police Officer Complaints 2014- Dec 2020

Date range

2014 - 2020

Information requested

The number of complaints from staff and members of the public of homophobic abuse from senior officers, in the last six years.

And what was the outcomes?

The number of complaints from staff and members of the public of sexist behaviour from senior officers, in the last six years.

And what was the outcomes?

The number of complaints from staff and members of the public of racist behaviour from senior officers, in the last six years.

And what was the outcomes?

Can all of these please be done from January 2014 to 2020 December.

Disclosure with exemptions

n/a

Information correct as at

27.1.21

Date of disclosure

5.5.21

Related documents

https://www.essex.pfcc.police.uk/finance-reporting/conduct-professional-standards/

https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/accessing-information/published-items?q=psd

https://www.essex.pfcc.police.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/7.0-PSD-Annual-Report-v1.2.pdf

FOI 15197 response

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above reference.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public authorities.  Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held.  The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.  Where exemptions are relied upon Section 17 of FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which: a) states that fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

In respect of your enquiry:

The number of complaints from staff and members of the public of homophobic abuse from senior officers,  in the last six years.

And what was the outcomes?

The number of complaints from staff and members of the public of sexist behaviour from senior officers,  in the last six years.

And what was the outcomes?

The number of complaints from staff and members of the public of racist behaviour from senior officers,  in the last six years.

And what was the outcomes?

Can all of these please be done from January 2014 to 2020 December.

Having completed enquiries within Essex Police and in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold some data relating to your request, Essex Police can confirm in respect of Section 1(1)(b) the below data, Data correct as at 27th January 2021. Senior is Chief Inspector and above.

13 Cases

Homophobic abuse – nil

Sexist Behaviour 3 – all not Upheld

Racist Behaviour – 6 not upheld, 1 Misconduct Meeting proven Management action, 1 No case to answer, 2 Local Resolution,

Essex Police regularly receive FOI requests regarding misconduct and complaints.  The conduct of a Police Officer or a Police Staff member is an important issue and the following will provide further information.

Essex Police have an expectation that management and staff at all levels will lead by example, consistently displaying behaviour in line with the Code of Ethics and ensuring adherence to legal requirements and to all Essex Police policies, procedures and practices. Through Prevention, Intelligence, Enforcement, Communication and Engagement, Essex Police is committed to making sure the opportunity for corruption is reduced to the lowest possible risk.  Where corruption is identified the organisation will deal with it proportionately and effectively. 

A member of the public can lodge a complaint regarding conduct with the Professional Standards Department (PSD).

If a complaint is about the conduct of a Police Officer or member of Police Staff made from a member of the public, the complaint will be managed by PSD and dealt with by either the policing area or department it relates to, through a local resolution or a local investigation.  This can subsequently be appealed to either the Chief Constable or the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) depending on the specifics of the individual case if the complainant remains dissatisfied.  If local resolution is not appropriate and the complaint considered serious, the complaint will be investigated by PSD.  Essex Police can also refer matters to the IOPC who may decide to independently investigate certain cases.

Internal conduct cases (from staff v staff) are managed by Human Resources (HR) who will, if necessary, refer to PSD for formal assessment.  If formal misconduct is identified, HR will manage the investigation, however, PSD will decide on whether there is a case to answer through a disciplinary process.  Dependant on the circumstances, it can be in various forms, from an informal warning to a formal disciplinary hearing.  Formal misconduct cases are recorded by PSD on the conduct database.

The Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) holds the Police Force to account and has the legal power to hold the Chief Constable to account.  This is an important issue and both the PFCC and the Police Service need to be accountable and transparent regarding this issue.  Data is regularly published via quarterly reports, please click on the following link:

http://www.essex.pfcc.police.uk/reporting/conduct-professional-standards/

Please note that the system used to manage complaints and investigations is designed to follow the national guidelines regarding reporting.  Statistics, therefore, follow the published guidelines based on set complaint codes A-Y and Misconduct Categories.  Complaint and misconduct data are recorded pre strand in a case.  It does not cover each Officer allegation within a separate complaint.  Each complaint or misconduct case is likely to have more than one complaint/misconduct strand or category and could include multiple Officers subject to a complaint strand.

Additional mandatory referrals and requested reviews can also be viewed via the IOPC web site.  The following link provides useful data and explains further regarding coding and strands of misconduct and complaints:

https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/tags/essex-police

There are limitations in regard the type, terminology and detail of information that can be extracted and provided under the FOIA in addition to data already available and published.  The FOIA does not require new data to be created in order to comply with a request, therefore, any request that falls outside of the above complaint coding and misconduct categories is likely to be qualify as the creation of data or potentially attract the excess cost exemptions.

To increase openness and transparency misconduct hearings are now held in public, (although in exceptional circumstances they can be held in private).

This decision was announced by the Home Secretary in the spring of 2015 and applies to all cases where an Officer is given notice to attend a hearing after May 2015.  Further information regarding misconduct hearings and upcoming hearings can also be found via the following links:

https://www.essex.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/mis/misconduct-hearings/

https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/accessing-information/published-items?q=misconduct

Essex Police trusts that the links and information provided is of assistance.

Thank you for your interest in Essex Police.

The above request will be included within the Essex Police Publication scheme https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/accessing-information/