Recording complaints wrongly & High Court case between North Yorkshire Police Authority v IPCC (Jordan) 2010)

Spartacus made this Freedom of Information request to Humberside Police This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was refused by Humberside Police.

Dear Humberside Police,

The document below provides evidence that Humberside Police's Professional Standards Department, either through ignorance or for some ulterior motive classifies complaints wrongly.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/209236996/Poli...

It seems the force is classifying complaints as organisational decisions (direction and control) when clearly they are conduct matters. If complaints were correctly classified as "conduct matters" then there would be a right of appeal to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)

The Police Reform Act 2002 was amended by Paragraph 5(2) Schedule 14 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 so that where a complaint relates to a direction and control matter, there is no obligation for the police to refer the complaint to the IPCC.

The relevant case law for defining direction and control complaints, as opposed to conduct matters is (North Yorkshire Police Authority v IPCC (Jordan) 2010),

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/admi...

the IPCC explains more.
https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/sites/default/fi...

In light of this, please supply any guidance on which Humberside Police's Professional Standards Department relies when recording complaints about the force.

Yours faithfully,

Spartacus

The Real Neil Gilliatt left an annotation ()

Another waste of time FOI request brought to you by Neil Gilliatt

Dan Stevens (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

"Another waste of time FOI request"

Whoever you are, in this instance you are right; this FOI request has been a waste of time. However, the same request made to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) wasn't.

Its response reveals that the legislation police force's apply in order to get out the firing line of public scrutiny has been grossly abused:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2...

Becky Saunder (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

The link to the Home Office circular, 19/2005 (Guidance on the Handling of Complaints Relating to the Direction and Control...) appears not to work in the IPCC pdf link.

I believe this one does:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/sy...