Conduct & Performance

Advice Phone: 07967 206197

Please note that the Conduct and Performance advice phone is held by a trained representative. The officers holding it have other duties. If no one answers it immediately, do not worry, leave a message on the phone and you will be contacted as soon as possible.

Representatives

All our representatives receive training in representing you all from interview stage up to, if required, misconduct hearings. We also give advice about conduct and performance matters.

Some of our representatives are also trained in Post incidents procedure to represent officers who are involved in Police related shootings and deaths.

Please contact us directly or via the advice phone for advice. We can also be contacted, in an emergency, via the Contact centre/Control room.

Our skills are recorded on DMS/Skills Register

The Qualification codes are :464- Federation Misconduct Rep and 465- Federation Post Incident Procedure.

CONTACT US AS SOON AS YOU CAN, SO WE CAN ADVISE YOU

PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE NOW TIMELINES GIVEN FOR INVESTIGATION. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU CONTACT US AS SOON AS YOU ARE IN RECEIPT OF ANY COMPLAINT, SHOULD YOU WISH TO BE REPRESENTED BY THE FEDERATION.

IF IN DOUBT ASK US, WE ARE HERE TO HELP.

Complaints

The following is a very brief outline of some of the details you should know about police conduct. For further details you should contact a member of the sub-committee who can give advice and if appropriate act as your ‘friend’.

What is a ‘friend’?

Police officers have the right to consult with, and be accompanied by, a police friend at any misconduct investigatory interview and at all stages of the misconduct or performance proceedings.

The police officer concerned may choose a police officer, a police staff member or (where the police officer is a member of a police force) a person nominated by the police officer’s staff association to act as his or her police friend. A person approached to be a police friend is entitled to decline to act as such.

A police friend cannot be appointed to act as such if he or she has had some involvement in that particular case e.g. he or she is a witness etc.

The police friend can:

• Advise the police officer concerned throughout the proceedings under the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2008 or Police (Performance) Regulations 2008
• Unless the police officer concerned has the right to be legally represented and chooses to be so represented, represent the police officer concerned at the misconduct proceedings, performance proceedings, appeal meeting or a special case hearing.
• Make representations to the appropriate authority concerning any aspect of the proceedings under the Conduct or Performance Regulations; and
• Accompany the police officer concerned to any interview, meeting or hearing which forms part of any proceedings under the Conduct or Performance Regulations.

It is good practice to allow the police friend to participate as fully as possible but at an interview, meeting or hearing the police friend is not there to answer questions on the police officer’s behalf. It is for the police officer concerned to speak for himself or herself when asked questions.

A police friend who has agreed to accompany a police officer is entitled to take a reasonable amount of duty time to fulfil his or her responsibilities as a police friend and should be considered to be on duty when attending interviews, meetings or hearings.

Subject to any timescales set out in the Conduct or Performance Regulations, at any stage of a case, up to and including a misconduct meeting or hearing or an unsatisfactory performance meeting, the police officer concerned or his or her police friend may submit that there are insufficient grounds upon which to base the case and/or that the correct procedures have not been followed, clearly setting out the reasons and submitting any supporting evidence. It will be for the person responsible for the relevant stage of the case to consider any such submission and determine how best to respond to it, bearing in mind the need to ensure fairness to the police officer concerned.

At a meeting, hearing or special case hearing under the Conduct Regulations or the Performance Regulations where the police friend attends, he or she may –

1. Put the police officer concerned’s case
2. Sum up that case
3. Respond on the police officer concerned’s behalf to any view expressed at the meeting
4. Make representations concerning any aspect of the proceedings
5. Confer with the police officer concerned
6. In a misconduct meeting or hearing, ask questions of any witness, subject to the discretion of the person(s) conducting that hearing.

A police officer is entitled to be legally represented at a misconduct hearing or special case hearing (in cases that fall to be dealt with under the Conduct Regulations) or a 3rd stage Performance meeting (for dealing with an issue of gross incompetence under the Performance Regulations). Where he decides to be so represented, the police friend can also attend and may consult with the police officer concerned, but will not carry out functions i)-iv) and vi) described above.

Where a police officer is arrested or interviewed in connection with a criminal offence committed whilst off duty that has no connection with his or her role as a serving police officer, then the police friend has no right to attend the criminal interview(s) of that police officer.

It is not the role of the police friend to conduct his or her own investigation into the matter.

Where a police friend is acting as such for a colleague from another force, then the appropriate authority for the police friend should pay the reasonable expenses of the police friend.

Complaint from public

As soon as you have reason to believe that you are being investigated, you are advised to decline to make any oral or written statement UNTIL YOU HAVE SOUGHT ADVICE.

If you receive a notice setting out the complaint you should politely but firmly decline to make any statement or answer any questions about the allegations until you have sought advice. Accept the notice and say no more at this stage.

If the enquiry is about an alleged criminal offence, the enquiry will be dealt with in the same way as any other criminal investigation and you have exactly the same rights as any citizen. At the conclusion of the enquiry you may still find yourself served with the discipline notice. Always seek advice first. It may be in your interests to make a statement.

If you are served with the form setting out the discipline charge SAY NOTHING FURTHER and SEEK THE OFFICER WHO IS TO ACT AS YOUR FRIEND.

Local Resolution

The aim of the local resolution procedure is to provide a speedy and satisfactory resolution to a complaint without the need for formal investigation.

Designed to deal with less serious complaints, or those where any disciplinary proceedings would not result in major sanction, or disciplinary/criminal proceedings would not be practical.

Points to remember if you have a complaint against you that is going to be dealt with by local resolution:

• Your consent is NOT required.
• You have the opportunity to comment on your actions/conduct (provided you keep your answers to the matter being investigated they cannot be used in any formal investigation.
• No apology will be given on your behalf without your consent.
• The case is closed after the process is completed.
• You will be advised in writing of the outcome.
• The complainant has the right of appeal against the process – NOT your response to their complaint
• It may be appropriate in dealing with a complaint using Local Resolution for a manager to take management action in addition and this is perfectly acceptable. However this will not be considered as formal disciplinary action although it does not prevent a manager from making a note of the action taken and recording this on the police officer’s PDR

Internal Conduct

Regulation 15 – Notice of Investigation

Written notification will be given to the police officer concerned (by the investigator in cases dealt with under the 2002 Act and the appropriate authority in cases dealt with under the Conduct Regulations) advising him or her that his or her conduct is under investigation – either under Regulation 15 of the Conduct Regulations or under Regulation 14A of the Complaint Regulations (in the case of complaints subject to special requirements and recordable conduct investigations). The notice will:

• Inform the police officer that there is to be an investigation of his or her potential breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour and inform the police officer of the name of the investigator who will investigate the matter.
• Describe the conduct that is the subject of the investigation and how that conduct is alleged to have fallen below the Standards of Professional Behaviour
• Inform the police officer concerned of the appropriate authority’s (investigator in a matter dealt with under the 2002 Act) assessment of whether the conduct alleged, if proved, would amount to misconduct or gross misconduct
• Inform the police officer of whether, if the case were to be referred to misconduct proceedings, those would be likely to be a misconduct meeting or misconduct hearing
• Inform the police officer that if the likely form of any misconduct proceedings changes the police officer will be notified of this together with the reasons for that change
• Inform the police officer of his or her right to seek advice from his or her staff association or any other body and who the police officer may choose to act as his or her police friend.
• Inform the police officer that if his or her case is referred to a misconduct hearing or special case hearing, he or she has the right to be legally represented by counsel or a solicitor. If the police officer elects not to be so represented then he or she may be represented by a police friend. The notice will also make clear that if he or she elects not to be legally represented then he or she may be dismissed or receive any other disciplinary outcome without being so represented.
• Inform the police officer that he or she may provide, within 10 working days of receipt of the notice (unless this period is extended by the investigator) a written or oral statement relating to any matter under investigation and he or she (or his or her police friend) may provide any relevant documents to the investigator within this time.
• Inform the police officer that whilst he or she does not have to say anything, it may harm his or her case if he or she does not mention when interviewed or when providing any information within the relevant time limits something which he or she later relies on in any misconduct proceedings or special case hearing or at an appeal meeting or Police Appeals Tribunal

The notice should clearly describe in unambiguous language the particulars of the conduct that it is alleged fell below the standards expected of a police officer.
The terms of reference for the investigation, or the part of the terms of reference for the investigation relating to the individual’s conduct, should, subject to there being no prejudice to that or any other investigation, be supplied to the police officer and to his or her police friend on request, and they should both be informed if the terms of reference change.

The written notification may be e-mailed to a manager to give to the police officer concerned or where appropriate and with the agreement of the police friend the notice may be given to the police friend to give to the police officer concerned. The responsibility for ensuring that the notice is served rests with the investigator (in cases dealt with under the 2002 Act) or the appropriate authority. In both cases the notice must be given to the police officer in person. Alternatively, the notice can be posted by recorded delivery to his or her last known address.

The investigator should ensure that the police officer subject to investigation shall, as soon as practicable, be provided with this written notification unless to do so would prejudice the investigation or any other investigation (including a criminal one). Any decision not to inform the police officer will be recorded and kept under regular review in order to avoid unreasonable delay in notifying the police officer concerned.

Where the IPCC is conducting an independent or managed investigation then the responsibility for ensuring that the police officer is provided with the written notification as soon as practicable rests with the investigator appointed or designated to conduct that investigation.

In the interests of fairness, care must be taken when an incident is being investigated to ensure that the notification is given to the police officer as soon as practicable when a potential issue of misconduct is identified (subject to any prejudice to that or any other investigation).

Unsatisfactory Performance Procedures

The officer concerned and their ‘ friend’ will be given adequate duty time to deal with any matters arising from the unsatisfactory performance procedures. There are also new guidelines in relation to this. Please contact us for advice should you be subject to this procedure.

This also includes advice to officers under the Regulation 13 procedures for Student officers.