APPENDIX 2
Memorandum submitted by the Independent
Police Complaints Commission
I am replying to your letter of invitation requesting
evidence about the progress, performance and efficiency and effectiveness
of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, PONI.
As Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission for England
and Wales (IPCC), I and colleagues have had significant contact
with and assistance from the Ombudsman's office over the last
13 months. It is from that perspective that I write.
The IPCC was established by the Police Reform
Act 2002, broadly on the PONI model and with similar powers. The
differences include the fact that IPCC is a Commission of 18 Commissioners,
rather than one Ombudsman to reflect the scope of our work with
over 43 police forces. Unlike PONI, we do not record all complaints
but have certain categories of complaints referred to us on statutorily
specified criteria. Like the Ombudsman we can call in incidents
and have an investigative capacity. I and the Chief Executive
took up post on 1 February 2003 with a remit to build the Commission
to be fully operational on 1 April 2004. We were invited by the
Ombudsman to spend three days at the beginning of March 2003 with
her office and speaking to a wide range of stakeholders about
PONI. Since then Mrs O'Loan and her staff have been extremely
generous with their time and resources.
The lessons have been practical and strategic.
The IPCC has had the advantage, not enjoyed by PONI of a non-operational
year to establish the organisation, recruit and train staff, plan
for the transfer of cases and staff from existing body and build
good relationships with a wide range of stakeholders including
the policing family. Our task was undoubtedly made easier by having
a PONI "road map". We therefore feel well placed to
comment on the size of the challenge PONI faced and the progress
made over the last three years.
At a practical level we have seen at first hand
the work of the Ombudsman's office and looked closely at their
handling of casework, enquiries and investigations. We were very
impressed with the efficiency of case handling by PONI, by the
professionalism of the staff and their customer service ethos.
As regards the quality of investigations, it was clear from our
discussion with the police themselves, from the Chief Constable,
professional standards department to district commanders, that
PONI investigators had won respect, after some suspicion at the
outset. This was evidenced by regular meetings between the Executive
Director and head of professional standards, a way of working
that we have adopted for our Commission.
From speaking to members of the public in communities
across the religious divide we gained an impression that it was
the willingness of PONI, led by the example of the Ombudsman herself,
to go into communities, to listen and explain, to be accessible
to witnesses and complainants that had won respect, albeit in
some instances a grudging respect, even if for other reasons the
office of the Ombudsman had not been universally welcomed. For
our part we came away with the view that given the difficult job
of PONI and the IPCC, and the potential to please no-one—we
would be very satisfied with grudging respect after a similar
period of time.
At a strategic level we benefited from a number
of key decisions made by the Ombudsman. First the critical importance
of ensuring competence in investigation and the need for a mix
of excellent police and non-police investigative experience. Independence
would count for very little if the quality of investigation was
not of the highest order. Second, the impact and importance of
evidence based approach. From the Ombudsman we learned that it
is as a much a result to endorse the police where appropriate
as to criticise where fault has been established. Justice, respect
for human rights integrity and independence go hand in hand. Our
resulting message that IPCC is about establishing the facts first
rather than focussing only on blame has been very important in
gaimng and maintaimng the support of police and complainant representatives
to date across England and Wales.
Thirdly the importance of family liaison and
good intelligence shaped our plans, organisational structures
and even our accommodation. The approach to and specification
for our training and development was highly influenced by PONI.
We have benefited from the loan of staff to assist with specific
tasks in our set-up programme from the recruitment of our Director
of Investigations (equivalent to the PONI Executive Director)
and development of professional standards and research functions.
At an early stage our senior executive Deputy Chairs and Commissioners
spent days with the Ombudsman and her staff-developing and testing
our plans and proposals.
Recognition of the integrity of the Ombudsman
herself has been a recurring theme amongst our discussions with
people within Northern Ireland and across the world. She and her
staff are recognised as world leaders in civilian oversight. Mrs
O'Loan led a session on ethical issues as part of the training
for our Commissioners in February and has been a source of support
to me personally over the last year. I would be happy to expand
on this evidence to your enquiry after Easter.
23 March 2004
| 
