FOI Request regarding: Complaints review process
Request received: 11/11/2020
Responded: 08/12/2020
Q: How many requests for ‘reviews’ did you receive as a result of complaints not been ‘upheld’ by the PSD?
A: Between 1st February 2020 and the date of your FoI request, 11th November 2020, I can confirm that the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner received 19 review requests for complaints which had not been upheld by the Police Professional Standards Department.
Q: How many of that number did you overturn I.e. the PSD’s decision, and ‘uphold?’
A: The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner cannot overturn the decision made in the original complaint by the Professional Standards Department. The purpose of a review is to ensure that the complaint’s process was conducted in a reasonable and proportionate manner.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner can only make recommendations to the Police on actions or learning as a result of the review. Under the legislation, the Police do not have to act on the recommendations made.
I therefore cannot provide a figure for how many of the complaints that were reviewed were overturned as this is not an outcome of the process. I can provide you with the number of allegations considered in the review’s process, the number that resulted in no further action and the number where recommendations were made to the Professional Standards Department as follows:
Total number of allegations: 135
Total number of allegations where further action was recommended in the review: 23
Total number of allegations where further action was not recommended by the review: 112
