Police ‘not using new powers frivolously’
NONE of the 14 complaints received against Guernsey Police since August have been filtered out, the island's new police chief has said.
Damian Kitchen said he wanted to reassure islanders that the new powers were not being used frivolously.
An amendment to the Police Complaints Regulations now allows complaints to be ‘filtered’ by a senior authority. Home Affairs and the police have been keen to reassure islanders that the change was not being used to unfairly dismiss complaints.
Mr Kitchen, head of law enforcement, said the new regulation was a significant improvement to Guernsey’s police complaints legislation.
‘It is a way for professional standards to accurately assess complaints and avoid the unnecessary diversion of police resources because of inefficient processes,’ he said.
‘The data the committee is publishing today shows we are not frivolously using this new process.
‘I remain committed to taking all concerns raised by the community seriously, however the process must also be fair for our police officers.’
Of the 14 complaints lodged since the regulation change in August, two have already been found to constitute ‘gross misconduct’ or ‘misconduct’, three have been assessed under the regulations as not amounting to misconduct, one complaint was withdrawn, and eight remain in the 'scoping phase'.
The new regulation, known as 6A, only allows a complaint to be referred for dismissal if there is reason to conclude the conduct in the complaint did not take place, the complaint is repetitious, an abuse of procedures, or is frivolous or vexatious.
With 6A now in place, Home Affairs plans to complete a comprehensive review of the police complaints law before the end of the political term, including consultation with all stakeholder groups.
Home Affairs president Rob Prow said his committee had acted appropriately and proportionately in relation to the regulation changes.
He stood by the decision to change the regulation before the review took place.
‘It was a way to simultaneously alleviate pressure on the police’s professional standards department and improve the process immediately,’ he said.
‘While Guernsey Police has not seen a particular increase in the number of complaints it is receiving, the committee was informed that the complexity and length of those complaints had increased in the past year, often taking a huge amount of officer time to look at.
‘Regulation 6A was identified as a way to ensure those complaints could be scoped early, and if any serious failings were identified, quickly prioritised. Equally, if they were found to be intentionally looking to hold up the system, they could be referred to the independent Police Complaints Commission for dismissal.
‘It was a clear improvement, and the committee saw no reason to wait until after the review for this change.’
Before the change, the initial assessment of a complaint was limited to considering only the severity of the alleged conduct, and any readily available information could not be considered.
This meant there could be a disproportionate response to complaints, with officers served with gross misconduct notices, irrespective of the complaint's merit.
