Federations slam ‘outrageous’ plans for ‘how did we do?’ custody questionnaires

Staff associations have attacked “ridiculous” proposals that would see officers ask detainees for feedback on their experience, claiming they would lead to even more complaints being made.

In its Police Use of Force report, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) recommended that forces provide people who have had force used against them with information on how to give feedback about the incident, as well on as how to make complaints.

However, the suggestion has been branded as “outrageous” by staff associations, which criticised it for an impractical focus on ‘customer service’.

And when several local newspapers covered the story on April 1, they had to include a disclaimer that it was not an April fool’s joke.

Suffolk Police Federation Secretary Mick Richardson said: “I presume the IPCC will be providing stamped address envelopes for the flood of complaints that will invariably be made.

“We don’t ‘sell’ a product. We provide a service. And that service is under ever-increasing pressures due to lower officer numbers and an increasing willingness for those who don’t want to be compliant to assault officers who are carrying out their duty to protect the communities in which they work and serve.

“It’s ridiculous to ask someone who has been less than compliant if they think we restrained them ‘nicely’.

“Perhaps the next bright idea from the IPCC will be to ask people who went missing if we found them fast enough – and provide them with another complaint mechanism.”

Mark Smith, chair of Essex Police Federation, called the proposal “absolutely outrageous”, and added that it was “opening the floodgates for complaints which have no basis”.

A record 37,105 complaints were made against police in 2014/15 – a six per cent rise on the year before.

And the IPCC’s report found that people who had direct experience of police using force “generally held more negative views” than the general public.

Despite this, it concluded that complaints are a “valuable source” of information that can be used to help improve police practice.

A spokesperson told Police Professional: “This is not about handing out ‘feedback forms’ whenever an arrest is made. It is about taking sensible steps to ensure good practice and identify areas of concern, to support public confidence in the police.

“People understand and expect that police officers should have the power to use force when necessary to protect the public. However, officers must be accountable for their use of force, particularly when it leads to death or serious injury.

“We found that the public believe that force, particularly lethal force, is used more often than it is. Our main recommendation – which the police service is now acting on – was that forces should collect and analyse data on the use of force, both to reassure the public and to identify any potential areas of concern.

“We also found that there was a lack of understanding and trust in the complaints system, so one of the other 19 recommendations suggested that forces take steps to learn from incidents where force has been used. This would include providing basic information about the police complaints system to those who have had force used against them.”