Professional standards and IPCC

Before being appointed as one of the Commissioners for North West England Mike Franklin was Her Majesty’s Assistant Inspector of Constabulary with responsibility for race and diversity. He has brought his wealth of experience to the benefit of the IPCC and the police service.

“Professional standards departments have always found the investigation of racially discriminatory behaviour particularly difficult,” said Mr Franklin. “The Secret Policeman revealed what many suspected – that there are some racists in the police service. The investigation into the revelations was not typical simply because the BBC had video and audio of the racist comments made.
“Traditionally investigations foundered because the complainants’ allegations of racist abuse or racist motivation were countered by officers’ denials and the matters lay unresolved, leaving the
complainants disillusioned with the police complaints system.”

Mike Franklin will explore with the conference what are the benefits of getting such inquiries right – and the consequences of getting them wrong.

Professional standards staff and officers must understand the importance of getting such investigations right. The presentation will address the underlying issues affecting these types of investigation and stress the importance of the ‘King’ test in investigations involving allegations of racially discriminatory behaviour.

King v The Great Britain-China Centre was the landmark industrial tribunal decision that allows investigators in some cases to substantiate a complaint by using inference.

The formula (known as Dx3+E) says

n Difference in treatment

n Difference in race

n Detriment for the complainant

 and

n No justifiable Explanation for these differences is available from any source.*

“There are considerable benefits for the police service in successfully investigating such complaints,” added Mike Franklin. “It is well known that there is a direct link between public confidence in complaints and the investigation and subsequent relationship between police and sections of the communities around the country.”

IPCC Deputy Chair John Wadham will also be addressing the conference, and will focus on the achievements of the IPCC’s first year. The Commission met its targets for the number of both independent and managed investigations that have been carried out. He will outline the challenges ahead, which include carrying out more independent inquiries, thereby reducing the need for police forces to carry out so many investigations out of force into other constabularies.

Continuing the theme, Director of Investigations Roy Clark will discuss how Professional Standards Departments and the IPCC can best work together in future years.

* Investigating Allegations of Racially Discriminatory Behaviour can be found on the IPCC web site at www.ipcc.gov.uk