Independent Police Complaints Commission
Constables' spokesman attacks police watchdog
In a speech today at the Police Federation's annual conference in Bournemouth, Mr Elder questioned the IPCC's independence, and suggested it was too preoccupied with political point scoring and playing to the media.
He suggested renaming the IPCC the "Institutionally Perverse Complaints Commission" because its mantra of searching for the truth had turned out to be "a load of tosh".
Mr Elder said: "How dare you treat our officers like second-class citizens, accusing them of things like having made 'fatal mistakes' and being guilty of 'unwitting racism' without proper evidence?
"You are supposed to be independent; then be it and stop trying to score political points. "The time you are taking to come to decisions is nothing short of scandalous. You've made a mess of so many reviews. The new home secretary [John Reid] must take a long, hard look at you and see if you are 'fit for purpose'. I am exposing your lack of ability to do your job properly."
The IPCC's chair, Nick Hardwick, is attending the conference and will appear as part of a panel session later. The IPCC took over from the old Police Complaints Authority two years ago, with radical new powers to launch its own investigations into complaints.
The federation has recently criticised comments by Mr Hardwick about the reluctance of black and Asian people to complain to police.
A search on the police forum reveals around 30 seperate threads concerning the police and the IPCC.
Recent IPCC blog posts include :
Congratulations To The CPS
Saving Lives - Why Bother?
In a speech today at the Police Federation's annual conference in Bournemouth, Mr Elder questioned the IPCC's independence, and suggested it was too preoccupied with political point scoring and playing to the media.
He suggested renaming the IPCC the "Institutionally Perverse Complaints Commission" because its mantra of searching for the truth had turned out to be "a load of tosh".
Mr Elder said: "How dare you treat our officers like second-class citizens, accusing them of things like having made 'fatal mistakes' and being guilty of 'unwitting racism' without proper evidence?
"You are supposed to be independent; then be it and stop trying to score political points. "The time you are taking to come to decisions is nothing short of scandalous. You've made a mess of so many reviews. The new home secretary [John Reid] must take a long, hard look at you and see if you are 'fit for purpose'. I am exposing your lack of ability to do your job properly."
The IPCC's chair, Nick Hardwick, is attending the conference and will appear as part of a panel session later. The IPCC took over from the old Police Complaints Authority two years ago, with radical new powers to launch its own investigations into complaints.
The federation has recently criticised comments by Mr Hardwick about the reluctance of black and Asian people to complain to police.
A search on the police forum reveals around 30 seperate threads concerning the police and the IPCC.
Recent IPCC blog posts include :
Congratulations To The CPS
Saving Lives - Why Bother?
posted by BluesAndTwos @ 1:20 pm
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