Independent Element - Yes or No

• NCJ Number: 85015
• Journal: Police Journal Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Dated: (July-September 1982) Pages: 238-255
• Author(s): J E Over
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

The Hong Kong experience with using an independent body (not connected with the police) to investigate complaints against the police suggests that the United Kingdom should continue to handle such complaints within the police ranks, albeit with some revisions to ensure objectivity.

Abstract

In 1973, Hong Kong established the Independent Commission Against Corruption under a civilian commissioner to investigate police corruption. The commission developed a pattern of dealing with complaints against police without any consultation with senior officers in the department. Consequently, hostility and alienation developed between the police and the commission such that needed cooperation was absent. Such a state of affairs further undermined confidence in the police even though there was no indication that the commission was more effective in dealing with police corruption than the Anti-Corruption Office of the Hong Kong Police. In 1980, a committee established to examine the structure of handling complaints against police determined that 'it is neither practicable nor desirable to assign the investigation of police complaints to an independent body.' The United Kingdom should learn from Hong Kong's experience, i.e., it is far more economical and sensible to establish an elite unit within a police force to investigate complaints against police than to erect an independent body. A police officer is much better equipped with skills and experience to determine the facts in a case than is a civilian body, and the distrust shown by removing the matter entirely from police hands can only aggravate relations between the police and the public. The British police service should be more open in its complaint investigations and accept the need to send all complaints, whether withdrawn or not, to the complaints board. Further, more investigating officers from outside forces should be used.