Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

THE CASE FOR CHANGE
Complaints and discipline
3.49 Before we consider the regulatory framework governing complaints and
discipline in detail, we would like to emphasise the fact that most police officers will
have no involvement with the disciplinary process throughout their entire careers.
The overwhelming majority are fundamentally honest and their conduct above
reproach. They will never find themselves in a situation where their integrity is
called into question.
“Police officers, and increasingly police staff, are frequently engaged in difficult and dangerous
work. Not many days go by when I am not humbled by the selfless altruistic actions of the
people I work with. They go forward when their instincts demand that they hold back.”
(Submission from Ken Jones, Chief Constable of Sussex.)
3.50 We recognise that police officers have a very difficult job to do and, in the
main, they do it well. However, when an officer’s conduct requires investigation, he
or she should be dealt with under a system in which both they and the general
public can have confidence.
3.51 We have already outlined a number of the criticisms we have heard about the
complaints and discipline system. We have also recommended that police officers
should be made subject to the standard of disciplinary procedures which apply to
police staff and other employees. We have received a wealth of evidence arguing
for this reform but we have also received extensive evidence from the Police
Federation – both National and Metropolitan – that the current system should not
be abolished.
“So in those circumstances, there is a lot to think about, but all I would say… is the regulations
are not broke, they do not need fixing; what they need is better interpretation and training
and implementation by the management of the MPS”.
(Evidence of Don Ratcliffe, General Secretary, Joint Executive Committee, Metropolitan
Police Federation.)
3.52 Before we analyse that evidence in more detail, it is worth examining the
environment in which police officers carry out their duties.
“It is important to remember that policing is often a difficult and dangerous job. Individual
operational officers, predominantly of the Constable rank, are the frontline representatives of
policing for the people of England and Wales. Officers regularly perform their duties in difficult
confrontational situations dealing with members of the public who do not recognise or adhere
to the laws of society, many of whom threaten the officer’s personal safety and make malicious
complaints as part of their defence strategy.”
(Submission from the National Police Federation.)
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