Police Federation response to IPCC statement on investigation of federation representatives
Responding to the statement by IPCC Deputy Chair Deborah Glass:
“The Police Federation of England and Wales welcome the conclusions of the IPCC-supervised investigation into the actions of three Police Federation representatives, which found no evidence of misconduct. The IPCC had the choice at the outset of this investigation either to conduct an independent, managed or supervised investigation, and it chose to supervise. The investigation team has reached its conclusion and in accordance with statutory regulations, a decision has been made by the appropriate authority that there is no case to answer.
“Against this factual background, we are therefore shocked that the IPCC Commissioner, Deborah Glass, would then appoint herself judge and jury by releasing her personal view that she disagrees with the findings and asks the public to decide. This is done with the full knowledge that her status and title will naturally undermine the considered findings of the investigation in the eyes of the public, whereas in fact those investigating and deciding the case are the proper arbiters in this matter.
“Either the IPCC are capable of supervising investigations or they are not. If they feel that they are capable of doing so, having had the opportunity to monitor and provide input into the process, the proper and responsible course must be to accept the investigation findings . The public are seeing more of this type of personal outburst from an individual within a supposedly regulated and process driven body. This cannot be seen as acting in the public interest or being ‘independent’ - it is the action of someone who feels that their personal view should carry more weight than a full investigation which their own organisation supervised throughout.”
