Has my Police Complaint been accepted?
I made a complaint in March this year against the Constable that arrested me in Dec 2008.
I was offered a Local Resolution to deal with my complaint. I declined because after an informative phone conversation, the Officer and I concluded that Local Resolution would not get the result I was looking for. He then passed the complaint higher. At this stage, my complaint should have been recorded, but I received no letter to say it has been.
I now receicve a letter from 'higher up' that states it was 15 months between arrest and complaint, and because of this I must write a consice explaination as to why it took so long to complain. If they do not accept my explaination, or I fail to reply, the Police will ask the IPCC for permission to dispense with the complaint without looking into it.
My question is this:-
Does the offer of a Local Resolution mean the Police have accepted my complaint?
If the time scale between arrest and complaint is an issue now, then it stands to reason it should have been an issue when I was offered Local Resolution and should have been brought up before that offer was made.
Local Resolution fell in favour of the Police and yes the Officer tried his best to get me to accept it. As it stands now, the complaint favours me, which is why I think they are throwing in the time limit clause now!
I am happy to explain to them why it took so long to complain, but I will do it out of curtesy as I feel the complaint has already been accepted despite being outside the time scale.
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There are effectively three levels of complaint against the Police, Local resolution, full investigation or complaint to the IPCC. Complaints dealt with by the IPCC are subject to statutory guidance and will usually involve only the most serious cases often involving death or serious injury. Specific guidelines are laid down as to which complaints are referred to the IPCC.
A Local resolution is the least formal resolution, it would ordinarily confirm that the circumstances have been considered , offer some explanation as to the incident and often involve an apology or confirmation that officers will be spoken to and warned about future conduct.
The full investigation by the higher authority that you refer to is just that and can offer a fuller investigation of the circumstances and formal interview of officers under caution and could lead to disciplinary proceedings being taken against the officers.
The grounds for applying to dispense with your complaint (dispensation) relate broadly to whether it is practicable to continue work on a complaint or if any injustice would arise from dealing with it.
A complaint is considered to be out of time if more than 12 months have elapsed between the incident and the complaint and either no good reason for the delay has been shown or injustice would be likely to be caused by the delay.
The logic of this test is important. It means that if 12 months have passed and no good reason for delay can be found a dispensation can be granted even where the delay is not likely to cause an injustice. Likewise if 12 months have passed and injustice is likely to be caused by the delay a dispensation can be granted even if there is good reason for the delay. In either case it is not sufficient that 12 months has passed.
Injustice may be caused by a delay because the lapse of time affects peoples recollections or the availability of evidence.Each case is considered on its merits and the complainants reasons for delay and the reason why the Police think there may be injustice will be taken into account.
A Local resolution involves a low level investigation and often an apology or acceptance that things went wrong. it does not involve the level of investigation which your complaint might now need. The same difficulties might not therefore be encountered.
However the fact that the complaint was dealt with by way of local resolution initially does not preclude the Police authority from applying for a dispensation. It would however be taken into account by the IPCC when deciding whether to grant the dispensation.
Richard Paremain
Update
I justified the delay in complaining, which must have been accepted as the the Police investigated my complaint, but they found nothing wrong with the actions of their PC!
I appealed to the IPCC and won my appeal. The IPCC instructed the Police to reinvestigate my complaint and, I would be given a new right of appeal against the reinvestigation. That was 2 months ago and I have heard nothing back from the Police yet to say where they are up to with the reinvestigation or, if in fact they are reinvestigating.
The Police used the usual bull***t to justify arresting me, 'prompt and effective', but in the end the IPCC stated the Police have not shown why my arrest was necessary.
At what point, if any, should I contact the Police to find out where they are up to? And who would I ask?
At what point can I put in a claim for unlawful arrest, unlawful detention etc? Surely the fact I have won my appeal would make a claim against the Police easier to win!
It took me two years to get it this far, and I feel this is as far as I can take it. I threw myself into it when everyone said let it go, reasearching in libraries and online about laws and PACE, and yes it has paid off so far, but I had no time for anything else while I was doing all this, I just dont want to spend another few years doing it again. It was exhausting!
Im pretty sure Ive got it to a point where a solicitor could wrap it up, but there are so many out there that I just wouldnt know how to choose one :(
Hi, Sorry have not read
Hi,
Sorry have not read everything, it was too much.
there is a time limit, and if they reply stating that you took too long, well tuff.
I assume you have some proof of who you spoke to in the first instance, this shows that you tried to complain.This is normal practice to delay it over the 1 year, and then they think they can get away.
What you want from them is a letter to say that the complaint is not going to be addressed, or the outcome, with this reply you give it to the IPCC who will tell them to act or the IPCC will investigate.
To make it clearer, if you dont get a satisfactory responce you notify the IPCC and they will refer it back, or investigate it for you
Hope this helps.
Thanks for your time in
Thanks for your time in replying, but it looks like your reply is to my original post. Although it doesnt help me now, your reply would be of use to someone in the same position I was back then.
I know this thread is somewhat long and you didnt read it all, so I'm guessing you missed the 'update' post just above yours which explains exactly where I am at now.
Once again thanks for your time