Police boss calls for ‘complete openness and transparency’ in misconduct hearings
JONATHAN EVISON ‘CONFIDENT’ FORCE HAS ‘ROBUST’ PROCESSES IN PLACE FOR
HUMBERSIDE’S police and crime commissioner (PCC) has said he supports “complete openness and transparency” in misconduct hearings following Theresa May’s “disappointment” over the amount held in private.
PCC Jonathan Evison said he was confident that Humberside Police had “robust” processes in place for handling officer misconduct investigations.
He added the decision to hold misconduct hearings in public or in private fell to independent legally qualified chairs appointed to head hearings.
It comes as Mrs May wrote in The Times figures showing almost half of more than 40 misconduct outcome notices from English and Welsh forces were anonymised were “immensely disappointing”.
The former prime minister, who
HANDLING OFFICER INVESTIGATIONS
They are independent of the police and hearings are held in public unless the chair decides there are legal reasons for holding them in private, but that is entirely the decision of the independent chair
previously served as Home Secretary under David Cameron, added it suggested forces were prioritising their own reputations over justice.
Boris Johnson’s predecessor also wrote the issue was “deep rooted and longstanding” and processes around notifying the public of hearing outcomes was “worryingly opaque”. Her comments followed the Metropolitan Police’s decision to hold a private misconduct hearing from Wayne Couzens, the former officer convicted of raping and murdering Sarah Everard.
The force said the decision was made because the risk of interfering in ongoing legal proceedings “significantly outweighed” the need for transparency.
Figures in The Times showed forces were unable to say whether 502 of the 1,147 misconduct hearings held in England and Wales since 2018 were held publicly or privately.
They also showed that for the 645 hearings, one in four were held in private.
Mr Evison said he “fully supported” changes introduced in 2016 while Mrs May was in government to improve transparency in misconduct hearings.
He added there would be some cases where proceedings had to be held in private and it was up to the Legally Qualified Chair to decide.
The PCC said: “Hearings regarding serious misconduct of police officers which could result in their dismissal are presided over by a Legally Qualified Chair.
“They are independent of the police and hearings are held in public unless the chair decides there are legal reasons for holding them in private, but that is entirely the decision of the independent chair.
“I’m confident that Humberside Police has a robust process in place for identifying and investigating misconduct, and I strongly advocate complete openness and transparency of the Hearing process.
“There may of course be circumstances where proceedings must be
Humberside Police & Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison
held in private and that decision sits with the Legally Qualified Chair who is responsible for management and direction of the misconduct hearing.”