Police watchdog ‘unfit for purpose’
THE head of the police watchdog was fighting for his career last night after his organisation was branded ‘unfit for purpose’ by victims of misconduct in a letter to the Prime Minister.
Baroness Lawrence, Lady Brittan and five others whose lives were affected by bungled Scotland Yard operations, said the Independent Office for Police Conduct was ‘broken’ and must be led by a ‘credible and legallytrained individual.’
It is headed by Michael Lockwood, an accountant and later London council chief, who has faced a barrage of criticism since taking the reins in January 2018. Accusations include lengthy delays to investigations, a dearth of knowledge among its officers and a lack of accountability.
Mr Lockwood was accused in 2019 of ‘cronyism’ when he helped name his former Harrow Council deputy as his £140,000-a-year number two at the IOPC. Dame Meg Hillier, chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, said there were ‘serious questions to be asked’ about the appointment.
Later that year the IOPC returned its longawaited report into Scotland Yard’s disastrous Operation Midland probe. It was condemned as a ‘whitewash’.
Despite the Met’s investigation being widely considered one of the worst in recent history, all five officers accused of misconduct were cleared of any wrongdoing. Four were not even interviewed.
Calling for a criminal inquiry into the IOPC and the Metropolitan Police, retired judge Sir Richard Henriques, who carried out a review of Operation Midland, said the watchdog had ‘failed in its duty to investigate’. He described its report as ‘lamentable’.
In an unprecedented move, six former home secretaries supported his call for an independent inquiry into the IOPC and the police, agreeing that public confidence in the watchdog had been ‘seriously damaged’.
For its probe into Midland, the IOPC appointed Kimberley Williams as lead investigator. Just a few years out of university, she admitted when taking statements that she was not legally trained and was not fully aware of the process for obtaining search warrants.
Questioned by MPs over Midland, Mr Lockwood denied ‘mishandling’ the investigation and insisted: ‘Mistakes were made but there was no misconduct.’
The letter of complaint to the Prime Minister said: ‘The IOPC, which is supposed to oversee complaints against the police, is demonstrably unfit for purpose. A functional governance system must be established.’