The IPCC has published guidance on how evidence should be
collected in the immediate aftermath of an incident where a
member of the public has died or been seriously injured during
contact with the police.
If approved by the Home Secretary, all police forces in England
and Wales will be obliged to make use of the guidance in the
event of fatalities or serious injuries resulting from firearms
operations, incidents in custody or other police contact.
The guidance sets out what the IPCC will expect following these
incidents. Key policing witnesses (officers directly involved in
the incident):
-
Should be separated as soon as operationally safe to
do, so as not to confer, or unintentionally influence each
other’s accounts
-
Should provide personal initial witness accounts before
they go off duty, to enable the IPCC to identify lines of
enquiry and secure evidence that might otherwise be
lost
-
Should not view their own body-worn video before
offering an initial witness account, so that those accounts
recall what officers experienced during the incident – rather
than what they saw or heard on the video.
Separating officers after an incident to prevent conferring is
designed to ensure that officers provide individual accounts of
what they themselves saw, heard and did. This avoids actual
or perceived collusion or their accounts being unintentionally
influenced by those of others. This could affect the
integrity of evidence and damage public confidence in the
process. The IPCC has repeatedly stressed that this should happen
as soon as it is operationally safe to do so – for example,
during an ongoing terrorist incident, the police operation takes
precedence and any separation of officers would obviously wait
until the risk to lives had passed.
IPCC Deputy Chair said:
“A critical role of the IPCC is to investigate deaths or serious
injuries following contact with the police. We investigate with
an open mind, so it’s vital that we get the best evidence from
police witnesses as quickly as possible - which in turn helps
promote public trust in the process.
“We have proposed fresh guidance to help us achieve that aim. The
measures we have outlined do not treat police officers as
‘suspects’, but as witnesses whose early individual accounts will
help ensure the integrity and smooth running of the critical
early stages in any investigation.
“It’s in everyone’s interest that the process for gathering
evidence is swift, clear and transparent. It helps the
public have confidence that police actions are independently
scrutinised. It speeds up our investigations which is
precisely what the police, bereaved families and complainants
want.”
The guidance originated following an independent review into the
IPCC’s investigation into the death of Sean Rigg and the IPCC’s
own review of its investigations into deaths. The IPCC carried
out a 12-week public consultation on the draft guidance which
ended in May 2014. The IPCC also took into account the Court of
Appeal’s observations in its judgment in the case of Duggan and
Delezuch about the lawfulness of post incident procedures and
best practice, which commended the IPCC’s position.
The IPCC has subsequently worked with external stakeholders, both
within and outside the police, to reach this final version.
It provides for a process to ensure the integrity of evidence
while gathering essential information in the early critical
stages of an investigation. It also, however, recognises
the challenging operational environment that police work
in.
The full draft guidance is attached.
