Fear of harassment, concerns about bias and not understanding how
to make a complaint are some of the issues preventing people with
mental health conditions using the police complaints system
research has revealed.
The research, commissioned by the Independent Office for Police
Conduct (IOPC) and published today, was conducted by the
Institute of Mental Health (IMH) through a targeted survey of
people with mental health concerns in England and Wales and focus
groups drawn from different geographical regions.
Results reveal participants considered there to be a number of
barriers to using the police complaints system with many unaware
of how to complain or that they had a right to do so. Of those
questioned in the survey, 42 per cent had not heard of the IOPC
or IPCC, the body that pre-existed the IOPC.
Those aware of the complaints system listed a number of reasons
why they would not make a complaint, including fear of
harassment, a belief they would be treated unfairly or their
condition handled insensitively and concern that the process
would be so stressful it would make their condition worse.
Michael Lockwood, Director General of the IOPC, said: “People
with mental health concerns find it particularly challenging to
make a complaint against the police. This is due to a number of
complex and interacting reasons.
“Policing and mental health is a huge challenge that will require
cooperation and collaboration across the policing community,
Government and the health service as evidenced in a report
issued by HMICFRS yesterday.
“The IOPC is keen to explore opportunities to improve how we work
and utilise specialist knowledge and experience from within
policing, the charitable sector, health service and academia.
“This research was commissioned to listen to those who are
seldom heard and consider how we can do things differently to
ensure our service meets the needs of a vulnerable group with low
confidence in the police complaints system.”
“We continue to work on making the system more accessible and
available to everyone in the community and this research will
help to inform how we go about making changes to how we operate
and how we improve the police complaints system.”
Professor Eddie Kane and Doctor Louise Thomson from IMH said:
“Our work with the IOPC on this report has independently reviewed
the experiences of people living with mental health concerns when
coming into contact with the police complaints system.
“We are pleased that the research will form part of the IOPC’s
plan to continuously improve their systems, reduce complexity and
create a complaints system that can sensitively handle the needs
of someone living with mental health concerns.”
Other concerns from participants include;
-
A perception that the process is complex and can take too
long
-
A lack of advocacy or support during the complaints process
-
A perceived lack of neutrality by the police and the IOPC in
handling complaints
-
That the police are not adequately trained to deal with
people with mental health concerns
Questions on how the complaints system could be improved produced
varied results but indicated participants would appreciate help
in making a complaint, either through a specific advocate (43%),
a step-by-step guide (51%) or from a mental health support
service.
Participants also revealed that the outcomes they would prefer
was a change in attitude (57%) or that officers would learn and
improve (53%) rather than suffer punishment (11%).
Key statistics from the targeted survey;
-
60% were not confident of how to make a complaint. 32% said
they would make their complaint to the police force they were
unhappy with while 18% said they would approach the IPCC/IOPC
-
46% said they would be unlikely to make a complaint even if
they were unhappy with an experience with the police
-
49% feared harassment or other consequences, with that figure
rising to 58% for those who had been in contact with police
in the last 12 months
-
60% believed they would be treated unfairly
-
62% believed the complaint would be ignored
-
54% were not confident the IOPC works in an impartial way,
and this rose to 71% when participants had been in contact
with police in the last 12 months
-
67% were not confident the police handled complaints
neutrally
