Eight Months Under Investigation, Still Waiting

I am a serving police officer and have been in the job for around two years, working on response. My experience with Professional Standards is still ongoing, so there are obviously limits to what I can say, but I wanted to share what the process has been like and the impact it is having on me.

The incident that started it

It started when I attended an incident with a colleague involving a suspect who had significant learning difficulties. It was part of a wider neighbour dispute and had been an ongoing emergency graded incident. The victim wanted the police to take positive action and there was evidence that an offence had been committed.

One of the difficulties we face as police officers is dealing with questions around capacity. We had been told that officers cannot make that determination ourselves and that where somebody is suspected of lacking capacity, the matter should still be fully investigated. In practice, that can potentially mean arresting and interviewing somebody before a decision is eventually made further down the line about whether they should be prosecuted.

My colleague sought advice from a sergeant about what to do. It was agreed that, given all the circumstances, a community resolution would be the most appropriate way of dealing with it.

The suspect had an appropriate adult present and had admitted committing the offence. The appropriate adult was supportive of the outcome and felt that the person needed to understand that their actions had consequences. From our point of view, dragging somebody with significant learning difficulties unnecessarily through the criminal justice system would have been disproportionate, potentially harmful and, in the circumstances we were dealing with, difficult to justify.

My colleague issued the community resolution. I was there with him when he did it.

Then the misconduct papers arrived

Around a month later, we were both served with misconduct papers.

A complaint had been made about the suspect's capacity and it was alleged that we had effectively viewed this person as an easy positive outcome to improve our statistics.

Two months then passed before we were told that we needed to attend interviews with Professional Standards. We were each interviewed for around two hours about what had happened.

Months later, I am still waiting for a decision.

This is a misconduct matter, not gross misconduct, yet the consequences of simply being under investigation have started to affect my career and finances before any finding has even been made.

My career has effectively been put on hold

I was due to complete my probation, but that has now been extended indefinitely while I wait for the outcome of the investigation. As a result, I will not receive the pay increase I would otherwise have received and I cannot attend courses that had been booked for me until the matter is concluded.

I appealed the decision to extend my probation indefinitely, but that appeal was rejected. I was told that this is routinely done when somebody in my position has an outstanding complaint.

That is probably the part of this process I struggle with the most. I have not been found guilty of misconduct. I am still waiting for somebody to make a decision, yet I am already experiencing the financial and professional consequences of an investigation that has gone on for months.

I also did not issue the community resolution in the first place.

It has made me think about leaving

I have not needed mental health support as a result of this, at least not yet, but I would be lying if I said it has not affected me. It has made me consider going off sick and it has made me think about leaving the job.

There is obviously an ordinary level of stress that comes with receiving a complaint as a police officer. We understand that complaints will happen and that, where appropriate, they need to be investigated. My issue is not that Professional Standards should not investigate allegations. My issue is whether the way those investigations are carried out is proportionate to what is actually being alleged.

Being interviewed for two hours, waiting month after month for an outcome, having my probation extended indefinitely, losing out financially and being prevented from attending courses feels completely disproportionate when this is a misconduct matter and not an allegation that is realistically expected to cost me my job.

Had the investigation been dealt with promptly, much of the impact could have been avoided. I would still have experienced the stress of receiving a complaint, but there is a huge difference between dealing with that stress for a reasonable period and having something hanging over you indefinitely without knowing when a decision will finally be made.

Accountability should not mean punishment before a finding

I believe Professional Standards investigations need to be proportionate to the allegation being investigated. They also need to be concluded much more quickly.

There will always be occasions where allegations are complicated and investigations genuinely take time. This does not feel like one of them.

Police officers should be accountable for their actions, but accountability should not mean that the process itself becomes a punishment before anybody has even decided whether misconduct has taken place.

For now, I am still serving, still doing my job and still waiting for somebody to tell me how this ends.