Questions to the Mayor of London – answered at on 11 February 2022.
Please provide a demographic breakdown of those who submitted complaints against the Metropolitan Police in each of the last four years, including sexual orientation. Please advise how many of the allegations within the complaints made were “upheld” or had a “case to answer” in each year.
Please refer to the attached spreadsheet which provides a breakdown of the information requested. This includes a breakdown of the total number of complainants by protected characteristic for each of the last 4 years, and a detailed breakdown of the numbers of complaint allegations by characteristics and allegation result. Note that each complaint ‘case’ (or ‘incident’ as they are sometimes known) can be made up of one or more allegations against one or more officers.
The range of possible outcomes for each complaint allegation has changed significantly during this period as a result of the legislative reforms to the police complaints system introduced by the Home Office in February 2020.
Under the revised regulations complaints which have been subject to an investigation under Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act 2002 require the appropriate authority to make a formal decision at the end of the investigation about whether the officer(s) subject to investigation have a case to answer for misconduct, gross misconduct or no case to answer.
Where a complaint has been handled under Schedule 3, but otherwise than by investigation, forces must now include an assessment of the service provided. This will conclude with one of the following outcomes: the service provided by the police was acceptable, the service provided by the police was not acceptable or we have looked into the complaint but have not been able to determine if the service provided was acceptable.
This change was to encourage focus on the service provided by the police force and deliver a complaints system that is less adversarial. This shifts the focus away from individual blame towards corporate responsibility, the recognition and resolution of expressions of dissatisfaction, and the learning opportunities these present. Accordingly, and in line with IOPC statutory guidance, forces are now advised to refrain from using phrases such as ‘upheld’ or ‘not upheld’ when making decisions and reaching conclusions at the end of complaint handling.
Additionally, please note that the ‘Regulation 41’ category available for the last two years concerns the regulation under the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2020 under which the appropriate authority contacts the complainant following a suspension of the investigation of a complaint until the conclusion of criminal proceedings to ascertain whether they wish for the investigation to be resumed. If the complainant does not want the investigation resumed or fails to reply to the appropriate authority must determine whether it is in the public interest for the complaint to be treated as a recordable conduct matter.