Agenda item

Outstanding References

Report of the Town Clerk

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Town Clerk that provided Members with a summary of the outstanding actions from previous meetings.

 

OR1 – Gifts and Hospitality Report

The Director of Professional Standards noted that this had been updated on the CoLP website, and asked Members if it was sufficiently visible.  Members agreed that it was reasonably straightforward to locate now.

 

OR2 – Body Worn Video Demonstration

The Chairman asked for confirmation that this demonstration would take place at the next meeting of the Sub-Committee in September.  The Director of Professional Standards confirmed that it would.

 

OR4 – Force Leadership Changes Update

Members noted that the CoLP organigram was circulated and the Assistant Commissioner explained that updates on leadership personnel would only be provided on a monthly basis if there had been any changes to note.  The Chairman agreed that this was the correct approach.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

 

OR5 – National Association of Legally Qualified Chairpersons for Police Misconduct Panels

The Director of Professional Standards and the Town Clerk explained that they had both made considerable attempts to engage with the Association but had not had any success.  The Chairman accepted that efforts had been made and agreed that the action should now be closed.

 

OR7 – Staff Survey Action Plan

The Chairman noted that the Detective Chief Superintendent of Intelligence and Information submitted his apologies as was unable to attend the meeting as planned due to a CoLP engagement.

 

The Assistant Commissioner explained that the action plan will be formulated prior to the next meeting.  The Chairman requested that it be submitted to the next meeting. (1)

 

OR8 - Legitimacy Action Plan

The Town Clerk tabled a copy of the Performance and Resource Management Sub Committee report that summarised HMICFRS recommendations for improvement from the recent Legitimacy inspection of CoLP.  The Head of Strategic Development explained that the only category marked as “RED” was the use of stop and search, and noted that this was impacted by an issue with the PRONTO system that is used for the recording of crimes.  Members queried how this was related to NICHE, and the Head of Strategic Development explained that NICHE was a core system that interfaces with a range of other systems, such as PRONTO, which are not necessarily synchronised with other Police forces. 

 

The Assistant Commissioner explained that there were a list of identified actions that CoLP were working through.  The Chairman of the Performance and Resource Management Sub-Committee noted that an issue highlighted at that Sub-Committee was the 14% of officers rated as having completed training for Stop and Search.  The Assistant Commissioner noted that this was unsatisfactory and explained that CoLP were planning to produce a briefing note updating Members on the training plan that was in place.  He agreed to circulate to Members of the Sub-Committee. He noted that the level of complaints around stop and search had not seen an increase regardless. (2) 

 

A Member asked if the training aimed at addressing unconscious bias was online.  The Assistant Commissioner confirmed that this was the case.

 

The Chairman noted that the briefing note should be circulated to the Police Committee’s Equality and Diversity Lead that had given his apologies for this meeting.

 

OR9 – New Complaints Procedure

The Chairman asked if the planned changes to the complaints procedure had been made.  The Director of Professional Standards confirmed that they had and that there had subsequently been a significant drop in complaints received around Action Fraud.

 

OR10 – Stop and Search Concerns

It was agreed that this was now being addressed and should be closed.

 

OR11 – Community Scrutiny Group (CSG) and Independent Advisory Group (IAG) Meeting Dates

The Chairman asked if the dates had been confirmed for both these groups.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that CSG dates had been confirmed, but that the IAG dates had not been for the remainder of 2018.  The Chairman asked that the Equality & Diversity Lead should be kept updated with these dates. (3)

 

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

 

Post Incident Procedure (PIP)

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update from a CoLP Post-Incident Manager (PIM) on Post-Incident Procedures (PIP).

 

The Post-Incident Manager explained that a Post-Incident Procedure would be actioned following a range of adverse events that may occur whilst Police officers are carrying out their duty, such as the discharge of a firearm.  She explained that chief officers would be notified immediately following the incident, and that CoLP would then make provisions for the management of the staff member involved to ensure that they are supported throughout the process by a Post-Incident Manager.

 

The Post-Incident Manager explained that they were staff members not solely dedicated to this task, though they were required to have a range of skills and competencies to fill the role, such as: empathy, commitment, independence and strong communication.

 

The Post-Incident Manager provided Members with the 2016 London Bridge Terror Attack as an example where a Post-Incident team consisted of both CoLP and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers.  She highlighted the challenge in managing the inherent pressure that officers face given IOPC involvement.  She emphasised the importance of anonymity throughout the process to enable subjects to continue their daily life and work.  She also noted the requirement for PIM’s to provide updates to the subject on hearing dates and help ensure that the best evidence is provided in court, particularly in the case of the London Bridge Terror Attack, which would be heard on 6 July in January 2019 at the Central Criminal Court.  She noted that the officers involved in this case were currently in a “good place”.

 

Members questioned the level of awareness of the Post-Incident Procedure from amongst CoLP staff.  The Post-Incident Manager explained that all firearms officers were well aware of the process, and assured members that there was now much improved awareness amongst non-firearms officers.

 

A Member asked how many recorded “incidents” had occurred over the last 5 years.  The Post-Incident Manager explained that PIM’s would only be aware of those incidents that they themselves are involved in.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that the exact figure would have to be confirmed but noted that there was steadily increasing use of PIP, likely resulting from the influx of staff from MPS where it had been well established.

 

The Chairman thanked the Post-Incident Manager for the informative update.

 

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