Plans set out by the Home Secretary to stop police officers managing complaints against their own force are pivotal to meeting Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s ‘New Dawn of Transparency’.
That’s according to Matthew Ellis who was elected to office in December 2012 and soon after set out his ambition for policing in Staffordshire to be the most open and transparent in the country by 2016. He established the Ethics, Transparency and Audit Panel (ETAP) as part of that aim. It’s made up of seven members of the public and regularly examines the work of police including how crime is recorded and public complaints are dealt with.
Now, new Government proposals would help that ambition further by formally placing responsibility for dealing with lower level complaints with PCCs and not police.
The Commissioner said: “Police officers work hard to serve their communities every day but genuinely independent scrutiny is essential in recognising when things go wrong and need fixing. Openness and transparency is important and police being poacher and game keeper is unhelpful in strengthening public confidence.
“In Staffordshire, the number of lower level complaints about policing made directly to my office has grown steadily because the public inherently do not entirely trust police looking at their own shortcomings. Whilst our performance specialists work closely with the police to ensure the right approach is taken, these new proposals mean the management of complaints would be well away from the subject of them.”
Two weeks ago, the police national inspectorate (HMIC) formally praised the part the Ethics Transparency and Audit Panel (ETAP) played in assessing the accuracy and honesty of crime recording in Staffordshire being in the top three in the whole country.
Mr Ellis announced last week that in the New Year local versions of ETAP called Safer Neighbourhood Panels will be established in each local policing area. Pilots in three council areas will be rolled out in February.
Find out more about the ETAP at http://www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/eta
