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Independent Police Complaints Commission
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales. It can also elect to manage or supervise the police investigation into a particular complaint and can independently investigate the most serious cases itself.
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The statutory powers and responsibilities of the commission were set out by the Police Reform Act 2002, and it came into existence on 1 April 2004, replacing the Police Complaints Authority which in turn replaced the Police Complaints Board in 1985. Unlike these organisations, it has its own independent investigators, giving it the choice of supervising police investigations into serious complaints or independently investigating them itself. Around 30% of the investigators are former police officers (source: BBC Radio 4 interview 'The World Tonight' 9 MAY 2006).
The seventeen commissioners are appointed by the Home Secretary for a five year period, with the possibility of a further five year extension, and cannot be former police officers. They are responsible for the general supervision of the organisation as well as the outcome of the particular cases that it investigates.
The IPCC only covers England and Wales; oversight of the police complaints system in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, and in Scotland is the responsibility of the Procurator Fiscal, part of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
In May 2006 the Police Federation of England and Wales accused the IPCC of a "catalogue of inappropriate comments and perverse actions". Their main complaint referred to the inquiry into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, in particular a leak and mismanagement of media contact. The IPCC chairman, Nick Hardwick replied that the federation had "misrepresented the views" of the organisation but accepted that the IPCC had got it wrong on occasions including over the leak. [1]
More detailed criticism of the IPCC can be studied by comparing an actual IPCC report (published at www.ggm11.plus.com\ipccrprt.htm) with a report on that report (published at www.ggm11.plus.com\report.htm).
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