Recommendation 1
The IOPC recommends that Cleveland Police should ensure that Authorised Professional Practice (APP) is adhered to when requests are made by parties outside the Post Incident Process (PIP) to review body worn video (BWV) and other relevant footage should they wish to conduct a debrief.During the early stages of the investigation the IOPC were informed that an inspector, outside of the PIP process, viewed some of the BWV days after the stage 3 accounts were obtained. In accordance with the relevant APP, the body worn footage should not have been viewed by anyone outside of the PIP process without prior consultation with the Post Incident Manager (PIM), and the IOPC as the Independent Investigatory Authority (IIA).
Whilst footage can be reviewed for the purposes of both a safety critical debrief, and an organisational learning debrief in accordance with APP, however, we as the IIA should be consulted and the timing and parameters of a review agreed in advance.
Cleveland Police should ensure that APP is followed should there be a need for a debrief when a PIP is in place. APP states that debriefs ‘should only take place after providing detailed accounts or evidential statements to the IIA; and where there is an indication that, having considered available evidence, there is no suggestion of criminal action or misconduct on the part of anyone attending the debrief.’ The APP also confirms that ‘it is not appropriate to address the specific actions of individuals, evidential issues relating to witness accounts or scene, and post-incident management during such a debrief.’
Finally, the APP provides that ‘the individual(s) tasked with facilitating the debrief should have an appropriate knowledge of local and national guidance relevant to the incident, and should be an accredited PIM who did not perform an operational or command role in said incident. Where this cannot be achieved, a trained debriefer supported by a PIM should be used.’
Addressed to: Cleveland Police
Linked bodies:
Cleveland Police