IOPC and Home Office caught out over resignation debacle

To an investigative journalist’s instincts if something doesn’t feel, look or sound right then it more than usually isn’t. One either has that nose for ‘trouble’, or you don’t. Most people who have come across the author of this article, Neil Wilby, would definitely say he has. So it was with the announcement a weekContinue reading “IOPC and Home Office caught out over resignation debacle”

Watchdog chief faces ‘under-age relationship’ allegation

On 3rd December, 2022, Neil Wilby Media was amongst the first to break the news that the Director General of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), Michael Lockwood, had been forced to resign. It was, most certainly, the first to call for an inquiry into how that resignation was handled by both Lockwood andContinue reading “Watchdog chief faces ‘under-age relationship’ allegation”

Controversial watchdog report criticised from all quarters

A report released last week by one of the country’s two police ‘watchdogs’, extending to 127 pages, has drawn criticism from leading stakeholders, victims and their families, and leading police action lawyers, writes Neil Wilby. The Independent Office for Police Conduct has made seventeen recommendations to the College of Policing, the National Police Chiefs’ CouncilContinue reading “Controversial watchdog report criticised from all quarters”

Watchdog now employs over 1,000 staff but less than 25% ex-police

In a recent reply to a freedom of information request, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed some important information concerning its workforce. The total number of staff employed as at 31st March, 2021 was 1,013, a reduction of 19 from the previous year.. The total payroll cost was £53,950,000, an increase of £3,050,000 (6%) on theContinue reading “Watchdog now employs over 1,000 staff but less than 25% ex-police”

Police forces still unwilling to confront institutional racism

A police watchdog has reported, four decades after the introduction of stop and search, that ‘no force fully understands the impact’. Police in England and Wales are unable to explain why their powers are still used disproportionately, and in many cases unlawfully, on suspects from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Her Majesty’s InspectorateContinue reading “Police forces still unwilling to confront institutional racism”

Cover-up at all costs

There are many thousands of words written elsewhere on this website about the so-called ‘police watchdog’ in England and Wales, most recently here. Currently known as the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), having previously existed as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (2004-2018), the Police Complaints Authority (1985-2004) and the Police Complaints Board (1977-1985). EachContinue reading “Cover-up at all costs”