Misconduct proceedings against officers must be conducted quickly and efficiently, as they are causing huge amounts of damage to people, the President of The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents has said.
Chief Superintendent Rob Hay was commenting at the Police Superintendents’ Conference, after attending a session led by Police Federation Equality Lead Hayley Aley, in which she warned that over half of known suicide cases involved officers facing misconduct investigations, professional standards department processes, criminal investigations, suspensions or workplace restrictions.
Hayley argued that no officer should face misconduct proceedings without continuous welfare support. Rob agreed, saying: “I have seen hugely damaging consequences for individuals.”
Rob said: “The police service faces a really difficult challenge right now. There have been some horrible, high-profile misconduct cases that we’re all aware of. But, effectively, they seem to have lowered the threshold for intervention from the professional standards department, who now err on the side of: ‘Well, we need to be seen to be doing something’, and officers more frequently than ever find themselves facing a misconduct allegation.
“These investigations take an inordinate amount of time to resolve, which is a huge amount of stress for that officer and by extension their family. In every case where an officer has faced misconduct allegations, regardless of the seriousness of it and whether or not it’s upheld, I have seen it have hugely damaging consequences for individuals.
“I cannot accept that we’re currently getting it right in terms of looking after people’s wellbeing. I think there must be more that can be done, because what I’m seeing is that the process is the punishment itself, and we’re losing people from the service because it’s too detrimental to their health.”
Rob added that for Superintendents, who had a long career behind them, their personal identity was often interlocked with their professional identity: “So if they are faced with allegations, it shakes people to their moral core, ultimately.”
He continued: “People need to be accountable for their behaviour and we absolutely need to have the highest standards in policing. But the biggest criticism officers have is the time it takes for the process to be navigated, and bringing that much more swiftly to a conclusion would serve everybody well.”