Complaints and Reviews

Everyone deserves to receive fair and honest treatment by the police. If you are not satisfied with your experience, you are entitled to complain. Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s complaints system is essential for helping to improve service quality and maintain the highest standards of policing.

The Constabulary’s Complaint Review Team (CRT) initially handle all complaints against individuals who work for Cambridgeshire Constabulary, including officers and police staff, as well as complaints about the service provided by the Constabulary as a whole.

How do I make a complaint?

You can raise a complaint against Cambridgeshire Constabulary in the following ways:

• Complete an online complaint form via the Constabulary’s website at the following link: Complaints | Cambridgeshire Constabulary (cambs.police.uk)
• Email the Complaint Review Team (CRT) at: [email protected]
• Write to: Cambridgeshire Constabulary Complaint Review Team, Cambridgeshire Police Headquarters, Hinchingbrooke Park, Huntingdon, PE29 6NP

Who will deal with my complaint?

All complaints will be initially handled by the Constabulary’s Complaint Review Team (CRT). Once a complaint is received, a member of CRT will contact you to discuss your complaint and clarify any missing details.

Depending on the severity of the complaint and seniority of the officers or staff involved, the complaint may be referred to the Constabulary’s Professional Standards Department (PSD) for further investigation.

In some cases, complaints will be directed to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who may wish to carry out an independent investigation.

What can I expect as an outcome?

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your complaint by CRT, you can request that your complaint is formally recorded and dealt with by PSD.

You will receive a letter to inform you of the outcome of your complaint. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of a formally recorded complaint, you are entitled to request a review.

Reviews are carried out by either the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) or IOPC. You will be told which body you need to apply to in your complaint outcome letter and will have 28 days to apply from the date your outcome letter is issued, or your application may not be accepted.

Request a review of your complaint

The Police Reform Act 2002 requires Police and Crime Commissioners to undertake reviews of complaints that have been formally recorded and investigated by the Constabulary, where the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) is the relevant review body. The Commissioner delegates this review function to staff within his office. The Constabulary’s Professional Standards Department (PSD) will advise you whether the OPCC is the correct review body for your complaint, within complaint outcome letter. Reviews conducted by the OPCC are generally handled by the Review, Compliance and Governance Officer.

You can request a review of your complaint in the following ways:

• Email the OPCC at: [email protected]
• Write to: OPCC Review, Compliance and Governance Officer, PO Box 688, Huntingdon, PE29 9LA

What if I am dissatisfied with the outcome of my review?

If you have any questions about the outcome of your review, please contact the person who dealt with your review. In most cases this will be the OPCC’s Review, Compliance and Governance Officer. This is often the easiest way to get an explanation of the reasons for the decision and answer any further questions you have.

Review outcome decisions are final. This means that the decisions we make regarding complaint reviews can only be challenged and overturned through the judicial review process. For this reason, we do not accept complaints about our review outcome decisions. Therefore, if you are unhappy with a decision we have made on your review and you want to take things further, you can apply to court for a judicial review.

Judicial review is a way of challenging the decisions and acts of a public body on the basis that it has not acted lawfully in making that decision. Judicial review is not an appeal and should not be used where people disagree with a public body’s decision. We recommend that you seek independent legal advice if you are considering this course of action.

Further information on judicial review can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adminAdministrative Court Judicial Review Guide 2024 - Courts and Tribunals Judiciaryistrative-court-judicial-review-guide

If you wish to make a complaint against the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire Constabulary, please contact the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC). This is the appropriate authority under the Police Reform Act 2002 (as amended) to deal with complaints against the Chief Constable. The OPCC handles these complaints on behalf of the Commissioner and usually your complaint will be handled by the Review, Compliance and Governance Officer.

How do I make a complaint?

You can raise a complaint against the Chief Constable in the following ways:

• Email the OPCC at: [email protected]
• Write to: OPCC Review, Compliance and Governance Officer, PO Box 688, Huntingdon, PE29 9LA

What can I complain about?

A complaint against the Chief Constable will only be considered if it is about the conduct of the Chief Constable. Where expressions of dissatisfaction are about the Constabulary in general, the actions of officers other than the Chief Constable, or where the Chief Constable has delegated actions to another member of the Constabulary to carry out, then this does not constitute a complaint against the Chief Constable and the OPCC is not the appropriate authority to deal with these.

Complaints such as these are for the Constabulary to address via their complaints process, as advised above.

For a complaint to be considered against the Police and Crime Commissioner, or Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (DPCC), it must be based on their conduct and not a difference of opinion, or the conduct of their staff where the Commissioner has delegated a responsibility to them. A complaint against the Commissioner, or DPCC, will not be recorded where it is made on the basis that they do not agree with you, or have not upheld a review of your complaint.

Who will deal with my complaint?

Complaints against the Commissioner, or DPCC, are handled by the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel. They are responsible for dealing with non-criminal complaints against the Commissioner and the DPCC.

How do I complain about the Police and Crime Commissioner?

The Police and Crime Panel have their own procedure regarding how they handle these complaints. This can be viewed by visiting their website at the following link: Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel’s Website

Criminal complaints against the Commissioner, or DPCC, will be referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for handling.

Complaints Submitted to the Police and Crime Panel:

2024-2025 = 0

2023-2024 = 0

2022-2023 = 0

2021-2022 = 0

Complaints about the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) are dealt with internally. A complaint may be about the conduct of a staff member, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or where a policy or procedure has not been followed. Complaints against the CEO are handled by the Chief Finance Officer (CFO), whereas complaints against members of staff, or a procedure, are handled by a member of management. Complaints against members of senior management, will be handled by the CEO.

How do I make a complaint?

You can raise a complaint against the OPCC in the following ways:

• Email the OPCC at: [email protected]
• Write to: The Police and Crime Commissioner, PO Box 688, Huntingdon, PE29 9LA

On rare occasions, individuals may have justified complaints, but may be pursuing them in an inappropriate way, or may wish to pursue a complaint which has already been investigated and any option of review has been utilised. Some individuals may also be intent on pursuing complaints which appear to have no substance or are considered to be vexatious.

If a complainant’s behaviour adversely affects our ability to do our work, and is considered to have a negative impact on the welfare of a member of staff, we may decide to restrict the communication that person has with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) in relation to their complaint.

An individual’s behaviour may be considered unreasonable if:

• There is repeated and obsessive pursuit of a complaint which appears to have no substance, or where all avenues of the complaint and reviews process have already been exhausted.
• Contact may be amicable but still places heavy demands on members of OPCC staff.
• There is an escalation of behaviour towards staff which is unacceptable, for example abusive, offensive, or threatening.

This list is not exhaustive but provides an example of behaviours that may result in the OPCC making the decision to restrict, or not respond to, contact from an individual on the specific topic of that complaint.

The Police and Crime Commissioner has a duty to be open, transparent and accountable. The Commissioner has a legal responsibility to monitor all complaints made against all Cambridgeshire Constabulary officers and staff, whilst also having responsibility for handling complaints against the Chief Constable and conducting complaint reviews.

The Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) (Amendment) Order 2021 states that Police and Crime Commissioners must publish the most recent Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) quarterly complaints data for their force and IOPC annual statistics report.

 

Quarterly data in relation to Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s performance in handling complaints can be found on the IOPC website at the following link: Publications Library | Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)

 

The Annual statistics report in relation to complaints can be found on the IOPC website at the following link: Police complaints statistics | Independent Office for Police Conduct 

Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s Professional Standards Department (PSD) also publish key data in relation to public complaints and conduct cases, that are intended to sit alongside the IOPC reporting on public complaints. The latest performance data from PSD can be found below.

Further information on how the Commissioner fulfils his responsibilities in relation to complaints, can be found below.

The Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) (Amendment) Order 2021 states that Police and Crime Commissioners must publish a narrative setting out how the Commissioner holds the Chief Constable to account in relation to complaints. This is as follows.

How the force is measuring complainant satisfaction

The Constabulary’s Professional Standards Department (PSD) currently has no formal mechanism in place to gauge complaint satisfaction. However, this is a topic for discussion at the Professional Standards Department Governance Board.

A summary of any mechanisms put in place to identify and act on themes or trends in complaints

The Commissioner is represented on the Professional Standards Governance Board. This Board meets quarterly and whose purpose includes, (but is not limited to), the following:

• Seeks to assure and promote the highest standards of professional behaviour and conduct of all staff and officers and actively supports and promotes the Code of Ethics.
• Aims to identify and address specific risks and threats across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire (BCH) ensuring clear actions are taken to mitigate and minimise these risks and threats and that where necessary policies, procedures, practices and processes are developed and implemented.
• Seeks to ensure that lessons are learned from all relevant internal and external channels and will specifically oversee a BCH Learning the Lessons to ensure all necessary actions, including effective communication with our staff and officers, is seen through to completion.

The Board receives a quarterly report from the Professional Standards Department (PSD) which contains information on key data in relation to public complaints and conduct cases recorded by PSD for BCH.

A summary of systems in place to monitor and improve performance in the timeliness of complaints handling

The Professional Standards Department Governance Board receives a quarterly report from the Professional Standards Department which contains this information.

The number of written communications issued by the force under regulation 13 of the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2020 where an investigation has not been completed within a “relevant period”

Two of which both were not able to proceed due to being sub-judice.

Quality Assurance mechanisms in place to monitor and improve the quality of its responses to complaints

The Professional Standards Department have a quality assurance process in place before complaint outcome reports are sent to complainants.

Details of the administrative arrangements the Police and Crime Commissioner has put in place to hold the Chief Constable to account for complaints handling e.g. frequency of meetings and a summary of discussions

As part of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s oversight and monitoring role, the PCC has put the following practices into place, to hold the Chief Constable to account:

• The Commissioner is represented on the quarterly Professional Standards Governance Board. Details of the Board’s purpose are provided above.
• The Commissioner meets with an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) Regional Director which provides the opportunity to discuss national strategic issues, any issues the Commissioner wishes to bring to the attention of the IOPC from his oversight role and for the IOPC to discuss any issues they have with the Constabulary’s performance.
• A member of the Commissioner’s office also attends meetings with the IOPC Oversight Liaison Officer which provides an opportunity to discuss individual cases, as well as Professional Standards Department (PSD) and Constabulary performance issues.
• The Commissioner’s office is currently looking at how dip sampling the Constabulary’s complaint handling can be undertaken to monitor this process.

The Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) (Amendment) Order 2021 directs that the Police and Crime Commissioner must provide an assessment of his performance in exercising his functions under paragraph 30(1)(b) of Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act 2002, this being complaint reviews. This is as follows.

Number of Complaint Reviews

The responsibility for Commissioners to undertake complaint reviews began on the 1^st February 2020. The Commissioner delegates this function to staff within his office. The number of reviews completed since 1^st February 2020 to the end of March 2024 are given below:

• February – March 2020 = 1
• April 2020 – March 2021 = 31
• April 2021 – March 2022 = 37
• April 2022 - March 2023 = 42
• April 2023 - March 2024 = 34

The average time taken by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) to complete a review, for the period of April 2023 – March 2024, was 56 days.

This data will be updated yearly.

Delegation of Complaint Functions

Details of the process and procedure in place for reviews handled by the OPCC, including delegation of functions and decision-making can be found on the Complaints Policy Statement at the following link: Complaints Policy Statement 2024

Quality Assurance

The Commissioner has a legal responsibility for dealing with complaints against the Chief Constable, as well as undertaking complaint reviews. These functions are undertaken on behalf of the Commissioner by a member of the Commissioner’s team, that being the Review, Compliance & Governance Officer. Oversight when required is provided by a member of the Commissioner’s management team or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as part of his role as monitoring officer.

Satisfaction

All complaint reviews are undertaken in accordance with legislation and statutory guidance. A review looks at whether the outcome of the complaint was reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances. Neither the legislation or guidance enables a review to reinvestigate a complaint or the incident leading to the complaint being made. Therefore, some complainants will inevitably not receive the outcome they may have wished.