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File on 4: Police Complaints: A Crisis of Confidence

Police Complaints: A Crisis of Confidence

BBC Radio 4 - File on 4, Police Complaints: A Crisis of Confidence

How complaints against police forces in England and Wales are regularly dismissed.

Can police be trusted to investigate themselves? File on 4 hears how complaints are regularly dismissed.

Britain’s biggest police force says there are hundreds of rogue officers amongst its ranks. It’s now The Met’s job to root them out, with dozens of staff diverted away from organised crime and counter-terrorism units to work in its professional standards department. But can the police be trusted to investigate themselves? 

File on 4 can reveal how an officer working for a force outside of London, who had multiple rape allegations against him, was given a job in the professional standards department, investigating complaints made against colleagues. We’ve discovered how complaints to police forces across England and Wales are being regularly dismissed, with many people resorting to legal action to get accountability and winning damages from the police in court. 

File on 4 also reveals how recent reforms to the complaints process have done little to improve accountability and restore public confidence.

Reporter: Hayley Mortimer
Producer: Tom Wall
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Carl Johnston

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