Police Authorities - governance and disciplinary issues

As public bodies regulating police forces, Police Authorities are subject to intense scrutiny. The media and general public take great interest in the behaviour and accountability of both police officers and those who monitor them. Their role investigating allegations of misconduct or complaints against senior police officers frequently raise extremely high profile issues.

Alongside this public scrutiny, Police Authorities are constantly presented with complex legal and governance issues and this is where we can help.

You need legal advisers who understand the distinctive and multifaceted role of Police Authorities. This includes having to work within a tripartite governance structure whilst dealing with the issues arising from local government status.

Our service

Our experienced regulatory team has worked with Police Authorities for many years, and is familiar with the context within which you operate - a number of our team have been on long-term secondment at a Police Authority which gives them an enhanced appreciation of the work and role of a Police Authority. As specialist public and regulatory lawyers our team has an in-depth understanding of the statutory powers and obligations placed on Police Authorities.

Our team combines excellence in public law, professional conduct and discipline with a down-to-earth and friendly nature, working closely with Police Authorities to provide practical solutions.

Our experience

We can provide assistance on interpreting an Authority’s statutory duties in relation to oversight of their police force. In particular we have significant experience of providing Police Authorities and their Executive team with specialist advice on complaints, conduct and discipline matters, pension forfeiture, employment law and equality and diversity and human rights. We also assist on Freedom of Information Act issues.

We advise and train Police Authorities on Code of Conduct procedures, dip sampling and the investigation of complaints or allegations of misconduct against both police officers and authority members.

We provide training to police authority staff and members which can be devised with exact needs in mind, on topics including legal processes, decision making, questioning techniques, information law, and equality and diversity issues.

As regulatory lawyers we also advise on Police Appeal Tribunals and the work of sub-committees with responsibility for considering complaints and misconduct allegations.