The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) Youth Panel 2021 report
In November 2021, the IOPC Youth Panel published its 2021 report focusing on the perceptions which young people in England and Wales have around policing and the police complaints system. The report highlights, through the voices of young people, the continued perceptions that many young people have of the police including; that there is lack of trust and understanding by police, a lack of accountability and excessive use of force and escalation. The Youth Panel makes a number of recommendations to address these issues.
Details
The IPCC’s 2014 ‘survey into public confidence in the complaints system on police conduct’ showed that due to the lack of confidence in the complaints system into police conduct, young people were less likely to make a complaint about the police than older people. The survey further indicated that young people from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in particular had the least confidence in the police complaints system. The IOPC Youth Panel was established as a response to this challenge of a lack of confidence by young people in the police complaints system.
The IOPC Youth Panel is a panel of young people aged between 16 to 25 from diverse communities in England and Wales. More than 50% of the members of the panel come from BAME communities. The IOPC Youth Panel was established in order to inform and influence the work of the IOPC, the idea being that in conducting its work, the IOPC should take into consideration, and benefit from the views and perceptions of young people from diverse communities in England and Wales.
How the IOPC Youth Panel gathered its information
The findings of the Youth Panel are informed by conversations held between March and May 2021 with over 125 young people across England and Wales in 2021.
The findings
The findings in the 2021 IOPC Youth Panel report are split into five themes, which are summarised below:
Theme one: Judgement and lack of understanding
The report found that many young people felt that the police do not understand their needs. Some participants highlighted the police’s lack of understanding of hidden disabilities, neurodiversity and mental health issues. Some participants specifically highlighted issues around Autism and ADHD. One of the participants recounted this experience with the police:
‘I’ve got ADHD and autism and I’ve had problems with my mental health… The police have restrained me and I’ve told them not to do that because I have an illness, and they’ve looked at me as if that’s an excuse they always hear.’
The report found that many young people see the police as judgemental and too quick to act. The participants commented that officers can use assumptions and stereotypes to form quick judgements about young people, without taking the time to listen and understand exactly what is going on with them.
Theme two: Discrimination and marginalised groups
The report found that young people experienced various forms of discrimination from police. This includes discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race and age. The participants indicated that the ‘male culture of policing’ is a key problem. Some young women felt that that they were dismissed by police officers purely on the basis of their gender.
Furthermore, the report found that young people in general, and those from BAME communities in particular, feel that they are on the receiving end of stigma, suspicion and unwarranted negative attention from police. The report also noted that there is a perception that the police workforce is still predominantly White, which has a negative impact on trust and confidence from young people from BAME communities.
Theme three: Excessive force and escalation
The report found that many young people associate the police with excessive force and violence. Some participants specifically mentioned the use of handcuffs during searches or arrests as one of the means by which excessive force is sometimes applied by police. The report noted that this perception of a violent police force is widespread, and is shared by young people across diverse areas and communities.
Participants said that police often escalate situations through ‘overbearing and unnecessary responses, miscommunication, and misunderstanding’. One of the Youth Panel participants, Mark, is quoted as having said:
‘Young people and the police are trapped in a cycle of escalation, fear and mistrust. Officers’ attempts to diffuse situations often come across to young people as aggressive. When this is met with aggression in return, the risks loom larger. In the worst cases, excessive force follows. In all cases, the seeds of mistrust and resentment are set.’
Theme four: Trust and accountability
Another finding in the report is that young people generally don’t have faith that police officers are held accountable. There is a perception that the police believe they are above the law and that they can get away with misconduct.
Some young people were concerned in particular about the stop and search powers under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Concerns were also raised about their level of discretion police have as to when they have to have their body worn cameras switched on when interacting with members of the public. One young person said:
‘I’ve had police turning off the body cam and feeling like I’m being bullied. Once they go to a reported crime, they need to keep the camera on from the second they get there to the end.’
Theme five: Views on the complaints system
Most young people that the Youth Panel engaged with thought it was important to make a complaint if they had been mistreated by the police, but they were not confident that there is a safe space to make such a complaint.
The IOPC Youth Panel found that there is still very low awareness of the IOPC and the complaints system among young people in all areas and communities. Participants in the IOPC Youth Panel emphasised that there is a need to raise awareness of the police complaints system amongst young people. They also commented that this should be made clear at every stage of the justice system.
The key recommendations
The IOPC Youth Panel’s key recommendation are split into (three) areas, which can be summarised as follows:
Recommendations for building confidence in the complaints system
- Increasing Awareness: the report sets out a number of suggestions around how awareness around the police complaints system can be increased, including targeting trusted professionals that work with young people (such as youth workers and teachers) to help increase awareness.
- Increasing Accessibility: the development of solutions such as an online chat service, an advocacy helpline and an option to complain anonymously in order to increase accessibility.
- Publicising Outcomes: making public and more transparent the work of the IOPC. This should include, amongst other things, publicising IOPC investigations and their outcomes.
Recommendations for the future of the IOPC Youth Panel
- Decision-making: that the IOPC Youth Panel having regular access to IOPC Boards to ensure that it is consulted on key decisions.
- People & diversity: facilitating difficult conversations with IOPC staff about race, and expanding the current reverse mentoring scheme. These initiatives can then later be proposed for police.
- Engagement with you people: the report makes suggestions of ways to reach out to as many young people as possible.
- Digital engagement: using social media to raise awareness of the IOPC and the complaints system.
Recommendations for building trust in the police
- Police structures and ways of working: suggestions include diversifying the police and creating a culture where people of colour and women can join, and ensuring that domestic violence calls are responded to with at least one female officer.
- Police engagement with young people: increasing engagement between police and young people, and creating more opportunities for young people to input on policing.
- Police training: suggestions include specific awareness of: Autism, ADHD, neurodiversity, LGBTQ+, mental health & trauma.
Commentary
The IOPC Youth Panel’s 2021 report highlights the cracks that urgently need to be mended in the interactions between police and young people. It is sobering how the report quotes the contributions made by young people during the peer engagements, in their own words and from their lived experiences.
There is the danger that the IOPC Youth Panel could be viewed by some as a negative or anti-police forum. This should not be the case. The contribution of the IOPC Youth Panel into the work of the IOPC should be viewed as a positive and necessary contribution in ensuring that police power is used in a fair and responsible way. It is in all our interest to have a police complaints system that is credible and trusted by members of the public, including young people.
The findings and key recommendations of the Youth Panel should be taken seriously by the IOPC so that they ultimately can translate into tangible reforms. Implementing the key recommendations of the IOPC Youth Panel report will go a long way in ensuring that we have a police complaints system that works for the all the young people of England and Wales, and those young people from BAME communities in particular.
Written by
Ntando Siswana, Associate, Paul Hastings LLP