MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATION

If the allegations made against you relate only to issues of misconduct, rather than alleged criminal offences, the standard of proof in the case will be "on the balance of probabilities" (i.e. that it is more likely the complained about behaviour happened than it did not).

If you are required to attend a misconduct interview, the Police Ombudsman Investigating Officer will liaise with the PSNI's Operational Planning Office, and they will send you notification of the scheduled interview date.

As you are deemed to be on duty when attending for interview it follows that if you fail to attend, without giving reasons, this may constitute absence without leave and may, in itself, be viewed as a further breach of the Code of Ethics.

You are entitled to have a 'friend' or Police Federation representative present during a misconduct interview. Your solicitor is not entitled as of right to be present, although the interviewer may permit him or her to attend.

Your 'friend' or Federation Representative must be a member of a UK police force, and must not be an interested party in the circumstances of the complaint.

Misconduct sanctions

Should the evidence of the case show that you have committed a misconduct offence, there are a variety of potential sanctions which the Police Ombudsman may recommend (see below).

More serious misconduct offences may be dealt with through a formal disciplinary process, involving a court-type misconduct tribunal hearing.

In cases involving less serious breaches, the Police Ombudsman may recommend informal disciplinary action.

Disciplinary recommendations are sent to the PSNI's Professional Standards Department (PSD), who then consider whether the recommended sanction is justified by the evidence of the case.

Once the case has been considered by PSD, any resulting disciplinary action will be taken by the PSNI.

However, if the Police Ombudsman and the Chief Constable disagree whether you should be disciplined, the Police Ombudsman can direct that a misconduct hearing take place.

Formal misconduct hearing

A formal misconduct hearing will be heard before a Chairman, a police officer of appropriate rank (usually a Superintendent or Assistant Chief Constable) and another person who is not a serving police officer.

The police officers will be appointed by the Chief Constable. The other non-police member of the tribunal will either be a legal practitioner or will be selected from a list of persons eligible to sit on an employment tribunal.

Should you be ordered to attend a tribunal, you may wish to seek advice and support from the Police Federation as you may be eligible for legal representation or other assistance.

If the tribunal ultimately finds that there has been a failure to meet standards, any of the following sanctions may be imposed, depending on the seriousness of the offence, and any mitigation put forward on your behalf:

• Dismissal - effective immediately
• Requirement to resign - taking effect one month from the date of the decision
• Reduction in rank - effective immediately and the sanction will remain on the police officer's personal record for a period of 5 years

(If any of the above sanctions may apply the police officer must be offered legal assistance at the hearing)

• Reduction in pay - effective immediately for a period not exceeding 12 months and the sanction will remain on the police officer's personal record for a period of 5 years
• Fine - of not more than 13 days' pay recoverable over a minimum of 13 weeks and the sanction will remain on the officer's personal record for a period of 3 years
• Reprimand - which will be recorded in the officer's personal record for a period of 3 years
• Caution - which will not be recorded on the police officer's personal record
• No sanction

Informal disciplinary sanctions

Informal disciplinary recommendations are much more common than recommendations for formal misconduct hearings.

Informal misconduct sanctions can be split into two categories.

1. Advice and guidance and / or training. This sanction is intended for use at the lowest level of misconduct. It is not recorded on the police officer's personal record and cannot be refused by the police officer receiving it.
2. A Superintendent's Written Warning. This sanction should only be recommended when the evidence of conduct is sufficiently serious to warrant a formal disciplinary hearing, but mitigating factors exist which the Investigation Officer believes justify the reduction to an informal sanction. As this sanction is recorded on an officer's personal record, he/she can refuse to accept a Superintendent's Written Warning and may opt to face a disciplinary hearing. A possible sanction at the disciplinary hearing is a caution which would not be recorded on the personal record.

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