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About The Office
Corporate Governance
The Police Ombudsman is appointed by Her Majesty, as a named person for a fixed term of seven years. The status of this authority is that of corporation sole. The Police Ombudsman is accountable to Parliament, through the Secretary of State.
The status of the Office of the Police Ombudsman is that of a non-departmental public body (NDPB) administrated through the Northern Ireland Office. The Management Statement and Financial Memorandum is a document which is designed to facilitate working relationships between the Office and the Northern Ireland Office based on an agreed understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities. It sets out the Office’s overall aim, the rules and guidelines relevant to the exercise of the Office’s functions, duties and powers, the condition under which any public funds are paid to the Office and how the Office is to be held to account for its performance.
A Code of Ethics lays down standards of conduct for all Police Ombudsman staff.
What does the Police Ombudsman do?
We provide an independent, impartial police complaints system for the people and police under the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 and 2000. You do not have to pay to complain to us.- We deal with complaints from people about how police officers do their jobs. Although the word 'police' is in our title, it is there simply to identify the people we investigate. We are entirely independent of the police.
- We will investigate complaints about how the police behave when they are doing their job. Complaints may involve allegations of criminal behaviour by a police officer, or allegations that a police officer broke the police code of conduct.
- When we receive your complaint, we will consider it and decide how to deal with it.
- Even if you have not made a complaint, we can investigate a matter if we have reason to think that a police officer may have committed a criminal offence or broken the police code of conduct. We can also investigate a matter if the Secretary of State, the Chief Constable or the Policing Board asks us to.
- We also monitor complaints against the police and check whether the complaints follow any trends or patterns.
The Police Ombudsman also reports on his work
- The Police Ombudsman produces an Annual Report which refers to the complaints he has dealt with during the previous year.
- The Police Ombudsman can write a report on anything he thinks the Secretary of State should know about, in the public interest.
- The Police Ombudsman will carry out any necessary research or report on any matter as asked by the Secretary of State.
- The Police Ombudsman will carry out any necessary research or report on any matter as asked by the Secretary of State.
- The Police Ombudsman will put before Parliament and publish any report to the Secretary of State.
- The Police Ombudsman will send a copy of his reports to the Chief Constable and to the Policing Board.
- The Police Ombudsman will supply the Policing Board with any statistics he believes it should receive.
What the Police Ombudsman cannot do
- Investigate an officer's conduct that has already led to criminal or disciplinary action, unless there is new evidence that was not available at the time of the original investigation.
- Investigate complaints that are 'out of time' (see step 2 on page 'how to complain).
- Investigate complaints about an off-duty officer, unless the fact that he or she is a police officer is relevant to the complaint.
- Investigate complaints about traffic wardens or other civilian employees of the police.
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