Next steps

Made a Complaint – what next?

Suffolk Police will review your complaint and decide if it is one that should be recorded as an official complaint against a person serving with the police, under the terms of the Police Reform Act 2002. If we do not record it, you can appeal to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

If it is recorded, with your agreement, we will try to resolve it by local resolution with an appropriate explanation or apology in timescales that we have agreed with you. In many cases this will enable us to respond to you in a timely manner and provide a prompt explanation to you. This is a more proportionate and effective way of resolving your complaint.

More serious complaints or instances where you are not satisfied with a local resolution must be subject to a more formal investigation by a senior police officer or member of police staff. This process involves a formal investigation into the conduct of the police officer or member of police staff and will take longer, and use formal disciplinary processes. We will keep you informed of progress during the investigation and send you our findings in writing.

The force must notify the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) about the most serious complaints as soon as they are recorded. In some cases the IPCC will decide that the complaint should be supervised by them, either using investigators from this, or another Force or may independently investigate the matter themselves. You will be notified of their decision.

After the investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decides whether any criminal charges will be brought against any police officer/member of staff as a result of the complaint. The Deputy Chief Constable will determine whether there has been a breach of the Police Code of Conduct and whether any officer should face misconduct charges. In the case of a member of staff it will be determined if they their actions are such that they should be dealt with under internal disciplinary procedures.

You will be informed if there will be a misconduct or discipline hearing. You are likely to be asked to attend as a witness if the hearing is about an officer. Alternatively, it may be that the officer/member of staff will be subject to less formal misconduct action such as receiving advice or a written warning, or perhaps it will be determined that no action should be taken.

If there are no misconduct charges, you will receive a letter explaining the outcome, and a summary of the investigation. If you are not satisfied with the result or if you think that the way your complaint was locally resolved was not fair, you can appeal to the IPCC.

We will learn from your complaint and review working practices accordingly. We will publish details of complaint trends publicly and report in detail to the Police Authority and the IPCC.

What if I don't want to co-operate with an investigation?

You should remember that you are a vital witness to any investigation and that if you fail to co-operate, it could mean that it will not be possible to fully investigate your complaint. The Constabulary will then seek a dispensation from the IPCC from investigating further.

Making a complaint does not affect your right to take the police to court and sue for damages. For advice on taking civil action you should contact a solicitor.