IPCC guidelines & papers

IPCC Guidance on communicating with the media and the public.
Corruption in the Police Service in England and Wales (September 2011)
This report was commissioned by the Home Secretary and laid before the house in September 2011. A second report will be published later this year.
IPCC position statement on risk in police decision-making and accountability in operational policing (July 2011)
A position statement on the IPCC's approach to risk and accountability in policing, including relevant case studies.
Holding hearings in public (June 2011)
Guidance document to assist Commissioners in the exercise of their discretion to direct the holding of police misconduct hearings in public.
Guardianship Strategy (May 2011)
This document sets out the guardianship work that we undertake across the Commission It ensures that the work is well coordinated and focuses on agreed strategic priorities.

This strategy sets out how we will effectively discharge our guardianship responsibilities and is divided into three sections:
Section 1: The IPCC’s Guardianship Role – an outline of the core guardianship activities we undertake to deliver the four elements of guardianship.
Section 2: Priority Issues and Strategic Guardianship Projects – the specific priority issues that Commission has agreed will guide our work and the allocation of resources and the strategic guardianship projects we will deliver.
Section 3: Delivering Guardianship – an outline of how guardianship activities will be delivered across the IPCC.
Access Strategy (May 2011)
This document sets out our work to provide a signposting service for complainants, ensuring they reach the part of the organisation that can help them most.
IPCC Translation and Interpretation Policy (September 2011)
This document sets out the IPCC’s policy on provision of translated materials and use of interpretation services.
IPCC investigators guidance on pre-interview disclosure (November 2009)
The principles and guidance on pre-interview disclosure.
Operational model
It is important when responding to referrals from the police service and those other agencies for which the IPCC has responsibility that we are able to demonstrate and discharge our independence. This is particularly acute in circumstances where there may be considerations relating to Human Rights legislation and case law when there may be potential breaches of Article 2, the right to life. To enable the IPCC to do that our staff need to be clear about the development of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) case law and of police practices in particular when there has been the police use of firearms. There is also a requirement for the police service to understand the nature of our response to such referrals and our expectations of them during the early stages prior to the attendance of IPCC Investigators.

With this in mind we have for sometime been developing an Operational Model setting out the nature of the IPCC response, outlining our expectations of those making the referral and providing IPCC Investigators with information reflecting ECHR and policing practice developments. The development of that document has now been concluded, it has been circulated widely to the police service and internally within the IPCC. The document will form an integral part of the IPCC Operations Manual and will be linked to the amended Statutory Guidance due for release later this year. In support of the principle of openness the document is available on our external website for the wider consumption of our stakeholders.
Making Information Available (June 2011)
This offers guidance on a variety of issues concerning provision by the IPCC of case-related information or documents. It is intended to help members of staff when considering whether to disclose a document or information by setting out some of the basic considerations. However, each case must be judged on its merits and in some cases there will be good reason to depart from this guidance. It is not therefore a definitive statement of what should be disclosed in any particular case.
Casework Manual
In this section you will find the IPCC Casework Manuals published in line with our commitment to openness. The Casework Manuals provide guidance to our Casework Managers who are responsible for handling important aspects of the complaints procedures. Casework Managers are expected to apply the guidelines in the manuals. The guidance cannot cover every eventuality and there may be cases when the circumstances of a case justify decisions or actions outside of the guidelines.

Changes to our practices and procedures will be updated in the manuals on a regular basis.