Senior Investigator

John joined us as a Senior Investigator in 2004. He previously worked as a Detective Superintendent in Cambridgeshire.

For me, working here is not just a job; it’s much more important than that. I suppose you could call it a vocation, because it’s something you can believe in and something that can give you real satisfaction.

I was fortunate enough to be here from the start, helping to see through the IPCC’s very first investigations. As you can imagine, that was a challenging and exciting time because everything was completely new. And looking back, I’m proud of how far we’ve come and what we’ve achieved together.

Nobody was happy with the previous system for investigating complaints against the police – least of all the police themselves, who were calling for the creation of a totally independent and credible organisation for years. Now we’re in a position where we can build the trust and respect of all parties, and that’s good news for everyone involved.

My role is to lead the investigations teams that cover London and the South East. At the moment we’re handling four major investigations, including a death in custody, a case of alleged racial discrimination and also the events surrounding the pro-foxhunting demonstration in Parliament Square in 2004. This last case is particularly complex and challenging: whereas we will typically deal with one or two complainants, here we have around 150.

My police background is not unusual among senior-level IPCC people at the moment, but that will change as the organisation matures. There’s a need for people with proven major investigation skills and the obvious source for these people is the police force. The ultimate aim, however, is to grow our own talent by attracting people from a wide diversity of backgrounds, which is why we place such an emphasis on training and career development.

It’s interesting to see how quickly people develop an expert knowledge of the police, their procedures and the law. Everyone brings a different perspective and is capable of challenging the way things are done or seen, which is exactly how it should be. It’s a completely different culture from the police which is all about rank and procedure; here we’re much more focused on asking questions and taking fresh approaches.

I feel lucky to have joined the IPCC because it’s given me the chance to start a whole new career within a very positive, and very important organisation.