GUERNSEY’S new Police Complaints Commission will follow the national model when investigating allegations against officers, it has been confirmed.

Home Department chief officer Paul Whitfield said the commission, due to start work in July if the States agrees to it at the June meeting, would structure investigations against the police in a similar way to that of the UK’s Independent Police Complaints Commission.

‘The disciplinary procedures that will be followed locally mirror the UK’s, with the emphasis that less serious matters should be dealt with quickly and effectively and to the complainant’s satisfaction. For more serious issues there is independent oversight and, where appropriate, an independent investigator is appointed,’ he said.

‘The commission’s role is slightly different to that of the IPCC in the UK, which employs its own officers to investigate complaints. It was not considered feasible to do this locally and not possible, due to the IPCC’s own workload and financial considerations, for the IPCC to cover Bailiwick matters’.

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