FOI 0749-2023/24 Complaint Investigations

Request
I am writing under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information concerning the types of data and records that North Yorkshire Police typically hold in respect of an audit trail of a complaint investigated under the police complaints system.

Relatedly, statutory guidance from the IOPC states:

“The person handling a matter must be able to demonstrate what has been done, including what decisions have been made and why. This includes where a decision has been made not to do something. They should be able to demonstrate that they took steps to understand the matter and the views of any complainant or interested person where appropriate.

Any documents or evidence seen or created should be collated and preserved. The IOPC expects this audit trail to be available in relation to every matter, regardless of the complexity. Such information will assist if the handling of a complaint is subject to a review, and must be provided to the relevant review body.” 

Specifically, I would like to know:

Q1. What types of identification information are recorded, including details of officers and complainants?

Q2. How are actions taken during the investigation documented and stored?

Q3. What formats are used to capture the rationale behind decisions made during the investigation?

Q4. What records are kept regarding communications related to the complaint, both internal and external?

Q5. How is evidence logged, stored, and tracked during the course of an investigation?

Q6. Are interactions with external agencies or other departments recorded, and if so, how?

Q7. How are the outcomes and resolutions of complaint investigations documented?

Q8. Are there any protocols in place for subsequent reviews or audits of complaint investigations?

Q9. How are supporting documents, such as legal documents or external reports, stored and linked to the complaint investigation?

Q10. What measures are in place to ensure the security, accessibility, and longevity of these audit trails?

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police. 

Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

Q1 – Q7 & Q9. North Yorkshire Police use a programme called Centurion for all complaint cases. All documents relating to a case are stored on this programme. This includes details of the complaint, the people involved including the complainant and staff members, communications such as emails, calls, and messages, any interactions between external agencies or other departments as well as actions taken, outcomes and resolutions of the complaint. A severity assessment form is used to record North Yorkshire Police’s assessment and rationale for the decisions made during an investigation, this is also completed on Centurion. In addition to using Centurion to log, store and track evidence, the Professional Standards Department store any video and/ or Body Worn Video relating to the investigation.

Q8. The information you have requested is published on the UK Government website under the following link
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/2

I have therefore decided to exempt providing you with a response to Q8 pursuant to Section 21 Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

Q10. North Yorkshire Police work inline with the force retention periods. Only authorised staff are able to access complaints and conduct matters recorded on Centurion.

Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means
Section 21 is an absolute class based exemption and I am not required to consider the harm or public interest when applying this exemption.

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response to your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.