§ Mr. SkinnerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inquiries instituted by his Department of a police force of one jurisdiction into the activities of a police force of another jurisdiction have found evidence of misconduct in the last 10 years.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe Home Office has no power to institute inquiries of one police force by another into allegations of misconduct. The investigation of such allegations is a matter for the chief officer of the force concerned, subject to the provisions of part IX of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 where a complaint is made by a member of the public.
Prior to the introduction of the 1984 Act, section 49 of the Police Act 1964 provided for the Secretary of State to direct a chief officer to request an officer from another force to conduct a complaints investigation. Figures relating to the number of occasions when this power was exercised, and the number of investigations which revealed evidence of misconduct, are not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.