Police discipline hearings to be held in public

LONDON, Jan 3: Disciplinary hearings for police officers accused of serious neglect or incompetence will be heard in public for the first time, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said today.

The police watchdog said it would use new powers to ensure cases involving officers accused of serious failings, such as those that led to death or serious injury, could be opened to victims, their relatives and the media.

Unlike for doctors or members of the armed forces, where serious disciplinary cases are open to the public, all hearings for police officers are currently conducted in private.

The decision follows a number of cases where police action has been criticised and issues of public interest were not thoroughly dealt with in criminal trials or inquests.

''It's about maintaining public confidence in the system,'' an IPCC spokesman said.

The power has been available to the IPCC since 2004. However, details of the reforms were only agreed recently after years of consultation.

Nick Hardwick, chairman of the IPCC, said the public hearings would not be used on a regular basis.

''It's an exceptional power,'' he told the Times newspaper. ''We are not saying as a matter of course the police are going to find themselves in public.'' No case has yet been earmarked for a public hearing, but Hardwick told the Times that the death of Christopher Alder was the type of case that could be opened to the public.

Alder, a black ex-soldier, choked to death on the floor of a police custody suite in Hull in April 1998 while officers ignored him.

Five police officers were acquitted of manslaughter and then cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal disciplinary hearing.

However an IPCC investigation heavily criticised these hearings and ruled the officers were guilty of serious failings and ''unwitting racism''.

Police forces have always opposed public hearings fearing that officers could be targeted even if they were cleared of any wrongdoing. But police chiefs have been accused of allowing officers escape punishment by allowing them to retire early.

Under the reforms, a public hearing would take place after all criminal charges had been ruled out and could result in an officer being fined, reduced in rank or sacked.

The Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents junior officers and police constables, said it was against the IPCC plans.

''Provided the hearing is held in an appropriate manner, allowing the admittance of the public will add nothing to the proceedings,'' Alan Gordon, the Federation's vice-chairman, told the Times.

REUTERS