Complaints and commendations

The Professional Standards Directorate (PSD) is responsible for the investigation of all public complaints, whether they are made about Police Officers, Police Staff or Special Constables.

In addition, they investigate the more serious allegations of misconduct involving police officers and special constables. And as well as dealing with complaints, the PSD is also able to accept and pass on commendations.

Commendations

If you would like to commend an officer for their conduct whilst on duty you can contact our Professional Standards Directorate by:

Complaints

PSD provide the link between North Yorkshire Police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and ensure that any serious matters are referred to the IPCC as soon as possible.

You can make a complaint if:

  • the misconduct you allege has been directed at you,
  • you have been adversely affected by the alleged misconduct even if it was not directed at you, or
  • you have witnessed alleged misconduct.

In addition, you can make a complaint if you are acting on behalf of any of the above and you have been given written permission by them.

How to make a complaint

There are a number of ways you can make a complaint:

  • By email,
  • By telephone, 101,
  • By fax, 01609 789 133,
  • By post, to Professional Standards Directorate, North Yorkshire Police, Newby Wiske, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL7 9HA,
  • In person, at any police station,
  • To the Independent Police Complaints Commission. (Please note, the IPCC encourages the reporting of complaints direct to the force itself. In the majority of cases the IPCC will seek your authority to return a complaint to the force concerned.).

When making your complaint you should include information such as:

  • What happened
  • When it happened
  • Who was involved
  • What was said or done
  • Were there any witnesses
  • Was there any damage or injury caused

This will enable your complaint to be dealt with more efficiently. Please also include your full name, date of birth and full address.

What will happen to your complaint?

Less serious complaints

If you would be satisfied with an explanation or an apology where appropriate the police may be able to resolve your complaint in a less formal way by means of the Local Resolution process.

Serious complaints

If an informal approach is not acceptable to you, or if the complaint raises certain more serious allegations, it must be fully investigated by a senior police officer. Police forces must notify the most serious complaints to the Independent Police Complaints Commission as soon as they are recorded. The Commission must, by law, supervise certain investigations and, in others, they may choose to supervise.

Supervised cases

The Independent Police Complaints Commission approves the appointment of the investigating officers, decides how the inquiry should be carried out, reads all the statements and sees all the evidence. The final report comes to the Commission which states whether or not it is satisfied with the original investigation.

Unsupervised cases

Where the IPCC do not supervise, the police force will appoint an officer to investigate the complaint.

What to do if you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint

If you are not happy with the result of your complaint, you may be able to appeal to the IPCC. If any of the below applies to how your complaint was handled you have the right to appeal:

  • Your complaint has not been recorded by us
  • We have not made a decision whether to record your complaint
  • We have not informed you of our decision not to record your complaint
  • You believe that Local Resolution procedures have not been carried out properly or in the way you agreed
  • You disagree with the action we propose to take as a result of the investigation
  • You have not been provided with adequate information about the findings of the investigation
  • You are not satisfied with the outcome of the police investigation

Throughout the procedure, you can be assured that North Yorkshire Police will continue to work towards the Government's Charter Mark Standard.