Holding the Chief Constable to Account

The PCC has the responsibility of both appointing the Chief Constable and holding them to account during their tenure.

One way in which the PCC does this is through capturing learning from complaints and measuring complainant satisfaction.

Monitoring PSD performance

The PCC holds PSD to account in a number of different ways. These include:

• Quarterly meetings between the Heads of PSD and the Police and Crime Commissioner.
  • These meetings are an opportunity for the PCC to directly scrutinize the workings of PSD.

• Bi-annual dip-sampling sessions of complaints handled by PSD.
  • The PCC, Members of the Board and members of staff at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner meet twice a year to evaluate how Professional Standards Department respond to complaints. Click here for more information.

• Full time oversight led by a Complaints Reviews Manager.
  • The Complaints Reviews Manager (CRM) is responsible for managing reviews into the handling of complaints by PSD.
  • Recommendations made in complaints which are found to not be handled reasonably and proportionately are monitored closely.
  • Quarterly meetings are held between the CRM and PSD to discuss progress in acting on recommendations and rectify issues of oversight present throughout the quarter.

• Annual report on Professional Standards Department (PSD).
  • The PCC requests an annual report at the Strategic Policing and Crime Board focussed on Professional Standards. This report details performance metrics which the Head of PSD is scrutinized on by members of the Board.
  • This report includes an outline of:
    • PSD composition and resourcing
    • Themes and trends in complaints
    • Key statistics, such as volume, timeliness and referrals
    • Addressing matters arising, such as the use of Body Worn Video
    • Misconduct
    • Vetting
    • Counter corruption work
  • All previous reports relating to PSD can be found here:

12 Month Investigation Notifications

• As per the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2020, West Midlands Police are required to notify the PCC of misconduct investigations that are taking 12 months or longer to finalise. Below is a breakdown of the number of notifications received in each financial year relating to Professional Standards Department investigations taking 12 months or longer:

Progress against IOPC and/or HMICFRS recommendations

• There are currently no outstanding historic HMICFRS or IOPC actions relating to complaint handling. Outstanding matters have been progressed satisfactorily and signed off.