New police chief to restore public confidence

Damian Kitchen said he had a "long track record" in dealing with serious cases

The new chief officer at Guernsey Police has said he will "do everything" to restore public confidence that any complaint against his force will be taken seriously.

Damian Kitchen, who started the role in early November, made the comments while also suggesting he would look into further changes to the current complaints system.

The comments also came after the Committee for Home Affairs (CHA) already made changes to the police complaints law on the island.

Discussing public confidence, he said: "I will do everything to make sure the public have full confidence that if they report anything like that, I will take it as the chief of the force absolutely seriously."

The new force boss, who joined the force from Lancashire Constabulary has 29 years experience in UK policing, which he said had given him a "long track record" in dealing with serious cases.

He added: "If anyone has the wrong values or is using force in an inappropriate way, for example, in my force it has no place."

According to CHA, the new amendment, brought about in August, now filters each complaint to avoid "repetitious, vexatious, or transparently unfounded complaints undermining the system".

Deputy Rob Prow, CHA president, said "gaps in the legislation" had been abused by repeated complaints "flooding the system".

'Public trust'

But Mr Kitchen said the current law meant Guernsey Police was not allowed to complete any "fact finding" once a complaint is made.

This meant officers were immediately given a misconduct form.

"So even without any basic fact finding, you could find yourself in a position to suspend an officer based on one allegation or put them on alternative duties which takes them away from frontline policing," he said.

"The public and the politicians in Guernsey have to put their trust in me as head of the force and my values and my leadership to do the right thing."