Wiltshire police commissioner - 'no confidence' in IOPC

Mr Wilkinson said the IOPC takes too long to investigate misconduct

A police commissioner is calling for the Home Secretary to improve the way police are held to account.

Wiltshire's police commissioner Philip Wilkinson said the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) takes too long to investigate misconduct.

"I have no confidence that they are doing it to the standard that the residents of this country would expect them to do," he said.

The IOPC said the comments "do not reflect the general picture".

'Extremely serious'

Mr Wilkinson referred to the investigation into how Wiltshire Police handled the murder of Swindon woman Becky Godden-Edwards to illustrate his comments.

The investigation was completed more than five years after Ms Godden-Edwards' mother made the original complaint.

"This is an area I believe the Home Secretary or the Ministry of Justice has to look at, the competency of the IOPC to manage those serious cases of misconduct," he said.

"Without that I cannot have confidence that we are managing those cases."

Mr Wilkinson added he is planning to speak to the Home Secretary.

Wiltshire Police is examining 13 cases of alleged gross misconduct at the moment.

"I think it is extremely serious and important that we increase the capacity of the IOPC to do their job properly," he said.

The force confirmed there are currently 13 cases of alleged gross misconduct being looked into.

The IOPC told the BBC: "We complete 90% of our core investigations within 12 months.

"Since becoming the IOPC in 2018 we have made significant achievements in improving the timeliness of investigations and, where delays occur, many are outside of our control."

Referring to the case of Becky Godden-Edwards, the IPOC said: "The police investigation spanned several years and we regret the length of time the overall process took in this exceptional case."