Information obtained by the Green Party shows the IPCA has investigated less than ten percent of the 3007 cases it accepted for investigation in the past four years, and instead sent more than 90 percent of those cases back to the police to investigate themselves..
Answers to Green Party Parliamentary Questions show that only 243 cases accepted for investigation have actually been investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Authority over the past four years, the remaining 2764 sent back to the police to investigate itself.
“By starving the IPCA of funding, the Government has put the Police in the position of having to investigate complaints against themselves,” said Green Party justice spokesperson David Clendon.
“It completely defeats the point of a having an independent watchdog.
“If the IPCA is so poorly funded it can’t do its job, then the integrity of the police force is compromised along with, potentially, the public’s trust and confidence in the police.
“The IPCA clearly told a Select Committee recently that if it had enough money it would be able to investigate more cases.
“This followed the Minister being told in 2014 that that the IPCA needed more funding to do its job. The Minister must immediately commit to ensuring there is adequate funding so those who make complaints against the police can be satisfied they’ll be investigated fairly and independently,” Mr Clendon said.
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