Police and Crime Commissioners are required to compile and maintain lists of independent people to sit on police misconduct panels.
This is in line with government policy and the regulations, to the effect that there should be an independent person on each panel which hears police misconduct cases.
In the past, the OPCC has drawn on the expertise of members of the Audit Committee to, in addition to their role on the audit committee, act as Independent Members of Police Misconduct Panels.
The main role of independent members will be to provide an impartial voice on misconduct panels and to assist panels in coming to fair and evidence-based judgements about a police officer’s conduct and deciding on an appropriate sanction.
All the members of the Audit Committee have confirmed that they will act in the capacity of Independent Members of Police Misconduct Panels.