2010 Use of mediation in complaints about police
This page contains an outline of this research, and a summary of the key findings. Details of how to find the full report can be found at the bottom of the page.
Title
Pilot Mediation Project Report, September 2008 - March 2009, Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
Who did it?
The report was produced by the office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
What is it about?
The report describes the findings of a pilot mediation project for complaints about police services in Northern Ireland.
The Police Ombudsman (NI) is allowed under its governing legislation to offer mediation at the conclusion of its investigation, but it has no powers to offer mediation at the start of the process, upon receipt of a complaint. In 2005 the then ombudsman recommended a legislative change that would allow for this. Her recommendation was followed by an 18-month consultation on possible mediation models, which received a positive response overall.
One reason for the pilot was to address concerns that had been raised in satisfaction surveys regarding the informal resolution process used by the ombudsman. The informal resolution process resolves approximately 10% of the complaints received each year by the ombudsman.
A mediation pilot was agreed and in 2008 the pilot was launched, involving one of the larger policing districts in Northern Ireland, covering North and West Belfast. This area generated about 13% of complaints to the ombudsman in 2007-08.
The pilot ran from September 2008 to March 2009. The intention was to offer mediation in cases of a less serious nature - including allegations of incivility, failure in duty, and minor harassment - and where the allegation could be clearly identified and there were no other extenuating factors.
Key findings
The report describes the outreach work that took place before launch of the pilot and identified a number of concerns raised by police officers and citizens, including:
- the risk that mediation would be used inappropriately
- police distrust of the ombudsman's office
- issues of confidentiality and security
These issues may have contributed to a very low take-up of mediation in the pilot. Out of 26 complaints received by the ombudsman that were considered suitable for mediation, only one was mediated. That mediation was successful, although the feedback from the complainant was ambiguous. The other 25 cases did not progress to mediation because:
- 6 were deemed to be unsuitable after initial contact with the complainant
- in 13 cases the complainant declined mediation
- in the 7 cases put forward to officers, 6 officers declined mediation
The report notes that the context of complaints about police is 'fundamentally different' from other contexts in which mediation is used successfully. One of the difficulties is that the informality of the mediation approach does not fit well within the highly regulated and adversarial system of police complaints. During the pilot a number of reasons were put forward for officers declining mediation, including there preference for an adversarial system, which they felt would vindicate and protect them, and their concerns that in accepting mediation they would be admitting wrongdoing.
In spite of the low take-up of mediation in the pilot, the report concludes that mediation 'is far more cost and time effective than any other process currently used by the Office'. It notes that there are a number of challenges but that these are not insurmountable, and it advises that the ombudsman's recommendations for legislative change to allow for mediation pre-investigation to be implemented.
Comment
The findings present issues for consideration for all ombudsmen services who adopt mediation (and mediation-type approaches) to complaint handling. To what extent can mediation fit with the authoritative decision-making role expected of ombudsmen? In what contexts will mediation offer a viable tool that both complainants and complained-about will have confidence in? And a very critical question - are ombudsmen there to resolve complaints or to make determinations?
May 2010
