The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaints about how the Police and Crime Commissioner dealt with complaints she made about police action relating to various issues. This is because we cannot investigate matters relating to the prevention and detection of crime.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) blocked or failed to acknowledge her complaints about the action of the police in connection with several incidents. Miss X also complains about false information written about her in police documents. This has caused Miss X distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate a complaint about action taken by or on behalf of any policing body in connection with the investigation or prevention of crime (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 2, as amended) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a body in our jurisdiction has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as policing bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended) We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We are expressly prohibited from investigating complaints about action taken in connection with the investigation or prevention of crime, as per paragraph two. As Miss X’s complaints are in this category, we cannot investigate.
Several of Miss X’s complaints relate to events that took place over one year ago. As per paragraph three, we only investigate late complaints if there are good reasons to do so.
We cannot investigate the actions of the police as it is not a body in our jurisdiction.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent authority on data protection matters and is best placed to deal with the concerns Miss X has about the veracity of information the police hold about her.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaints relating to police action because they are outside our remit. Miss X’s complaint about data accuracy issues is best dealt with by the ICO.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman