23 November 2018 Regional training for Legally qualified chairs The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Suffolk held a training event for Legally Qualified Chairs, Independent Members and Police Members of Misconduct Panels in Newmarket earlier this week. The event, hosted by the Suffolk OPCC’s Chief Executive, Christopher Jackson and regional OPCC colleagues, was attended by delegates from across the region which covers the force areas of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The training was delivered by Barrister, Simon Walsh of 5 Essex Court who specialises in police discipline cases. Delegates commented that it was a very useful day’s training and found Simon Walsh’s insight invaluable. Tim Passmore said “I’d like to thank my OPCC team for organising such a successful event. We have received some very complimentary feedback from the session held on Saturday. “The legally qualified chairs and misconduct panel members play a very important role in our police disciplinary process and I would like to thank them for their support to the police service.” He added, “Misconduct panels are now held in public and this is a very positive step to improved transparency. It is very important that we are as transparent as possible in all of our work and this is a key aspect of ensuring that our disciplinary processes are similarly visible to the public.” As part of the ongoing overhaul of the police complaints system, police misconduct panels have been chaired by legally qualified chairs since 2016 rather than senior police officers. Within the Eastern Region, Police and Crime Commissioners for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk have collaborated to recruit a panel of legally qualified chairs to service the region. (l-r) Simon Walsh and Christopher Jackson