Forces offer live streaming of hearings to the public

Members of the public are now able to attend misconduct hearings for Bedfordshire Police and Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Constabularies online or in person.

To improve the accessibility and transparency of misconduct proceedings the three forces have transformed existing police estate to build a dedicated hearing suite at Lysander House, Tempsford.

The new suite is equipped with state-of-the-art technology in addition to soundproofed rooms for panel deliberations and public attendance. These facilities allow members of the public to attend misconduct hearings both online and in person, offering greater flexibility and access. All hearings are supported by a recently introduced Hearings Officer.

Detective Chief Superintendent William Hodgkinson, Head of BCH Professional Standards Department (PSD), said: “This is a significant step towards reducing costs, promoting transparency, and building confidence and trust in policing. We are now able to live stream hearings to our communities, demonstrating accountability in the process and enabling us to deliver a more professional service.

“Feedback from the hearings that have already been held in the new venue has been extremely positive from both staff and the public. We offer full transparency. If a member of our community is interested to understand what happens in police misconduct, they now can both in person and online.

“In addition, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire (BCH) commit to publishing a twelve-month rolling period of misconduct outcomes online making BCH PSD one of the most transparent in the country as identified recently by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in their recent bulletin.”

Misconduct proceedings are published on all three force websites under Misconduct hearings with hearing dates published seven days in advance together with details on how to attend online or in person.