Associate Lecturer and Kent Law Clinic Solicitor Dr Lucy Welsh has been interviewed by BBC Radio Kent as part of an exclusive investigation by the broadcaster into complaints about Kent police officers.
Dr Welsh was interviewed on BBC Radio Kent’s Breakfast Show by political reporter Tom Darby following an investigation which found that just 16 of more than 550 complaints made by members of the public to Kent Police of assault by Kent Police officers (during the five year period between 2011 to 2015) were upheld.
In response to Tom’s question about how the police conduct their investigations into these complaints, Dr Welsh, a former Criminal Defence Solicitor, said that the vast majority of all complaints are investigated by the same force against whom the complaint is being made, with only a small percentage of all complaints being investigated independently.
During the interview, Tom also interviewed Ashford MP Damian Green, a former Policing Minister and the solicitor of a man from Ramsgate who says he was assaulted by two Kent Police officers in 2011.
Listen again online (34:14 minutes in)
Dr Welsh’s role in the Law Clinic sees her supervising law students involved in dealing with complaints against the police. She also works with volunteer students on the Criminal Justice Project, whose current interests include complaints against the police as well as criminal law and prisoner rights. In September last year, she helped instigate a new a new initiative offering free prison law advice to prisoners in the local community.
Dr Welsh is also convenor for the undergraduate Policing module. She has research interests in the development of policy in the field of criminal justice with a particular focus on access to justice for those required to defend themselves against the state. Dr Welsh contributes regular posts to the Law Clinic’s blog, Clinical.