Sir Denis O'Connor giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry
Chief inspector of Her Majesty's Inspectorate Constabulary Sir Denis O'Connor has repeated calls for a common "framework of integrity" to be established in relation to interactions between the police and the media, as proposed in a recent report by HMIC published in December last year.
Appearing before the Leveson inquiry today, O'Connor said both senior and junior police officers he has spoken to "understand the need for a legitimate relationship with the media".
But he said there is also the need to address the points at which those relationships are placed under pressure, such as during "top-end cases" such as murders and big breaking news events such as the 7/7 bombings in London, where there is greater "competition for information".
"There is a history about the police management of information about those top end issues, which has had a lot of learning in it over the last 20 and 30 years."
He added that he believes there is "room to rehearse more strongly the obligations of police around information compared to the media."
O'Connor later added that in terms of solutions, he would like to see a "significant revision in the way the relationship operates", but stressed this would not be "in order to shrink the relationship, but to put it on the right footing".
"Getting it right means putting [in place], as a starter, ... some kind of framework for integrity in those dealings."
He outlined three "components" which could form such a framework, saying "interactions with the media must be for a legitimate policing purpose" and be about "more than relationship building and related to core standards and values of policing".
They should also "operate without favouritism and with integrity" and "must seek to avoid conflict of interest", he added.
He also said that "their degree of application and support" would then vary based on whether a police officer is "in the eye of the storm or the busiest part", such as the Metropolitan Police Service.
"What we're looking for is a common frame of reference," he added later in his evidence. "The last thing I'd wish to do is constrain the relationship between police and press. That would defy reality."
Earlier in his evidence he said he hopes the inquiry "can move beyond having aspiration for a good relationship" centred on good news and "accentuating the positive" to establishing "the right relationship" between both parties.
Free daily newsletter
If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).
