Open petition: Launch an independent national inquiry into police investigative standards

Created by Taffy Smith
Closes on 28 April 2027

The Government must set up an independent, comprehensive inquiry into what we see as widespread failures by police forces to maintain strict investigative impartiality. We feel mounting public concern indicates that deep-seated confirmation bias may be actively eroding the presumption of innocence.

The presumption of innocence is a fundamental cornerstone of our criminal justice system. It dictates that every individual must be treated as innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This foundational principle relies to a great extent on the police acting as objective, impartial seekers of the truth. Under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, investigators are legally mandated to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry, whether they point towards or away from a suspect.

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