(1)Where a complaint is submitted to the chief officer of police for a police area, it shall be his duty to take any steps that appear to him to be desirable for the purpose of obtaining or preserving evidence relating to the conduct complained of.
(2)After performing the duties imposed on him by subsection (1) above, the chief officer shall determine whether he is the appropriate authority in relation to the officer against whom the complaint was made.
(3)If he determines that he is not the appropriate authority, it shall be his duty—
(a)to send the complaint or, if it was made orally, particulars of it, to the appropriate authority; and
(b)to give notice that he has done so to the person by or on whose behalf the complaint was made.
(4)In this Part of this Act—
" complaint" means any complaint about the conduct of a police officer which is submitted—
by a member of the public ; or
on behalf of a member of the public and with his written consent;
" the appropriate authority " means—
in relation to an officer of the metropolitan police, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis ; and
in relation to an officer of any other police force—
if he is a senior officer, the police authority for the force's area ; and
if he is not a senior officer, the chief officer of the force;
" senior officer " means an officer holding a rank above the rank of chief superintendent.
(5)Nothing in this Part of this Act has effect in relation to a complaint in so far as it relates to the direction or control of a police force by the chief officer or the person performing the functions of the chief officer.
(6)If any conduct to which a complaint wholly or partly relates is or has been the subject of criminal or disciplinary proceedings, none of the provisions of this Part of this Act which relate to the recording and investigation of complaints have effect in relation to the complaint in so far as it relates to that conduct.