UK’s Northumbria police department accuses me of abusing its complaints system for enquiring about student’s allegation of officer overreach
Last week I asked the department to comment on a threatening e-mail allegedly sent by one of its officers, PC Mohammed Khan, to Newcastle University student Jonaya English.
According to screenshots published by English, Khan told English that he would ask the university to withdraw its offer of acceptance if she did not respond to his e-mails.
The department at first denied my attempts to verify the authenticity of the e-mails. I then received a letter from Force Assessor Jon Keenan, who said he’d assessed my enquiries and considered them “to be an abuse of the complaints system, in that you have not been directly affected by the incident and have no right as a complainant.”
Why did Keenan accuse me of abusing his department’s complaints system when:
1. I did not file a complaint;
2. I merely asked a question via the section of the department’s website that invites members of the public to leave leave feedback and make enquiries?
I’ve asked the department for an explanation.
Shooting the Messenger 
Why did the Police Officer assume the lady had even read his email?
Good question!
It would be interesting what proportion of complaints Force Assessor Keenan non records. I have a number that were non recorded by Force Assessor Keenan, including a number that were subsequently overturned by the IPCC / IOPC.