Police behaviour complaints drop.

Byline: Clare Hutchinson

THE number of allegations made about police officers' behaviour has dropped by 10% from last year.

The figures, released yesterday by the South Wales Police Authority, show 1,047 allegations were logged between April 2011 and April 2012, 123 fewer than the same period last year.

Just under half of the complaints blamed officers for incivility, neglect of duty or assaults.

Other allegations ranged from sexual assaults and unlawful detention to traffic irregularities and lack of fairness.

Of the allegations, 24 were substantiated and a further 296 were resolved by the force. The majority - some 63% - were either withdrawn, unsubstantiated, discontinued or no further action was taken.

Most of the allegations were made about officers while they were arresting people or making inquiries, with 343 relating to something that happened while officers were in the complainant's home and 287 about officers on the street.

The force also made 58 referrals to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) - 11 more than the year before.

Of those, 20 related to an alleged criminal offence or discrimination that could lead to disciplinary action, nine were in relation to deaths or serious injuries and six were allegations of serious sexual assault. The figures also revealed that 25 misconduct and special case hearings were held between 2011 and 2012, with officers dismissed after three of the hearings and given final written warnings as a result of six.

While there were fewer allegations than last year in all four force divisions, Eastern BCU, which covers Cardiff, recorded the highest number of allegations against its officers in all but two of the 23 categories.

Chief Superintendent Tim Jones, head of South Wales Police's professional standards department, said this was due to the higher numbers of people living in and visiting the city.

He said: "While a reduction of 10% is encouraging we continue to strive to be the best at serving our communities and ensure that we continue to raise awareness of the complaints process, particularly those who are less likely to raise concerns, to make them aware of how they can make a complaint.

"Our professional standards department regularly analyses trends which emerge from any complaints statistics so that we have a clear understanding of the issues that the public are unhappy with."

Vice-chair of the South Wales Police Authority, John Littlechild, added: "The figures of 1,047 allegations from 612 complainants is pleasing when you put into context the number of the people who come into contact with South Wales Police each year."

1,047 ALLEGATIONS * 1,047 allegations made against officers in South Wales Police between 2011 and 2012 * The allegations were made by 612 individual complainants * Of the allegations, 493 related to incivility and impoliteness, neglect of duty or assaults * 320 were substantiated or resolved by the force * 661 were either withdrawn, unsubstantiated, discontinued or no further action was taken.

MOST COMMON COMPLAINTS Most common complaints made to each division of South Wales Police between April 2011 and April 2012: Total Eastern BCU (Cardiff) Northern BCU (Valleys) Complaint Central BCU (Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend) Eastern BCU (Swansea) Neglect or failure in duty 40 80 40 49 209 Incivility, impoliteness and intolerance 35 54 29 44 162 Other assault 20 35 19 24 98

CAPTION(S):

* The number of complaints about police behaviour in South Wales has dropped by 10%

Article Details

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Publication:	South Wales Echo (Cardiff, Wales)
Geographic Code:	4EUUK
Date:	Apr 26, 2012
Words:	560
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