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Thursday, 02 September 2010

PSNI get most multiple complaints

Police in the PSNI get more multiple complaints than any other force in the UK, a report has revealed

The PSNI has the UK's highest number of officers with three or more complaints, figures released on Thursday show.

The report said 376 detectives in Northern Ireland were subject to at least three allegations over the past year.

It is over 100 more than the second highest offender, the Metropolitan Police, with 273.

Most complaints were about rudeness, assault or failure of duty, according to the Freedom of Information request.

A total of 2,073 police officers across the UK have received three complaints or more, the BBC survey found.

Altogether, the statistics from 43 out of 52 constabularies showed more than 5,000 complaints were made against officers over the past year.

One officer in the West Midlands was also made to wear a headcam on duty because of the allegations, while another had their Taser training deferred.

Of the minority of forces which provided details about the complaint outcomes, more than half led to no further action.

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7 Comments

At 14:24 on 06 September 2010, BIG ERNEST wrote:

seamas ; i bet your a bundle of laughs , not, anyway what is wrong with you now about policing ? we have got rid of the old ruc , now the new psni is here you dont like them either , is it because you want to return to the brutal ways of the pira punishment squads ? they where the police for republican areas yet i am sure if they had a complaints department they would have double the complaints that the psni get !!

At 10:54 on 04 September 2010, seamas wrote:

Lorna. That’s a pretty good summation of why PSNI perform badly and have to be complained about. Luckily we have enough brave citizens prepared to make their complaints and bring the PSNI to book.

At 18:38 on 02 September 2010, lorna wrote:

We have a culture here who like complaining ! First The police on the mainland do not have as many riots to contend with as our officers. second. we have still not been able to deal with religious differances. Third the police structures have been changed to make them more appealing and we have a pretty young force who is gaining experience in dealing with the general public.. Forth .Our officers never can be certain who the enemy is when it comes to personal safety. You only need to remember what happened to constable Carroll. in the course of his duty. It takes a brave man to wear the uniform here and I do not envy them.

At 14:44 on 02 September 2010, john murphy wrote:

The rest of the UK dont have groups of people organising complaints against the police......duplicate letters and complaints are not new to the wee north...

At 14:21 on 02 September 2010, JB wrote:

OldSold - here here. Pity theres few who share a balanced view like you do.

At 13:51 on 02 September 2010, Tom Cal wrote:

Well said Oldsod. If a nominal fee was put in place, refundable if the complaint was upheld, I wonder how many complaints would be made then. I'm aware of a complaint of incvility, where an officer was deemed patronising... he pointed out to a speeding driver that he had children in the car. That's the sort of nonsense that makes it's way through the system. A freedom of information request on how many people made more than 1 complaint would show the serial complainers, a number of which have usually been arrested and abuse the system. If a police officer gets a complaint, they're scrutinised and investigated to the neck. The person that makes the complaint, has no such pressure put on them and even if it's an outright lie, receives no penalty. Adopt the Garda way - no pay no play!

At 11:40 on 02 September 2010, OldSod wrote:

Before all the police bashers start, I would like to make my own comment. As a society we complain about public servants, much like we complain about the weather. If it's sunny, it's too warm, if it snow's it's too cold, if it rains it's too wet. We are never happy and always blaming the easiest target, be it nurses, social workers, doctors, road workers or in this case police. In the case of police, in some areas we never want to see them and call anybody who speaks to them a tout, until of course we have a problem ourselves and we suddenly expect them to appear immediately, then to agree with us only, then sort out local issues involving people from our own community at the drop of a hat. When this does not happen we complain out of petulance. Others want to see police all the time and expect them to have a crystal ball. Still others hate the police for political reasons and will never give them any credit, making complaints as a routine. By definition, every time police take action, somebody will be unhappy with the result. be it suspect or victim. Sometimes the police do get it wrong. Saying that, it's not the police's fault there is a revolving door criminal justice system. Surely it is demoralising to know that prosecuting people is usually only a short term solution, resulting in fines that won't be paid or prison terms that will be whittled down? We must remember that the police, much like the binmen, are dealing with the unpleasant byproducts of our society and lifestyles. Wheras the council endeavors to recycle our household waste, the courts usually dump it back out onto our streets.