Complaints against Scottish Police Forces fall to three year low reports Police Complaints Commissioner

A new report published today by Professor John McNeill, the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland, shows that in the year to 31 March 2011 complaint allegations about the police have fallen by 8.8% to 7009, a three year low. Police Complaints: Statistics for Scotland 2010-11 download the full report (pdf)

The annual digest of  complaints uses information provided by the eight forces to record the number and type of criminal, non-criminal and quality of service complaints received and disposed of by the police and Area Procurators Fiscal.

Only two forces, Northern and Fife Constabularies, reported increases in complaint allegations, up 9% and 3.8% respectively. Central Scotland Police recorded the largest fall, down 23% (22.9%), while the number of allegations against Strathclyde Police, Scotland’s largest force, fell by almost 12% (11.9%).

By using a complaint/10,000 population denominator, it is possible to identify trends in complaints between forces serving areas with different population sizes. Using this method, Strathclyde recorded the lowest with 11.2 complaints and Grampian the highest at 18.9 complaints per 10,000 population. The average for Scotland as a whole was 13.4 complaints.

Complaints about senior police officers rose from 45 last year to 48 this year. A senior officer is classed as any rank above Chief Superintendent. Strathclyde Police recorded the greatest increase in complaints about its senior officers, rising from 18 to 28. No complaints were made about senior officers from Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary or Tayside Police. The number of complaints about senior officers from Grampian Police dropped to five from 14 last year.

The report also breaks the data down across twelve different categories of complaints, ranging from traffic irregularity to corrupt practice. Irregular procedure remains the most common complaint, with 32.5% of all complaints made falling into this category. This category captures complaints about the way that an officer, or member of civilian staff, has carried out his duties, neglect of duty relates to complaints that an officer has not carried his duties. Incivility or rudeness by officers remains the second most common complaint, accounting for over 15% (15.5%) of all complaints made by the public.

In the period under review, 649 cases were referred to the Procurator Fiscal, with proceedings taken in 37 cases, resulting in 30 convictions. Claims of assault (611 allegations) and the use of excessive force (420 allegations) by officers, showed the biggest reductions this year, at 31% and 28% respectively.

Professor McNeill described the overall drop in complaints as “encouraging”, saying that any decrease in complaints is to be welcomed. However he sounded a note of caution in relation to the increase in those seeking an independent review of their complaint, after the police process had been concluded.

The figures in this report contrast with the Commissioner’s own Annual Report published last month, which showed a 70 per cent increase in the number of people bringing complaints to him, after exhausting the police’s own complaints processes, something he attributes in part to greater awareness of his role. Currently the PCCS reviews and reports on non-criminal complaints only. This may change under a single force, where the PCCS could become part of a new independent body which has the power to investigate complaints and allegations of misconduct by Chief Officers, as well as the ability to investigate serious criminal allegations against police officers and staff under the direction of the Lord Advocate.

Professor McNeill said: “I am sure that the forces will welcome the overall drop in complaints and I am encouraged by any reduction in the number of complaints about the police. Where the police and I may part company is that I do not see the closing  of a complaint by the police as the end of the story. I have seen a significant increase in the number of people coming to me after they have been through the police’s complaints procedure because they are not happy with the way the police have handled their complaint.

“We need to work on better resolution of complaints locally and proportionately. I hope that the Statutory Guidance, which I published in March this year, with its focus on local resolution and forces learning from complaints received, will contribute to a further reduction in complaints made and referrals to my office.”

The stats show :

Central Scotland Police

· The total number of complaint cases received by Central Scotland Police in 2010-11 is down -13.2% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.0%.

· The number of complaint allegations received by the force in 2010-11 is down -22.9% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.8%.

·  The majority of allegations received concerned on-duty conduct (85.9%), followed by 8.1% about the quality of service and 6.1% for off-duty conduct.

· The majority of on- and off-duty allegations received were directed at police officers (93.4%), compared with 8.5% at police staff and 0.3% at special constables.

· The number of all allegations disposed of was down -22.2% on last year, compared with a fall of -5.8% for Scotland as a whole.   

Dumfries and Galloway Police

· The total number of complaint cases received by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary in 2010-11 is down by one case (-0.6%) on last year, compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.0%.

· The number of complaint allegations received by the force in 2010-11 is down -6.0% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.8%.

·  The majority of allegations received concerned on-duty conduct (66.9%), followed by 29.5% about the quality of service and 3.6% for off-duty conduct.

· The majority of on- and off-duty allegations received were directed at police officers (93.2%), compared with 5.6% at police staff and 6.2% at special constables.

· The number of all allegations disposed of was up 22.0% on last year, compared with a fall of -5.8% for Scotland as a whole.  

Fife Constabulary

· The total number of complaint cases received by Fife Constabulary in 2010-11 is down (-16.5%) on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.0%.

· The number of complaint allegations received by the force in 2010-11 is up +3.8% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.8%.

·  The majority of allegations received concerned on-duty conduct (74.2%), followed by 21.2% about the quality of service and 4.6% for off-duty conduct.

· The majority of on- and off-duty allegations received were directed at police officers (93.3%), compared with 8.8% at police staff and 0.7% at special constables.

· The number of all allegations disposed of was up 34.4% on last year, compared with -5.8% for Scotland as a whole.  

Grampian Police

· The total number of complaint cases received by Grampian Police in 2010-11 is up slightly (+1.6%) on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.0%.

· The number of complaint allegations received by the force in 2010-11 is down -8.5% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.8%.

·  The majority of allegations received concerned on-duty conduct (79.7%), followed by 19.3% about the quality of service and 1.1% for off-duty conduct.

· The majority of on- and off-duty allegations received were directed at police officers (92.8%), compared with 7.8% at police staff and 0.2% at special constables.

· The number of all allegations disposed of was down -18.3% on last year, compared with a reduction of -5.8% for Scotland as a whole.  

Lothian and Borders Police

· The total number of complaint cases received by Lothian & Borders Police in 2010-11 is down (-6.2%) on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.0%.

· The number of complaint allegations received by the force in 2010-11 is down -9.0% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.8%.

·  The majority of allegations received concerned on-duty conduct (88.9%), followed by 6.7% about the quality of service and 4.4% for off-duty conduct.

· The majority of on- and off-duty allegations received were directed at police officers (93.1%), compared with 7.6% at police staff and 0.6% at special constables.

· The number of all allegations disposed of was down -11.0% on last year, compared with a reduction of -5.8% for Scotland as a whole.  

Northern Constabulary

· The total number of complaint cases received by Northern Constabulary in 2010-11 is down (-5.9%) on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.0%.

· The number of complaint allegations received by the force in 2010-11 is up +9.0% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.8%.

·  The majority of allegations received concerned on-duty conduct (78.6%), followed by 19.7% for quality of service and 1.7% for off-duty conduct.

· The majority of on- and off-duty allegations received were directed at police officers (95.4%), compared with 3.4% at police staff and 3.1% at special constables.

· The number of all allegations disposed of was up very slightly (+0.8%) on last year, compared with a fall of -5.8% for Scotland as a whole.  

Strathclyde Police

· The total number of complaint cases received by Strathclyde Police in 2010-11 is down (-11.8%) on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.0%.

· The number of complaint allegations received by the force in 2010-11 is similarly down -11.9% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.8%.

· The majority of allegations received concerned on-duty conduct (81.2%), followed by 9.7% for quality of service and 9.1% for off-duty conduct.

· The majority of on- and off-duty allegations received were directed at police officers (96.0%), compared with 4.5% at police staff and 0.9% at special constables.

· The number of all allegations disposed of was down -7.6% on last year, compared with -5.8% for Scotland as a whole.  

Tayside Police

· The total number of complaint cases received by Tayside Police in 2010-11 is down (-7.3%) on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.0%.

· The number of complaint allegations received by the force in 2010-11 is down -10.7% on last year (2009-10), compared with an overall reduction for Scotland of -8.8%.

· The majority of allegations received concerned on-duty conduct (85.2%), followed by 10.6% about the quality of service and 4.2% for off-duty conduct.

· The majority of on- and off-duty allegations received were directed at police officers (93.2%), compared with 7.9% at police staff and 1.8% at special constables.

· The number of all allegations disposed of was up 7.3% on last year, compared with a fall of -5.8% for Scotland as a whole.

Police complaints commission in tatters as lawyers resign - same to happen in Scotland ?

One way to ensure certain defeat for any moves to independent regulation is to stuff an organisation full of lawyers and legal staff, then get them to resign en masse .. and here we have that very policy being put into practice with the Independent Police Complaints Commission in England ....

Some may now wonder if the same may happen to the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, which Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill has also stuffed with legal staff and lawyers .. ensuring a MacAskill recipe for disaster once more.

The Guardian reports :

Crisis at police watchdog as lawyers resign

More than 100 quit over claims of delay and poor decisions by IPCC

* Nick Davies
* The Guardian,
* Monday February 25 2008

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) faces a crisis of confidence after a network of more than a hundred lawyers who specialise in handling police complaints resigned from its advisory body.

In a letter to Nick Hardwick, the IPCC's chairman, the lawyers' leaders expressed "increasing dismay and disillusionment" at what they described as "the consistently poor quality of decision-making at all levels of the IPCC". They said the IPCC's response to their earlier attempts to deal with problems had been "pitifully poor".

The resignation is a blow to the commission's morale and reputation especially as it was welcomed by criminal lawyers when it was set up in April 2004. After 40 years of slow progress, the organisation was seen as providing a robust and independent system for dealing with complaints against police officers.

But an investigation by the Guardian has found evidence of a cluster of administrative problems. These include:

· A failure to provide effective oversight for the work of the police investigators who still handle most complaints;

· a pattern of favouritism towards the police with some complaints being rejected in spite of apparently powerful evidence in their support;

· cases of indifference and rudeness towards complainants;

· extreme delays, with some complaints remaining unresolved after years of inaction and confusion;

· key decisions being taken by casework managers who have no legal qualifications, little relevant experience and minimal training;

· investigators and senior commissioners failing to work effectively with the result that some decisions have had to be overturned with the threat of court action.

Problems with investigators include one case in which an investigator was caught sending "raunchy emails" to a teenage girl whose family had been the victim of a crime he was looking into. In another case a family whose son had died in custody were taken aback when a female investigator walked out early from a meeting to get a facial.

In one sample case among dozens reviewed by the Guardian, Christine Hurst, whose son was stabbed to death in spring 2000, has been waiting for nearly eight years for a resolution of her complaint that police failed to protect him even though they knew his killer had made repeated threats. Police were warned on the night of his death that the killer was waiting outside his house with a knife.

Hurst said: "Despite fighting all these years, I haven't really got anywhere. The sheer fact that they can do this - and if they are doing it to me, they are doing it to other people as well. It is appalling."

The Police Action Lawyers Group, (PALG) which represents specialist lawyers on the IPCC's advisory board, has tried repeatedly to warn the commission about its problems. In October 2005, for example, they presented Hardwick with a dossier warning that, with few exceptions, "mediocrity appears to flourish unchecked, unmarked and, in many instances, unacknowledged".

In a subsequent email to Hardwick 18 months later, one lawyer said "attitudes appear to have deteriorated, reflected in recent examples which serve only to bring discredit and shame upon the IPCC".

The October 2005 dossier summarised 12 sample IPCC decisions and reported: "Sadly, in many of the cases we have dealt with over the 18 months since April 2004, we have been very disappointed by the poor quality of such decisions and, worse, the apparent lack of impartiality reflected in the reasoning given for such decisions.

"One common feature that seems to emerge is that primary decision-making functions are apparently being devolved to inexperienced and poorly trained junior staff lacking the qualifications and experience necessary for this important work and without the benefit of adequate or effective quality assurance procedures. More generally, the performance of those responsible for supervising, managing or conducting investigations has given cause for serious concern ..."

The joint resignation letter, signed on behalf of all of the lawyers last month by two PALG members, acknowledged "islands of good practice" but says their attempts to raise their concerns through the IPCC's advisory board were repeatedly frustrated: "Follow-up on agreed action points has been pitifully poor ... At times, the situation has been almost farcical: key decisions on our agenda items have not been minuted and, when eventually minuted, have not been actioned, even after we have chased progress."

Hardwick says this is unfair and that PALG failed to respond to his attempts to review the working of the advisory board. Speaking to the Guardian, he rejected PALG's grounds for resigning from the advisory board. He said IPCC evidence had held up in front of juries and coroners, and only a handful of decisions had been reversed after lawyers threatened to have them judicially reviewed.