Rise in complaints against police

Complaints against North Wales Police officers rose

North Wales Police has had more complaints made against its officers than any of the four Welsh forces.

But, as statistics were released by the Police Complaints Authority on Tuesday, the force claimed the figures were not accurate.

It also claimed they included complaints made against the force in 1999 which had been subsequently resolved.

In a snapshot of 1,000 police officers, North Wales Police received 146 complaints between April 2002 and March 2003.

By comparison, South Wales Police had 128, Gwent 124 and Dyfed-Powys 102.

However, Superintendent Phil Thomson from North Wales Police said the figures were not strictly accurate.

Complaints against Welsh forces North Wales 146 South Wales 128 Gwent 124 Dyfed-Powys 102

"The figures quoted in the report in respect of North Wales Police are inflated by the inclusion of an historical investigation from 1999 which was finalised by the authority in the last year," he said.

"Details of this case appear in the report. In light of this, the statistics do not give an accurate reflection of complaints recorded for this force during 2002/2003."

Over a third of complaints against Dyfed Powys Police were substantiated (38.37%), closely followed by North Wales Police (37.8%).

South Wales Police had 18% of cases substantiated and Gwent had 11.2%.

Harassment

The number of complaints against Dyfed Powys Police more than doubled between the year ending March 2002 and the year ending March 2003, from 19 to 42.

There was also a sharp rise in the number of complaints against North Wales Police, from 56 to 92, whilst the number of complaints against the Gwent and South Wales Police forces fell.

Gwent Police had one of the highest number of complaints of serious physical assault of any of the England and Wales forces - a total of six allegations.

The Metropolitan Police force, however, had just eight allegations and Greater Manchester received five.

Gwent also had a higher than average proportion of complaints for oppressive conduct or harassment.

The Police Complaints Authority is replaced by a new body next year.