Ethnic groups 'fear police more'

The IPCC wants to eliminate scepticism about complaints process

Almost one third of Asian and black people in England and Wales fear police harassment if they make a complaint against their force, a study suggests.

But less than 20% of white people told the Independent Police Complaints Commission they were similarly worried.

Some 38% of black and Asian people said they were unwilling to report crimes in case they were not taken seriously, compared with 30% of white people.

The IPCC interviewed almost 5,000 people as part of the research.

Youth target

IPCC chairman Nick Hardwick said he believed there was a "contract" between the public and police which did not give the police a "blank cheque".

"We want to make it easier for people to register a complaint and get an apology without getting embroiled in a time consuming procedure."

He said he was concerned that young people and Asian and black people were less inclined to complain, saying the commission would target those groups in future publicity.

The responses to the IPCC survey suggested 30% of Asians and 28% of black people were worried about the risk of harassment, compared with 18% of white people.

The IPCC acknowledged that people from some communities and social groups feared they would be turned into a "suspect" if they went into a police station to complain.

'Scepticism'

People from lower socio-economic groups were much less likely to complain about the police than those in the professional or managerial classes.

Some 82% of those in the top socio-economic group, AB, would be willing to complain if they had been badly treated by their local police force.

Just 70% of the unemployed, retired or those on benefits said they would do the same.

Young people were also more reluctant to complain about officers who were rude or who stopped and searched them for no reason.

An increasing number of complaints in recent years has led the IPCC to believe that people feel more confident about the system.

Despite this, the commission said there could be thousands of complaints about the police that are not made, and it has vowed tackle remaining "scepticism" about the complaints procedure.

The commission plans to repeat the study to track changes in attitudes.