New figures have revealed that complaints against police in Staffordshire fell by 24 per cent last year.
The statistics have been released by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and show that Staffordshire was below the national figure which saw a rise of eight per cent in 2008/09.
There were 521 complaint cases recorded by Staffordshire police, down from 683 the year before.
Twenty five per cent of complaints against officers in the region were about ‘neglect of duty’ and a further 20 per cent about ‘incivility and impoliteness’. These categories cover complaints where people have accused police officers of being rude or abusive, failing to record matters or keep parties informed.
Forty three per cent of allegations were formally investigated and nearly half (42 per cent) were completed through an explanation or apology from a local police supervisor.
Superintendent Stephan Popadynec, head of the Staffordshire Police’s Professional Standards Department, said:
“We’re very pleased that the number of complaint cases fell in Staffordshire by almost a quarter last year. To put it in context, our officers and staff deal with around 1,200 incidents a day, yet the force receives less than two complaints a day on average.
“Each complaint case is made up of one or more allegations. The number of allegations against officers also fell significantly last year. Officers and staff have been increasingly encouraged to deal with potential problems quickly and simply, to the satisfaction of members of the public. This has stopped minor issues becoming detailed complaint cases which can take some time to resolve.
“Meanwhile, the force’s Professional Standards Department continues to investigate serious complaints thoroughly and robustly. The vast majority of complaints (91 per cent) against Staffordshire Police were not substantiated. However, as part of ongoing efforts to put the citizen at the heart of all we do, instead of just concentrating on blame, we are now considering whether a better service could’ve been offered to the person concerned, whether the complaint was substantiated or not. We are looking to learn and improve in order to prevent any recurrence of complaints to increase satisfaction in service”.