Fewer complaints against Dorset Police

DORSET Police has recorded a drop of 11 per cent in complaints in the past year. It is the first time in three years that the number of complaints has gone down.

The local picture reflects the national one where there has been a fall in the number of complaint cases recorded by police forces for the second year running.

It comes after the Independent Police Complaints Commission published their annual report.

There were 363 allegations during 2011/2012 compared to 410 allegations in 2010/2011.

Superintendant Tim Whittle, Head of the Professional Standards Department, said: “Dorset Police takes all complaints very seriously and we invest considerable resource to ensure that, firstly, we reduce the likelihood of incidents that may attract complaint, and, secondly, that we resolve and learn from our mistakes.

“We are pleased to see a reduction of recorded complaint cases compared with the previous year and we are also pleased that our recording of complaints is extremely timely.”

Since 2010 a total of 259 allegations have been investigated by the force and 88 per cent of cases were not upheld. Just 32 allegations were upheld.

Supt Whittle said that a large number of complaints are dealt with locally in Dorset but that if they cannot satisfy the complaint the force encourages appeals to the IPCC.

He added: “A 24-hour a day service, last year Dorset Police dealt with hundreds of thousands of incidents and took hundreds of thousands of calls from members of the public. A significant proportion of the people that we help are in difficult and challenging situations.”

Comments(12)

speedy231278 says...
4:48pm Fri 1 Feb 13

Given that 88% of cases were rejected, it is easy to conclude that people are less bothered about complaining as they feel it will be dismissed. Are there historical figures available showing complaints vs success or rejection rates? If the rejection rate is increasing, that would probably explain it.

aerolover says...
4:56pm Fri 1 Feb 13

Also less police to complain against so that helps.

dorsetred says...
5:09pm Fri 1 Feb 13

People probably wising up that it is a complete waste of time and money, once had a complaint fully upheld on page one over the page then the Independent (Don'T make me laugh) PCC reccomended no further action to be taken, my solicitor wrote to the then chief Constable asking for his opinion,never got a reply, consequently contacted the Law Society to ask for a solicitor to take furthur proceedings, not one firm this side of London could they suggest!
Hillsboro and the Hacking cases were well concieved,my total admiration goes to the all the people involved in getting it to this stage and may you get the justice you deserve and to the guilty may you get the luck you deserve.

The Renegade Master says...
5:37pm Fri 1 Feb 13

Like many complaints procedures they are complicated and potentially expensive to pursue, so it doesn't surprise me that people don't bother.
Typical that the Police would try to paint themselves in a good light for a small drop in complaints. It's the same when the road deaths figures reduce. They claim it's all down to their no excuses policy but when these figures go up it's all down to us rubbish motorists. What a joke they are!
It's difficult to respect an organisation that operates in the way our police do, especially when it's clear that their main priority is making money for HMRC rather than spending their time catching real criminals.

scrumpyjack says...
6:04pm Fri 1 Feb 13

Yes I truly believe that the vast majority of ordinary coppers main aim is to raise money for the tax man rather solving any 'real crime'.

The job satisfaction they get every time they write a ticket makes them get out of bed in the morning. So much better than nicking a real criminal like you say.

apm1954 says...
6:38pm Fri 1 Feb 13

what police

Neil's off to France says...
1:09am Sat 2 Feb 13

Not surprised that complaints have fallen. I made a complaint and it was swept under carpet by some former detective..Left in retirement to gain a few more quid alongside the final salary pension and continue the bent practice for all. I never got my calls returned by the Senior Officer who barely had the command of the English language and they left it until
the last minute for me to pay a FIXED penalty notice or suffer more bent practice. Bunch of shafters who are only interested in raising revenues..
No justice, just a right load of self justice tossiffers . PLEBS.

scrumpyjack says...
1:12am Sat 2 Feb 13

Neil's off to France wrote:
Not surprised that complaints have fallen. I made a complaint and it was swept under carpet by some former detective..Left in retirement to gain a few more quid alongside the final salary pension and continue the bent practice for all. I never got my calls returned by the Senior Officer who barely had the command of the English language and they left it until
the last minute for me to pay a FIXED penalty notice or suffer more bent practice. Bunch of shafters who are only interested in raising revenues..
No justice, just a right load of self justice tossiffers . PLEBS.
I am SO convinced by your eloquent arguement.

Wesoblind says...
9:43am Sat 2 Feb 13

scrumpyjack wrote:
Neil's off to France wrote: Not surprised that complaints have fallen. I made a complaint and it was swept under carpet by some former detective..Left in retirement to gain a few more quid alongside the final salary pension and continue the bent practice for all. I never got my calls returned by the Senior Officer who barely had the command of the English language and they left it until the last minute for me to pay a FIXED penalty notice or suffer more bent practice. Bunch of shafters who are only interested in raising revenues.. No justice, just a right load of self justice tossiffers . PLEBS.
I am SO convinced by your eloquent arguement.
the jist of the coment was quite true, laws have dissapeared and we just get money tapped out of us by statues and acts. Even the magistrate court is just a rubber stamping office where even if you attend you are not aloud to defend yourself!

The Renegade Master says...
11:00am Sat 2 Feb 13

scrumpyjack wrote:
Yes I truly believe that the vast majority of ordinary coppers main aim is to raise money for the tax man rather solving any 'real crime'.

The job satisfaction they get every time they write a ticket makes them get out of bed in the morning. So much better than nicking a real criminal like you say.
Grumpyjack, if you don't like my comments don't read them and don't respond to them ok. You're pathetic goading is juvenile and indicative of a puny intellect.

Wesoblind says...
12:44pm Sat 2 Feb 13

ps there is a nice video on a popular video sharing site of what happens when you take a complaint to dorset police!

rayc says...
7:33pm Sun 3 Feb 13

Be grateful that you can complain about individual Police Officers. As more and more things are decriminalised they are enforced by other agencies such as Councils. You are then in a completely different ball game when you feel aggrieved.

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