Watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission received 330 complaints about Gwent Police last during 2011/12.
The IPCC has published its annual complaint statistics for all 44 police forces and this saw Gwent Police record 578 allegations within their total complaints for the year.
In 2010/11 there were 52 appeals to the IPCC from members of the public about Gwent Police’s handling of their complaints. That included 38 appeals about the way the force investigated a complaint, seven about the way Gwent resolved a complaint locally, and another seven about the force’s failure to record a complaint. The IPCC completed 45 appeals during 2011/12, upholding 12.
More information about Gwent Police complaints can be found on the IPCC website.
Nationally, the IPCC is dealing with an increasing number of appeals from people unhappy with the way their complaints have been handled by forces. Overall during 2011/12 a total of 6,339 appeals from complainants were made to the IPCC, up three per cent. Eight per cent more of those appeals completed by the IPCC were upheld compared with 2010/11.
Within the total number of appeals, there was a 16 per cent increase in the number (1,374) of appeals made against the decision by police forces not to record a complaint in 2011/12. Almost two thirds (61 per cent) were upheld by the IPCC – effectively instructing the force to look again at those complaints.
Dame Anne Owers, Chair of the IPCC, said: “It is of concern that not only has there been an increase in the number of appeals to the IPCC from those dissatisfied with the way their complaint was handled; there has also been a considerable increase in the proportion of appeals that we uphold.
“All Chief Constables should take personal interest in the findings of this report and assure themselves that they and their staff are meeting their obligations to record and resolve valid complaints from the public. In particular, they should look closely at the number and type of appeals upheld by the IPCC.”
Across England and Wales, there was also an increase in the number of appeals from complainants unhappy with the complaint investigations carried out by police – up two per cent to 4,539. The IPCC upheld 31 per cent of those appeals, up from about 22 per cent, which suggests almost a third of police complaint investigations were deficient in some way.
The total number of complaints recorded by police forces in England and Wales fell for the second consecutive year. The nine per cent fall to 30,143 complaints follows a period of sustained growth recorded since the IPCC was created in 2004.