NI: 5,000 complaints of police misconduct

Almost 13,000 people contacted the office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland during its first year-and-a-half in operation, it emerged today.

A total of 5,129 complaints of police misconduct were made following 12,500 telephone conversations and 1,500 visits.

Almost half of these complaints related to allegations of oppressive conduct, such as assault, while 23% were allegations of failure of duty and 14% alleged incivility and rudeness.

The police ombudsman initiated more than 2,300 investigations during this period.

However, Nuala O’Loan revealed that her staff dealt with more than 2,400 complaints without resorting to official investigations.

She said: ‘‘While many people were upset about their interaction with certain police officers, in reality all some wanted was an explanation as to why the officer acted as they did.

‘‘We were able to resolve such issues without the need for a full investigation, which could have been stressful for both the person making the complaint and for the officer concerned.’’

The statistics are contained in the organisation’s first annual report which was presented to the Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid today.

The document, which covers its first 17 months of work, also gave a break down of independent research, which found 83% of Catholics and 75% of Protestants believed the ombudsman’s office would treat them fairly.

‘‘This is a terribly important statistic for me,’’ said Mrs O’Loan.

‘‘My office strives above all else to be independent and impartial. It has been a very busy time for

us and I take comfort from the fact that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland now seem to know that we will treat them fairly.’’

Mrs O’Loan also called for her office to be granted increased powers of mediation in order to have more complaints dealt with at an early stage.

‘‘The current legislation regarding informal resolution and mediation is very prescriptive and neither meets the needs of the officer complained of nor the complainant,’’ she said.

‘‘I believe that the system needs to be more flexible to allow for the speedy resolution of less serious matters.’’

Upon receipt of the report, Dr Reid paid tribute to the work of the police ombudsman and her staff.

He added: ‘‘Like many others I will want to consider carefully what the report says, but would emphasise that the government’s support for an independent police complaints system reflects our commitment to ensuring the highest standards of policing for Northern Ireland.’’