POLICE COMPLAINTS

Nearly half of complaints (45%) against the police are allegations of neglect or failure of duty and incivility, according to new statistics from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) this week. A total of 28,998 complaint cases were recorded in the last year, an increase of 10% on the previous year and a rise of 83% since 1 April 2004 when the new complaints system came into force. Almost half of the complaints were dealt with locally and of those formally investigated nearly nine out of 10 (89%) were found to be unsubstantiated. The IPCC upheld one in five appeals.