Mamaguy on complaints

THE large number of public complaints made against policemen which have gone unattended is both disturbing and unacceptable. The Police Complaints Authority, in its fifth annual report, reveals that only 27 of the 1,141 public complaints received in the 2000 to 2001 period were investigated by the Complaints Division of the Police Service. Bemoaning this fact, PCA chairman Justice Jim Davis says: "What is disconcerting is the Division's inability to investigate and report on these matters expeditiously." The Authority, he notes, remains powerless in this situation and the public quite naturally loses confidence in its operations.

The situation which the PCA's reports disclose is quite farcical, making a mockery of the Association which was set up in response to growing dissatisfaction by members of the public over the treatment meted out to them by policemen. But in retrospect no one should be surprised at these results having regard to the notorious reluctance of the Police Service to discipline itself or deal with its own problems. This has long been a major handicap in efforts to improve the Service and make it more effective. This reluctance or unwillingness has hampered the recommendations of a series of inquiries and investigations into the Service carried out over the years and is also the motive behind the government's bid to create a Police Management Authority to replace the Service Commission.

We recall, for example, the O'Dowd investigation into allegations of drug trafficking and corruption in the Service in 1993 as a result of which some 300 recommendations to improve the service were made but, as far as we know, only a few were ever implemented. The seven officers who were charged with offences stemming from the O'Dowd report were later freed. And the team of local officers who were mandated to carry on the investigation after O'Dowd returned to London was subsequently disbanded. But something at least should be done to deal with the mamaguy of having set up a mechanism to deal with public complaints about policemen which does not work. That 27 out of 1,141 complaints lodged with the PCA between 2000 and 2001 were actually investigated and reported on is ridiculous and shows an unfortunate level of disregard by members of the Service for the public which they are paid to protect and serve. Indeed, this kind of non-action would only serve to strengthen the feeling that exists among certain policemen that they could treat members of the public with scant regard or even abusively and get away with it.

It may well be that a fair percentage of these complaints are petty and frivolous, filed by persons who may not understand the functions and responsibilities of police officers on duty. But many of them may also be genuine reports of victimising encounters with policemen which ought to be investigated. It should now be clear that it is a waste of time to depend on the Complaints Division to do their job. The PCA chairman has suggested a solution to this problem which we feel should be given favourable consideration; that is to change the PCA Act to allow the Authority to conduct its own investigations. His recommendation: "Amend the existing legislation to remove involvement by the Police Complaints Division and to allow the PCA to fully and independently undertake the responsibilities." According to Justice Davis, this alternative has been successfully adopted in other jurisdictions including the UK. It may be more attractive to "a mistrustful public that cringes at the thought of "police investigating its own." We tend to agree.