KEY POINTS:
Police officers' attitude and language ranks highly among complaints to the Police Complaints Authority in the past year.
According to the latest PCA annual report 1741 people made 2829 complaints about the police, most of which were accepted for investigation.
Complaints covered perjury to disgraceful conduct but the
main areas of concern were neglect of duty, practice and procedure and the attitude and language of police.
Of the complaints, 96 were partially or fully sustained and 207 were settled after meetings between the police and the complainant.
Professional standards national manager, Superintendent Stuart Wildon, said police made hundreds of thousands of contacts with the public every year. It was therefore expected that there would be occasions when officers failed to meet public expectations.
Mr Wildon said the attitude and language of police often featured highly in the list of complaints. It affected the reputation of the police and was treated seriously by the force.
"We do take those sorts of complaints seriously because they often result in the first contact with the public, and of course first contacts leave long-lasting impressions and are therefore very important in the maintenance of our reputation."
Mr Wildon said attitude and language complaints needed to be seen in light of the situations officers found themselves in, which were often negative and hostile.
"That can attract these sorts of complaints."
Of the 336 complaints about police attitude or language, 297 were investigated.
Three cases were partially sustained, nine fully sustained, and 47 cases were settled. The rest were either not sustained or the complainants no longer wanted to pursue them.
Mr Wildon said in cases where a complaint was upheld, steps were taken to address the officer's attitude or language.
"It may be in the form of some disciplinary sanction or of a lesser sanction where the officer is reminded of the need to maintain professionalism in those sorts of situations.
"From time to time police officers do apologise where their behaviour or attitude has caused offence. Most people feel appeased if they do receive an apology."
The largest number of complaints came from the Wellington police district, followed by Canterbury, Auckland City and North Shore/Waitakere/Rodney but the overall number dropped nationally by 161.
Mr Wildon said the decrease was pleasing and he attributed it to a heightened awareness of integrity and conduct.
Awareness had come about because several things, including the ongoing commission of inquiry into police conduct, some high-profile public cases and clear messages from the commissioner about integrity and professionalism.
PCA COMPLAINTS 2005-06
* 1741 people made 2829 complaints, fewer than the previous year.
* 2481 complaints accepted for investigation. Five were partially sustained, 91 sustained, 207 resolved, 356 not sustained.
* 151 files opened as a result of referral from Police Commissioner after internally discovered misconduct or serious neglect of duty.
