Complaints soar as police face claims of rudeness and neglect

The region’s four forces received almost 2,500 complaints last year – 27 a day – including 860 allegations of incivility, according to figures published by the police watchdog.

One of the biggest rises in the country was recorded in South Yorkshire, where assault and neglect or failure in duty were among the most common allegations.

The force received 613 complaints between April 2009 and March 2010, a 39 per cent increase on the 442 recorded during the previous 12 months.

North Yorkshire Police saw a 27 per cent rise during the same period – a statistic revealed in the Yorkshire Post last year after the force’s former deputy chief constable Adam Briggs ordered a study of officers’ behaviour.

The review found one in five incivility allegations arose from traffic problems. Words commonly used in these complaints included “disregard”, “arrogant”, “unprofessional”, “rude”, “aggressive”, “sarcastic”, “threatening” or “provoking”, “abrupt”, “offensive” and “insulting”.

Complaints rose by nine per cent against Humberside Police and three per cent against West Yorkshire Police.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) recorded 33,854 cases nationwide – an increase of eight per cent on 2008-09 – with one in five allegations concerning officers being deliberately rude or intolerant.

The watchdog’s interim chairman, Len Jackson, said forces would need to develop “an open dialogue with the public” as budget cuts put pressure on their performance.

“The number of ‘rude and late’ complaints highlights the standards expected of the police service and the need to improve how they interact with the public,” he said.

“While some aspects can be improved without cost, such as through better leadership, smaller police budgets will present a challenge around levels of service and public expectation.”

South Yorkshire Police’s assistant chief constable Max Sahota said the IPCC’s figures were nine months out of date and more recent statistics showed that complaints to the force were 11 per cent down compared with the same period in 2009-10.

“We have been encouraging members of the public to come forward with issues and concerns,” he said.

North Yorkshire Police’s head of professional standards, Steve Read, said a leadership programme had already started to address “problems with verbal communication” at the force.

“The statistics are clearly indicative of the efforts made by North Yorkshire Police to ensure that we listen to members of the public, by fully and accurately recording the concerns that they express,” he said.

Superintendent Alan Lees, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “We take any complaint very seriously and are always looking at how we can increase the standard of service we provide to the public through regular training sessions, briefings to officers and ensuring any previous mistakes are rectified and lessons learned passed to all officers.

“As one of the largest police forces in the country we are proud of the service our officers and staff provide, often in very challenging circumstances, but will use this report to reflect on what else we can do to reduce the number of complaints we receive.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers said the figures showed one in five officers and staff will be the subject of a complaint over the course of a year.