Claims against Thames Valley rise

Complaints and allegations against Thames Valley Police rose last year

Complaints about Thames Valley Police have risen by 15% in the last year.

There were 967 complaints against the force in 2007/8, figures from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) show.

There were 28,963 complaints, which can be made up of more than one allegation, against all English and Welsh forces. This was unchanged on the year before.

The number of allegations against Thames Valley was 1,547 - a rise of 13% compared to 5% in England and Wales.

Figures show there were 48,280 allegations across all of England and Wales in 2007/08.

Ian Johnston, president of the Police Superintendents' Association, which represents senior police officers and is based in Pangbourne, Berkshire, said officers should be courteous to the public.

"There is an element where officers, quite frankly, haven't got the time to spend with people that they should.

"What we say is 'a smile costs nothing, let's serve the public, let's not forget why we joined the police'."

'Serious assault'

Thames Valley Police said it had more than 8,000 officers and staff and "over the past year a minority of them have had complaints investigations against them carried out".

In a statement, the force said: "In total, Thames Valley Police received 317 allegations per 1,000 police officers, placing the force 24th out of the 43 police forces in England and Wales.

"The force takes all complaints seriously and fully investigates each complaint made.

"Complaints can range in severity from allegations of an officer being rude to a member of the public to allegations of serious assault."

The Home Office said allegations had risen because people were more aware of their rights, but only 11% were proved.

The IPCC said they received the highest number of allegations since complaints began to be investigated independently in 1985.

Almost a quarter of the allegations were categorised as "other neglect or failure in duty".

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