There were 229 complaints made against Beds Police in 2011/12, figures released yesterday revealed.
The Independendent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)’s annual statistics showed there were 432 allegations within the 229 complaints, and 94 appeals to the IPPC from people who were not happy about how Beds Police handled their initial complaints.
Of these appeals, 42 per cent were upheld which is above the national average of 38 per cent upheld in 2011/12.
However, Det Supt Nathan Briant said complaints about Beds Police are the lowest they have been for three years, down by 35 per cent.
Det Supt Briant said: “Policing by its very nature is public facing and as such ensuring that our interactions meet with the standard expected is critical to maintaining public confidence and victim satisfaction.
“Officers have thousands of such interactions each day and most end well. Where there are instances of professional standards falling short, it’s imperative to find out why and put it right.”
He added that in the past 12 months changes have been made to focus even more on customer service and public satisfaction.
IPCC Commissioner Sarah Green said: “The proportion of appeals against Bedfordshire Police being upheld by the IPCC is higher than the national result and I would encourage the force to examine this further to see whether they can improve complainant satisfaction about the way complaints are being handled.”
Dame Anne Owers, who chairs the IPCC, said all chief constables should take personal interest in the findings of the report and assure they and their staff are meeting their obligations to record and resolve valid complaints from the public.