Complaint officer forced to wear a video camera

A police officer in the West Midlands was made to wear a video camera in his helmet because of complaints about his behaviour, it emerged today.

The unnamed officer's case was highlighted as an investigation found more than 2,000 police officers across the country were the subject of three or more complaints from the public in the last year.

Figures show 117 officers with West Mercia Police, which covers areas such as Kidderminster, Shifnal and Bridgnorth, were complained about at least three times in a year, putting them behind the Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester and Kent Police in the forces with most grievances against them.

No further details of the officer with the camera's case were revealed, but figures released in July by West Midlands Police revealed that two of its officers have been sacked and more than 20 given written warnings in the past year.

Complaints against the force have risen, with the public increasingly accusing police of rudeness and intolerance.

There were 308 internal misconduct cases in the force, with officers in Wolverhampton alone accounting for nearly one in 10 of them.

Of the 227 that had been resolved when the figures were compiled, 35 per cent resulted in some form of action by managers.

Twelve officers were given final written warnings, 14 were given written warnings and two were dismissed without notice.

Acting Supt Stacey Williamson, of West Mercia Police's pofessional standards department, said today:

"To compare the statistics of different police forces complaints procedures in this way is deeply flawed.

"Every force has an informal procedure to assess officers who have received multiple complaints against them to make sure officers behaviour is up to the standards expected of them.

"However, every force has its own way of assessing these and to make a comparison of the figures supplied by forces in response to these requests in misleading. While West Mercia flagged up 117 officers for receiving at least three complaints within a 12 month period, it was only felt necessary to put five officers on a formal review."

West Midlands Police spokesman Jim Levack added: "We carry out robust and proactive checks every four weeks to identify officers who have received a disproportionate amount of complaints in a rolling 12 months.

"The total currently stands at 26 which, given that the West Midlands has 8,500 serving officers, is extremely low bearing in mind the nature of the job, although one substantiated complaint is too many.