Complaints against police

Any person may make a complaint about the conduct of a member of the police force to the Police Complaints Authority or to any member of the police force (except the one complained about).

The complaint may be made by a person on his or her own behalf or by some other person (such as a family member or a friend) on that person's behalf. Anyone charged with a criminal offence should speak to his or her lawyer promptly.

The law concerning complaints is found in the Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 and all references are to this Act unless otherwise stated.

Investigating a complaint

Internal Investigation Branch

Except in special circumstances, complaints are investigated by the Internal Investigation Branch, a team of experienced police officers. The investigator will usually wish to speak to the complainant, the officer(s) involved and anyone else able to help with the inquiry. In certain cases the Authority may, after consultation with the Commissioner of Police, determine that a complaint should be investigated by staff of the Authority [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 ss.23, 25].

Monitoring of investigations

The Authority monitors the progress of all investigations and may inspect any documents or speak to anybody about a complaint. From time to time, members of the staff of the Authority are present at interviews, and the Authority's facilities and premises may also be made available [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 s.28].

Confidentiality

Investigations are carried out in strict confidence. However, if a Court, Tribunal or Royal Commission subpoena a file of the Authority, then confidentiality may be breached [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 s 48(4)(7)].

Costs

There is no charge for the investigation of complaints [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 s.48].

Review by the authority

When the Commissioner of Police is satisfied with the results of an investigation, a copy of the investigation report is sent to the Authority. After assessing the report, the Authority may find that the complaint has been properly investigated or may ask that further investigations be carried [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 ss.31, 32].

Sometimes when the full picture is presented from the investigation report it becomes clear that the complainant and the police are seeing the incident from different viewpoints which they are equally entitled to have. For example, the police may have appeared to the complainant to have overreacted while searching a house when in fact, unknown to the complainant, they were searching for an armed fugitive. When both versions are laid side by side, the full facts of the incident become clearer and can be explained satisfactorily to the parties, having regard to each person's frame of reference.

Taking remedial action

When remedial action may be recommended

The Authority may recommend that remedial action be taken if, after assessing an investigation report, it finds that the conduct of a police officer was:

against the law or in breach of discipline
unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory
based on a mistake of law or fact
based on a misuse of a discretionary power

Recommendations that may be made

After making an assessment, the Authority may recommend to the Commissioner of Police that:

a police officer be charged with an offence or a breach of discipline
a decision be reconsidered, varied or reversed, or reasons should be given as to why a decision was made
the effects of a decision, act or omission be rectified, mitigated or altered
a law, policy or procedure be altered
any other action be taken
no action be taken

Where there is no agreement on an assessment

If the Commissioner and the Authority cannot agree on an assessment or the consequent recommendations, the matter will be referred to the Minister for a decision. The Minister must notify the Authority and the Commissioner of Police of his or her decision. The Authority will then notify the person who made the complaint and the police officer(s) involved [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 s.34].

Police Disciplinary Tribunal

When the Commissioner of Police charges a member of the police force with a breach of discipline and the officer denies it, the charge is heard and determined by the Police Disciplinary Tribunal [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 ss.37-45]. The person who made the complaint and witnesses (if any) may be required to give evidence before the Tribunal.

The Tribunal is constituted of a magistrate and the proceedings are heard in private, unless the Tribunal decides otherwise.

Police Complaints Authority

The Police Complaints Authority (in this part of the chapter called the Authority) is an independent statutory authority entirely separate from the police force, as are the staff of the Authority. The Authority has the power to:

receive complaints about the conduct of police officers or employees of the police department [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 ss.3,16(1)(5)]
maintain a register of complaints lodged both with the Authority and with the police [s.29]
oversee the investigation of complaints [ ss.25,26]
examine investigation reports [ s.32(1)]
investigate certain complaints independently [s.23]
on his or her own initiative raise a matter for investigation [s22A]
conciliate to resolve complaints where possible [s.22]
determine that a minor complaint should be the subject of an informal inquiry only [s21A; 3(2)]
make an assessment of the matter in the light of the investigation report [s.32(1)(a)]
recommend disciplinary or other action [s.32(1)(b)].

The Authority must report to Parliament on the handling of complaints against police.

Making a complaint

Suggestions for people who may have a police complaint

If a person believes that the police have acted wrongly, they should say so politely, but it is unwise to struggle or argue the point. If someone has been injured while in police custody, they should arrange an immediate medical examination and have some photographs taken. As well, witnesses who can testify about the complainant's condition before their arrest should be contacted. The complainant should write down what happened, who did it, (such as the police officer's I.D. number or nickname) and when and where it all happened while it is still fresh. Any complaint should be made as soon as possible after contact with the police. If the complainant has been charged with an offence, they should get legal advice.

Police Complaints Authority procedure

A person wishing to make a complaint to the Authority should contact the office of the Authority or put the complaint in writing and post or bring it in. If necessary, an appointment may be made to discuss the complaint or a person may prefer to discuss the matter by telephone first. A complaint form can be sent to any person who contacts the office to make a complaint. In addition, a person may lodge a complaint at any police station which will then be sent to the Authority. It is not appropriate though to make a complaint to the person who is being complained about.

If an appointment is made, an officer from the Authority will discuss the matter with the complainant privately and in confidence. Interpreters are provided if necessary. A decision is then made as to whether or not the matter will be taken further, and the complainant is then advised of the decision.

Sometimes a simple explanation of police practices and procedures is all that is required in order to dispel a person's concerns. At other times a person may genuinely wish to complain about seemingly inappropriate police conduct. If the incident complained about is minor, it may be that the matter can be informally resolved. If the complaint is more serious, then preliminary enquiries or an investigation may take place.

Persons in custody

If a person in custody wishes to complain to the Authority, that person must be provided with facilities to write the complaint out, place it in an envelope and seal it. The envelope must be sent to the Authority promptly and without being opened [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 s.17].

Offences in connection with making police complaints

When a complaint is made to the Authority, it is an offence to knowingly make a false statement. It is also an offence to hinder or prevent a person from making a complaint [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 s.25(8a);49].

Complaints not investigated

Most complaints are informally resolved, conciliated, sent for preliminary enquiries or investigated. However, the Authority may decide [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 s.21] that a complaint should not be investigated or further investigated if:

the complaint is made more than six months after the complainant became aware of the police conduct and there are no special reasons to justify an investigation
the complaint is trivial, frivolous, vexatious or it appears that the person making the complaint does not have sufficient interest in the matter
the complaint is made anonymously and there are no special reasons to justify an investigation
a person has been charged in relation to the conduct complained about
the person making the complaint has used another right of action or has exercised a right of appeal or review in relation to the matter complained about
the circumstances mean that an investigation is unnecessary or cannot be justified.

A complaint is not investigated if a person has been charged with an offence and the subject of the complaint is bound up with the proceedings before the court. In these circumstances, rather than encroach on the court's jurisdiction, the Authority waits for the court's decision before deciding whether to investigate the complaint. Delaying the investigation until the court proceedings have ended avoids having the prosecution and defence cases compromised or prejudiced and, if a court has ruled on the relevant subject matter, may save time and cost of an investigation.

As long as the Authority agrees, the police may try to conciliate a complaint if there is some chance that it can be resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned. This applies to all types of complaints [Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985 s.22].

To resolve less serious allegations (for example, use of bad language, shoving and jostling in a crowded situation) a person making a complaint can nominate whether or not to try to informally resolve the complaint. This process of informal resolution is normally completed within 14 days. The person making the complaint can withdraw consent at any time during the process and the complaint may then be dealt with on a formal basis. If a complaint can be informally resolved or conciliated, the costs and delay of an investigation are avoided.