Improving the management of complaints - Assessing police performance in complaint management Special Report to Parliament August 2002

In March 1999 NSW Police became fully responsible for complaints against police. Criminal or administrative, serious or minor, systemic or one-off, complaints about police conduct were handed back to local commanders. These changes reflected not only recommendations of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service, but also an appreciation of the value of  complaints to NSW Police as an organisation. Complaints provide an opportunity to identify poor practice by individual officers, local commands or the whole of NSW Police — and to address those practices through management action. Complaints may identify officers of concern, who require close supervision. Complaints are a further and often final opportunity to right a wrong to an individual, group or community. Managing complaints therefore rightly belongs with NSW Police.

In this report, I examine how NSW Police is performing in the management of complaints.