The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland received 3,081 complaints last year about police officers, an increase of 3 per cent on the previous year, according to its annual report published today.
It also received 39 complaints relating to issues referred to it by the police, the Public Prosecution service and matters where the Ombudsman himself decided to initiate an investigation.
In 8 per cent of the cases concerning complaints about police officers, the Ombudsman’s office found evidence to support what the person who made the complaint had alleged.
As a result of the Ombudsman’s investigations, 12 police officers faced prosecution and 306 were subject to discipline.
In 40 per cent of cases, the office did not find any evidence to support the allegation.
Speaking at the publication of the report, Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson said his investigations had an additional benefit beyond trying to establish the facts in a particular incident.
“The process of investigating complaints can also identify issues of police policy or practice which could be refined and ultimately lead to better policing. During the year we made 46 such recommendations to the police,” he said.
Not all cases brought to the Ombudsman were investigated. Ten per cent of cases reported last year were informally resolved. Forty per cent were unable to be investigated because the person making the complaint later withdrew it or did not co-operate with the investigation.