Complaints data

The Authority receives about 2000 complaints each year. More detailed information is also available in our latest Annual Report.

In the year to 30 June 2010, the Authority received 2049 complaints - compared with 1997 complaints the previous year.

Number of complaints

Year to 30 June	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Number of complaints	1781	1956	1902	1741	2016	2073	1997	2049

What were the complaints about?

The Authority classifies its complaints under 33 descriptions. In 2009/10, the most common complaints were over: practice and procedure; attitude and/or language; failure to act in some way; and use of force.

During 2009/10, the Authority received:

• 18 reports of deaths or serious injury associated with Police pursuits. There were nine deaths following pursuits.
• 65 reports from Police of serious bodily harm associated with Police actions (including the pursuit statistics), as required under section 13 of the IPCA Act.
• Ten notifications of a serious nature under the 1994 Memorandum of Understanding with Police. The MoU requires Police to notify the IPCA of serious misconduct or serious neglect of duty that has been reported internally within Police. The ten notifications that met the threshold for classification as Category 1 thus required independent investigation.

Investigations

At the start of the 2009/10 financial year there were 81 open investigations. During the year, the Authority commenced independent investigations into a further 69 serious matters. It completed and closed 80 investigations. At the end of the financial year, there were 70 open investigations.

Age of complaints

At 30 June 2010, the Authority had 16 complaints that were more than 12 months old. A further six complaints more than 12 months old were subject to court processes outside the immediate control of the Authority. The number of older files has reduced from 30 in 2009; 211 in 2008; and 1611 complaints in 2007.