Restore public’s confidence in police

NEGLIGENCE by officers to investigate complaints against fellow officers is a contributing factor to the public losing confidence in the police force.
The police commissioner wants this changed and has tasked his top officers to work on improving this area of concern.
In some countries, public confidence in the police was a key performance indicator that is used to measure the force’s performance.
Whether or not this is justified is hard to tell.
But the public is often left with the sense officers may be given the benefit of the doubt by police investigating their fellow police.
Further aggravating the sense that there is a double standard in the justice system for police, is the fact disciplinary proceedings often fail to result in anyone being held accountable.
The message from the commissioner is straight forward.
When complaints are laid against a police officer, respective leaders in the force must ensure it is investigated.
The standard procedure is when a complaint has been lodged at the police station against a police officer who has broken the law, the police station commander or officer in charge will formally charge the officer under the country’s law.
Police abuse is a serious problem.
It has a long history, and it seems to defy all attempts at eradication.
The problem is national: no police station in the country is known to be completely free of misconduct.
The public know that there is a pathway to hold officers accountable for their actions, but most victims maybe are afraid of retaliation.
Some are reluctant as they view the process as too tedious, going here and there and then not knowing the progress of the investigation or how to do a follow-up.
All police departments have methods of taking civilian complaints about police officers.
In PNG, the complaints are referred to the police internal affairs directorate.
Some police departments refer to the complaints as internal affairs complaints.
These complaints are investigated by other police officers.
There are positive and negative aspects of internal complaints.
Filing an internal complaint is the only avenue that can lead to disciplinary action or termination of a police officer other than a criminal conviction of the officer, which, as discussed below, very rarely happens.
Standard practice is even if an internal complaint is not sustained, it usually stays in the officer’s personnel file.
In a properly-run police department, the fact that an officer has attracted a large number of complaints should trigger closer scrutiny.
An officer who receives multiple complaints is doing something differently than other officers.
A complaint is supposed to put the police department on notice of a police officer’s behaviour.
Because police officers work on the street, supervisors do not know how an officer interacts with the public unless members of the public provide feedback.
We note that the negative aspects of internal complaints is that much of the investigation is kept secret from the person who complained.
A public awareness programme has to be conducted around the country on the police internal affairs directorate.
The public must know the internal process that takes place after a report has been filed.
Unless the directorate makes available reports on how many complaints were received and the outcome, the police force will not succeed in restoring public confidence in the police force.