Complaints against West Mercia Police force fall by 13pc

The figure of 513 for the year from April 2014 to April this year was down 13 per cent on the 592 received in 2013/14, the report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.

On average it took 154 days – just under five months – for West Mercia to resolve a complaint. Only around one in eight complaints against West Mercia were upheld in the period, the report said.

And the number of dissatisfied complainants went up two per cent, with 122 people taking appeals to the IPCC.

The IPCC upheld half of all the appeals – 13 of 26 – made about West Mercia Police complaint investigations.

The number of allegations against police officers and staff in West Mercia went up, with 835 recorded in 2014/15. This was eight per cent higher compared to 770 in the 12 months before it, the report said. Of those 835 allegations, only 359 were found to warrant an investigation, with 92 (15 per cent) withdrawn, discontinued or dismissed.

Nearly one in four of the allegations in West Mercia were dealt with by "local resolution", where a beat officer has investigated the complaint and settled it amicably by providing a letter of explanation or apology.

The IPCC said there were "wide inconsistencies" across the country in the way police complaints were handled. Nationally in 2014/15, there were more than 37,000 complaints made, a six per cent overall increase on the year before.

At the same time, the total number of appeals made by dissatisfied complainants increased by seven per cent.

Dame Anne Owers, chair of the IPCC, said: "The figures for England and Wales show a complaints system that is both over-complex and inconsistent, and is clearly failing to satisfy a significant number of complainants."