Peel Regional Police are attributing better training provided to their officers as the underlying reason for fewer public complaints made about the force's rank-and-file in 2007.
Last year's public complaints report was released at Friday's Police Services Board hearing. The report is a statistical overview of the complaints received and investigated by the deparetment's Public Complaint Investigation Bureau in 2007.
The report revealed police investigated 81 complaints, a 37.5 per cent decrease from 130 in 2006.
The most common complaint was not following police procedure. Others included verbal abuse, physical assault and misuse of authority, the report outlined.
"A primary factor in the substantial reduction of public complaints can be attributed to the training that members of the Public Complaint Investigation Bureau provided all front line officers during 2007," said Det. Sgt. Manny Garcia, officer-in-charge of the bureau, in the report.
"The training was targeted to address the most common and most preventable of public complaints — incivility and failure to identify oneself."
The Bureau will continue the training this year, "in order to maintain this current reduction," Garcia added.
Some of the 81 complaints made in 2007 are still being investigated.
But, the Bureau did investigate a total of 96 complaints last year, most from 2007, while others were spillovers from 2006. Of those 96 complaints, 23 were found to be unsubstantiated, two resulted in Police Services Act charges being laid against the officer involved, and 63 ended with an "informal resolution," meaning the parties reached a common ground. One complaint resulted in informal discipline against the officer.
Other complaints were withdrawn or found to be, "frivolous, vexatious or in bad faith."
None of the complaints resulted in criminal charges, the report stated.
Chief of Police Michael Metcalf is obligated under the Ontario Police Services Act to provide the Police Services Board with regular reports on his administration of the complaints system.
lrosella@mississauga.net