No action taken in majority of cases of complaints against Croydon police
Cherry Wilson
NEARLY three quarters of the complaints made against Croydon police over the last financial year were found to be "unsubstantiated".
A total of 359 allegations were made against officers working in the borough between April 2009 and March 2010, but there was found to be no proof the complaints were valid or true in 258 of the cases and "no action" was taken in 318 of them.
Figures released following a Freedom of Information request show the most complaints – 111 – involved officers being accused of "neglect or failing" in their duty.
The second most common complaint, with 55 occurrences, was against officers who allegedly acted with "incivility, impoliteness or intolerance".
Maxine Petgrave, from Thornton Heath, lodged a complaint against the police after her son Pascoe – who was just 12 at the time – was arrested for theft.
He had been accused of stealing a £10 note which had been left hanging out of a cash machine, but the charge against him was eventually dropped.
Maxine believes the "low" number of complaints does not necessarily reflect the public's perception of the police.
She said: "I wasn't surprised that my complaint wasn't upheld. It's hard to win against them. It's one man against an army.
"The number of complaints is low because people won't come forward as they think nothing is going to be done about it. There are definitely more complaints out there."
According to the figures, 45 complaints were made against officers who were accused of assaulting a member of the public, and 16 complaints were lodged against officers who were alleged to have abused their stop-and-search powers.
The statistics show "management action" was taken with regards to 27 complaints – which involves the issue being dealt with locally by a senior officer.
This can include the officer in question being given an improvement plan and addressing any underlying reasons for their misconduct.
Superintendent Dave Stringer said that Croydon police take complaints very seriously, with each allegation being fully investigated before being reviewed independently.
He added: "The number of complaints we received is relatively small when you consider that our officers are making hundreds of interactions with people in the borough every day.
"The vast majority of complaints were also found to be unsubstantiated or withdrawn.
"Where a complaint is upheld, we will look to take appropriate action and take any learning away, either individually or as an organisation."
5 Comments
by Rob, away
Thursday, September 02 2010, 4:25PM
“maybe he gave the arresting officer a mouthful of abuse...
but at the end of the day pretty múch anyone would take the cash..
ridiculous.”
by dan, Croydon
Thursday, September 02 2010, 7:42AM
“Tim, the thing is this. If he takes the money out of the ATM then and begins to walk off you have enough evidence to arrest for the offence provided it is in accordance with PACE/SOCPA. In fact merely taking it out of the ATM could be considered enough, with need to ascertain his intentions. Now, in this case, arrest is an option under PACE/SOCPA. Prompt and effective investigation, prevent loss or damage to property. It would really depend on what he said when questioned I would have thought. He isn't eligible for a fine, I can't remember what age one has to be receive an on the spot fine but its quite a bit over 12 years old. Neither of us were there, and by the time we get round to reading it neither has an idea about what actually would have happened. After the mother has had her slant, the police theirs, the boy his own. If he was stopped and said he was going to spend it on sweets or something then theft is complete. But how far do the police let someone walk and risk losing them for before they decide he has dishonest intentions. The thing to remember is that although it may feel like it, although we may be conditioned to believe it arrest is not a punishment it is merely for investigative reasons. As for the legitimate owner of the money. Yes they would need to be found. But it isn't necessary to prove who owned it for a theft to occur it only has to belong to someone and that wasn't the person taking it. I imagine its a very difficult siltation for a police officer, what do you do, allow a crime to be committed under your nose and look lazy through inaction or pathetic/pedantic and a jobs worth for doing something about it. Given the boy has committed an offence. If he didn't have a bank card why did he go up to the ATM? Take the money. Most people his age don't have any dealing with ATMs. If you walk up to one to withdraw cash and innocently come across the notes its a different story. I don't want this to start looking like an A-level law essay.”
by Tim, Croydon
Tuesday, August 31 2010, 7:06AM
“Dan, if I remember the news article about that case correctly, the kid was pounced on by the police before he could even leave the ATM. In your quote of the theft act 1968 you mention "intention". I would be very angry if I found £10 at an ATM and the police jumped out at me before I had chance to do anything about finding the owner. The owner would also have to prove ownership too (and if the bank is closed, then they can't).
I think ATM's do retract money after a time but I've never tested this personally so I don't know how long it takes.”
by dan, Croydon
Monday, August 30 2010, 8:46PM
“Hang about, he did actually commit theft by finding. Theft is defined in section 1 of the theft act of 1968. "A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it" It wasn't his money so it was property of another, he appropriated it dishonestly, ie he never took reasonable steps to find the owner or hand it into his local cop shop which also proves he had the intention to deprive the legitimate owner of it. I imagine the reason the case was dropped was that the CPS considered it to not be in the public interest. What was this woman actually complaining about? You arrested my son for breaking the law? I thought the police were in the habit of catching law breakers. What do I know though. I'm sure the reason that most complaints go no where is that there is very little or no grounds for them. Still I'm not saying that legitimate complaints shouldn't be dealt with, but you have to find out what is a legitimate complaint and what is a load of poppycock.”
by Croydon Resident, Croydon
Monday, August 30 2010, 12:59PM
“Isn't taking money left in a cash point 'Theft by finding'? Surely any decent parent would reprimand their child for taking something that didn't belong to them? Teach your children to do the decent thing and hand someone else's money back to the bank and stop blaming the police for doing their job. At any rate, cash machines retract any money left in it within a minute so he wasn't hanging about!”