NCJ Number
167598
Date Published
1997
Length
91 pages
Annotation
This report identifies the conditions that give rise to complaints against police in Queensland (Australia) for assaults, so as to help the police design strategies to minimize the potential for conflict between police and citizens.
Abstract
The report first provides a general overview of the complaints that form the subject of the study. It presents information about the complaints through all stages of the complaint process. This is followed by a description of the personal characteristics of police officers and civilians involved in conflicts. The report then examines the physical and temporal context in which the complaints of assault arose. Data presented and analyzed pertain to when and where the incidents occurred and whether other people (police and civilians) were present at the time. One chapter focuses on the interaction between the police and civilians involved in these incidents. Aspects of the incidents analyzed include the reason for the police-civilian contact, the behavior of the civilians during the incident, the role of alcohol and drugs, and the policing styles used in these interactions. The concluding chapter outlines the limitations of case-by-case investigation of complaints as a means of dealing with assault complaints against police and suggests a range of managerial and organizational strategies for reducing the number of such complaints. 58 references, extensive figures and tables, and appended outline of the law of assault and the law relating to police use of force as well as four case studies that illustrate how inappropriate policing styles can escalate police-civilian conflict and give rise to a complaint of assault