Police (Complaints) (Hansard, 10 February 1977)

§ Mr. Merlyn Rees

Yes. My hon. Friend asked me for information about the number of charges and allegations made against the police in general, and the Metropolitan Police in particular, about the number of cases referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions, and about the outcome of such cases. He also asked for certain information about particular officers against whom allegations had been made.

The following is the text of a letter I sent him on 27th January and of its accompanying schedules: Thank you for your letter of 23rd December in which you ask for statistics of allegations made against police officers and their outcome. Cases of the kind described in paragraph (1) in your letter are not separately reported in the annual statistical returns from police

SCHEDULE 1
OUTCOME OF COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE POLICE 1971–75
	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975
A. Total England and Wales
1. Complaints against the police	12,271	15,543	16,155	17,454	19,205
2. Cases leading to criminal charges (including those for traffic offences)^*	90	127	110	105	128
3. Cases leading to disciplinary charges†	209	258	186	189	247
B. Of which Metropolitan Police Force only
1. Complaints against the police	4,332	5,671	5,566	6,173	6,233
2. Cases leading to criminal charges (including those for traffic offences)^*	15	19	17	17	9
3. Cases leading to disciplinary charges†	88	111	78	68	64
^* Does not include cases where charges are brought in a subsequent year.
† In some cases the relevant complaint may have been made in an earlier year.

SCHEDULE 2
CASES REFERRED TO THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS UNDER SECTION 49(3) OF THE POLICE ACT 1964
	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975
A. Total England and Wales
1. Cases determined by the Director of Public Prosecutions (including allegations of traffic offences)	1,809	2,761	2,852	2,739	3,131
2. Cases where the Director of Public Prosecutions recommended prosecutions (including alleged traffic offences)	133	191	153	140	163
3. Cases which led to conviction in the year (including traffic offences)^*	66	106	89	79	107
4. Cases which led to acquittal in the year^*	25	40	26	32	32
B. Of which Metropolitan Police Force only
1. Cases determined by the Director of Public Prosecutions (including allegations of traffic offences)	713	1,005	900	769	801
2. Cases where the Director of Public Prosecutions recommended prosecutions (including alleged traffic offences)^*	36	44	28	30	14
3. Cases which led to conviction in the year (including traffic offences)^*	14	19	9	12	9
4. Cases which led to acquittal in the year^*	4	5	3	5	4
^* Details of the remaining cases which were determined by the courts in the subsequent year are not available.

772W

forces relating to discipline and complaints; and for this reason, and not for the reason you suggest, it would therefore involve disproportionate effort and cost to provide the information you request. The enclosed schedules however, give such details as are readily available from the returns for the last five years. As regards Schedule 2, it is not possible to provide information precisely related to that in Schedule 1, nor as to the reasons for the decisions by the Director of Public Prosecutions. As you know, however, it is the normal practice to submit the case to the Director where a complaint amounts to an allegation of a criminal offence; such a submission is made under Section 49(3) of the Police Act 1964 and it in no sense necessarily implies that the complaint is well founded. As regards paragraph (3) in your letter, I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that he first received detailed allegations on 17th April 1973 and that a senior officer was appointed to investigate the matter the next day. Of the nine former officers involved in the recent trial or at present before the Courts, three retired with an ill-health pension and three on completion of service with an ordinary pension.