05 Oct 2011: Room for improvement in ACT Policing
Room for improvement in ACT Policing
In its Annual Report released on Friday 30 September, the ACT Ombudsman’s office has
identified a number of key areas for further improvement in the way ACT Policing delivers
services to ACT residents.
According to the report, the Ombudsman received 142 approaches and complaints about the
actions of ACT Policing members in 2010–11, 37 fewer than the year before. This continues a three-year trend.
“While I welcome the decrease in complaints, there is still a great deal of work to be done,” said ACT Ombudsman Allan Asher. “Persistent systemic issues continue to concern us.”
“My office has continued to highlight the importance of the Australian Federal Police complaint management practices being both transparent and seen to be above reproach as fundamental to the integrity of the police in the eyes of the community.
“It is essential that the organisation continue with its efforts to take a more customer-centred approach to complaint handling.”
Of the complaints the Ombudsman did investigate, the main issues related to inappropriate actions, customer service and police practices.
The Ombudsman has made recommendations to the AFP arising from three reviews his office carried out of AFP complaint records in 2009–10. These include:
- plain language explanations of decisions
- regular contact with complainants and clear explanation of the process
- use of force – clear explanation of efforts to de-escalate the situation
- more corroborating evidence to resolve differences in evidence of complainants and that of members
- timeliness in complaint management remains a challenge.
In the Annual Report, Mr Asher pointed out that his office will continue to take a close interest in complaints about use of force.
“There is little evidence from our examination of complaints that AFP members took steps to diffuse situations before resorting to force,” Mr Asher said.
“Another concern to my office is that out of the examination of complaints for the period December 2006 to November 2009 – the AFP did not find that a single complaint from members of the public about the use of force was established.”
“Another area of concern to my office has been ACT Policing’s implementation of Tasers,” Mr Asher said. “Earlier in the year I consulted with ACT Policing, raising concerns about the training regime to accompany any roll-out, but was later surprised by the announced implementation with some of these matters outstanding. My office will monitor this closely during 2011–12.”
“We will continue to focus on working with the AFP to further improve its timeliness of complaint handling. Measures such as the AFP’s establishment of an Adjudication Panel in 2010 for the determination of more serious complaints should help with this,” Mr Asher said.
“The AFP also needs to improve the way it communicates with complainants and the community in general, particularly in explaining decisions.”
The ACT Ombudsman is required to ensure that the ACT’s Child Sex Offenders Register is
maintained accurately by ACT Policing. Throughout 2010–11, the Ombudsman’s office worked closely with ACT Policing to improve compliance, particularly regarding how ACT Policing communicated with ACT courts and interstate police forces to ensure the Register remains up to date.
The office is also working with the ACT Policing and the ACT Department of Justice and
Community Safety on proposed legislative amendments to better align the ACT’s child sex offender regime with those of other jurisdictions and so reduce the risk of offenders re-offending.
The Annual Report and the Ombudsman’s submissions to the AFP are available on the ACT Ombudsman website.
Media contact: Shaun Rohrlach, Director of Public Affairs 0408 861 803 or 02 6276 3710