1. 4 th International Evidence Based Policing Confere nce ‘An analysis of complaints relating to traffic officers: Do officer characteristics predict rates of complaint?’ Chief Superintendent Paul Dickson

2. South Australia Police (SAPOL) South Australia is one of six States; Population of about 1.6 million Police strength, 4500 sworn / 1150 unsworn; Annual budget of approximately $650 million; Just over 1 million square kilometres.

3. ‘I get complaints because I have a high number contacts with the Community!’ This research did not support this hypothesis

4. ‘the police as a public institution relies on a grant of legitimacy rooted in public trust and confidence, citizen complaints of misconduct represent a weakening of that foundation’ Terrill and McCluskey 2002

5. Existing Research: Traffic stops, the most frequent interaction with police The reason people are dissatisfied with the police contact relates to the manner they were treated Dissatisfaction with police impacts on both community satisfaction and confidence

6. Reason for this research Limited research on the relationship between police officers receiving complaints and community contacts Are officer characteristics (Age, Gender, Experience, Length of service) relevant to the number of complaints received Do officers receive more complaints because they have more community contact

8. Complaints & Contacts Contact Range Total 0-249250-499500-9991000-14991500+ No / Low / High complaintsno complaintsOfficers48 2980133 % with no complaints36.1% 21.8%6.0%.0%100.0% Low complaints (<0.5%)Officers316316258 % with low complaints5.2%27.6%53.4%10.3%3.4%100.0% High complaints (>0.5%)Officers13561025 % with high complaints52.0%20.0%24.0%4.0%.0%100.0% TotalOfficers646966152216 % with No / Low / High complaints 29.6%31.9%30.6%6.9%.9%100.0%

9. Complaint Analysis – High / No Complaint Cohort - High Complaint CohortTotal Number of Officers7672325 Officers Number of complaints 12-45-1011-1216-28 168 Complaints No Complaint CohortTotal Number of Officers613231 25 officers Number of complaints 01234 30 Complaints

10. Complaint Analysis

11. Research Findings Summary Officer characteristics do not impact on the number of complaints received Officers within the High and No complaint cohorts generally remain in these cohorts over time Rudeness is the greatest cause of complaint Higher number of contacts will not result in an increased number of complaints Importance of Citizen’s expressing their point of view

12. Implications for policing Training: Enhance police awareness of the impact of poor community interactions Policy: Remove officers from contacting the community if they remain in the high complaint cohort Disciplinary: Effective model of identifying officers within the high complaint cohort and processes to manage their behaviour in a timely way.

13. THANK YOU