118 complaints against police

The number of complaints made against the county's police officers and staff between April 1 and June 30 this year was 118 a slight increase from 112 in the same period last year.

But in a report to North Yorkshire Police Authority, Detective Chief Inspector Ian Lemon said only one complaint was substantiated in the last three months which resulted in an officer being given advice.

It takes an average of 67 days to investigate each complaint. There were 23 allegations of assault and excessive use of force and 28 allegations of rudeness.

By far the biggest category of complaint was "neglect of duty", with 60 allegations being reported.

Of those, 21 claimed officers had failed to properly investigate a crime, 30 said an officer or member of staff had refused to do something expected of them and a further nine were from people who said they had not been updated about the outcome of an incident.

In the central area, which includes York and Selby, 72 allegations were made.

Two officers received Superintendents' Written Warnings between April and June compared with three in the same period last year.

Det Chief Insp Lemon said: "The written warnings were given in two separate cases, for discreditable conduct and a failure to comply with lawful orders."

Two officers were also given verbal warnings.

The force received 59 letters of appreciation, commending the efforts of staff 13 of which were in the central area.

Det Chief Insp Lemon said a report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission found North Yorkshire Police recorded the highest number of complaints per officer of any force, but the commissioner responsible for the report said this was because the force records complaints against police in an "ethical and professional" manner.

The force was also found to be the best at resolving complaints at a local level.

In April, The Press told how the number of complaints rose by 21 per cent to 392 in 2005-2006 compared with 324 in 2004-2005.