Fewer than a third of police officers in Northern Ireland think the Police Ombudsman’s office is doing a good job, a survey revealed today.
The independent examination of the attitude of PSNI officers to the complaints system showed 26 per cent felt it did a poor job while 43 per cent of officers had mixed feelings.
Ombudsman Al Hutchinson described the results as challenging as there was a perception among officers his organisation was biased against them.
The survey found 37 per cent of officers believed the Ombudsman’s office had improved the accountability of police. A further 26 per cent took the contrary view and the remaining 37 per cent had mixed views.
It highlighted that 68 per cent of officers considered the police should have the right to have complaints against police independently investigated.
The survey also found 62 per cent of officers said the possibility of a complaint affected the way they did their job at least to some extent, and that 83 per cent of the officers said a complaint prevented them from doing a better job.
Mr Hutchinson said he was pleased to note that overall, judgements of the job done by his office were more likely to be positive than negative.
“What is challenging is that officers are saying that they support independent investigation but also have a perception that we may be biased against them,.
“This is not the case - and the officers who have been subject to investigation are saying so very clearly,” he said.
PA
