Complainants happy with
informal resolutions
A Police officer, assigned to handle complaints lodged against officers from Traffic New Territories North, has achieved a 100 per cent success rate in resolving complaints by way of Informal Resolution.
Since taking up the responsibility as Conciliating Officer a year ago, Superintendent David Whyte of T NTN Headquarters investigated nearly 90 complaints of which over 60 were harmoniously settled through conciliation.
The process involves interviewing both the complainant and the complainee, and in many instances a complaint is lodged against several officers resulting in over 100 individual interviews.
"Most complainants, whilst genuinely feeling aggrieved by the circumstances of their complaint, remain positively supportive of the Police and seek only to bring the problem to the attention of Police management," Mr Whyte told OffBeat.
"Usually a sympathetic ear, and a sincere assurance that their point of view has been taken on board and will be acted upon, is sufficient to resolve most complaints.
"Complainants have proven particularly appreciative of the personal approach and swift conclusion provided by the Informal Resolution process, which may not be so evident in a formal complaint investigation," he said.
As an example, Mr Whyte stressed, one complainant indicated at the outset that he had arranged a press conference with reporters
outside the station to brief them on the results of the interview. "An hour later he departed, completely content with the resolution of his complaint, leaving the reporters without a story."
He revealed that the hardest part of the conciliatory process was finding a way to politely terminate an interview, and in one case, the complainant after more than an hour of discussion exacerbated the situation by indicating that he wanted to contact newspapers.
"I asked him why he wanted to get the media involved, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that he wished to reflect how appreciative he was of the manner in which his complaint had been investigated and handled."
Follow up actions are taken after the successful conclusion of a
complaint. This is aimed at preventing the recurrence of a similar grievance. They include according specific advice to the complainee, his supervisor, or unit, a general instruction to the formation, a review of procedures, or the issue of comprehensive guidelines. Aspects identified by these reviews have also been adopted Force-wide.
Mr Whyte added: "The old adage citing prevention is better than cure is particularly
pertinent to complaints against Police, and if the proper handling of a complaint from the earliest opportunity portrays Police professionalism and prevents a repetition, then the benefits will be felt by all concerned, both within the Police and the public."
David Whyte with Acting Chief Inspector Chow Yun-sang investigating complaints