COMPLAINTS against the police have rocketed since the introduction of a new independent body set up to monitor public grievances.

Latest figures for the county show complaints between April and June were up 62 per cent on last year - and complaints about 'uncivil' officers made up 22 per cent of the total.

The startling rise, revealed in a meeting of Gloucestershire Police Authority on Monday, September 20, was put down to the introduction of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) earlier this year.

"We do not seem to be sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing," said authority member Tom Fitzgibbon JP. "The launch of the IPCC in April raised awareness among the public that they could complain and how to complain.

"The thing which tends to annoy me is the percentage of complaints which are about incivility, which I find completely unacceptable in a public service."

He also told the authority that officers with more than 20 years service were more likely to have incivility charges levelled at them by the public than younger officers.

But Chief Constable Dr Timothy Brain hit back at critics by pointing out that many of the complaints were unjustified and the category of 'incivility' covered a broad range of issues.

"We must distinguish between an allegation being made simply because someone does not like what is happening to them and an officer actually being rude and vicious or overbearing," he said.

Police spokesman Matt Ford told the SNJ that all complaints were treated extremely seriously and thoroughly investigated.