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A British police officer is subject to the law and may be sued or
prosecuted for any wrongful act committed in carrying out duties.
Police discipline codes are designed to prevent any abuse of the
considerable powers enjoyed by a police officer, lo ensure the
impartiality of the service in its dealings with the public and to maintain
public confidence. Statutory procedures, including an independent
element, govern the way in which complaints from the public against
the police are handled. The establishment in 1985 of the independent
Police Complaints Authority, with powers to supervise the investigation
of any serious complaint against a police officer, substantially
reformed the complaints system in England and Wales. In Scotland
complaints against police officers involving allegations of any form of
criminal conduct are investigated by independent public prosecutors.
In Northern Ireland the Independent Commission for Police
Complaints is required to supervise any case involving death or serious
injury and has the power to supervise the formal investigation of any
other complaint if it so wishes; in certain circumstances the Secretary
of State may direct the Commission to supervise the investigation of
matters that are not the subject of a formal complaint.
Police work ranges from the protection of people and property,
road or street patrolling (the trend is increasingly away from the car
patrol and back to 'community' policing on foot) and traffic control to
crime prevention, criminal investigation and arresting offenders. In
urban areas, particularly, police officers have to deal with social
Most forces have community liaison departments to co-ordinate
their efforts to produce good relations with the community. The
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 requires arrangements to be
made for obtaining the views of people in the area about the policing of
it and for obtaining their co-operation with the police in preventing
crime. Almost all areas have police/community consultative groups
which enable people to discuss issues of concern with the police in a
constructive spirit. Particular greater contact with schools, for example.
Emphasis is also placed on relations with ethnic minorities; racially
discriminatory behaviors by police officers is an offence under the
Police Discipline Code, and training in community relations is
available to officers.
To release as many uniformed police officers as possible for
operational duties, police authorities employ over 41,500 civilians
{including part-time employees) in England and Wales and over 2,530
in Scotland. ; The number of civilian support staff has been growing
as forces secure I economies by replacing police officers with
civilians where posts do not I require police powers and training.
Traffic wardens (of whom there are I over 4,700 in England and
Wales and about 540 in Scotland) carry out I specified duties
concerned with traffic and parking. Wardens are under i the control of
the chief constable.
Each force has an attachment of volunteer special constables
who I perform police duties in their spare time, without pay, acting
mainly as i auxiliaries to the regular force. In Northern Ireland there is
a part-time , and full-time paid reserve.
Members of the police service may not belong to a trade union nor
may I they withdraw their labour in furtherance of a trade dispute. A]l
ranks, I however, have their own staff associations to represent their interests.