Police officer receives six complaints in 12 months

A police officer has been labelled a concern after receiving six complaints in 12 months.

The Harrow officer is one of only 34 across London who has had five or more complaints about his conduct.

A spokeswoman from the Met said: "Following a series of thorough investigations, only one of the six complaints made against the officer in question was substantiated.

"This complaint was categorised as Òother neglect or failure in duty.

"Any instance where the conduct of our staff falls below the expected standards of professional conduct is treated extremely seriously in line with Metropolitan Police Service policy and as part of our policing pledge to Londoners."

Other neglect or failure in duty could include failure to record or investigate matters and keep interested parties informed or failure to comply with orders, instructions or policy.

Following the complaint the officer was given a written warning which will stay on his file for a year and has remained in his post.

Peter Symthe, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation said: "People seem to have more confidence in the complaints system now.

"All complaints are investigated, but depending what the complaints are they are dealt with differently."

Sonoo Malkani, chair of the Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group, said: "It is a concern there is a particular officer who has so many complaints against him, but if they have given him a written warning then clearly it can't be a very serious matter.

"If it was serious I suspect they would have done more."

Ross Simpson, vice-president of the Harrow Crime Prevention Panel, said: "It is always a concern to hear of an officer who fails in their duty and receives an official warning.

"If it has been dealt with by the police it is a step in the right direction."

The report from the Metropolitan Police Directorate of Professional Standards records events - which are public complaints or conduct matters against staff members - from December 2007 until December 2008.

In Harrow there was also one officer with four complaints and four officers with three complaints each.