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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.