COMPLAINTS against police officers in Wiltshire have gone up by 17 per cent despite overall figures staying well below the national average.

From April to December 2003 there were 172 complaints made against Wiltshire officers compared to 148 during the same nine-month period in 2002.

Allegations of unlawful arrest for the division have gone up from two to eight, neglect of duty from 11 cases to 18 and incivility up from 41 complaints to 50.

Racial discrimination allegations have dropped from six to two.

One complaint of sexual assault was withdrawn while there were 16 complaints of harassment or oppressive conduct and 41 allegations of assault logged last year.

The Police Complaints Authority dispensed 52 of the 172 complaints, while 71 cases were dealt with by informal resolutions.

Overall complaints against Wiltshire officers are well below the national average with around 138 complaints per 1,000 officers, compared to the national average of 178.

The majority of complainants are white males, aged between 25 and 44.

In C division, which covers west and north Wiltshire, there were a total of 48 complaints in the nine-month spell with the majority in connection with arrest procedures a statistic mirrored on a county-wide level.

Several of the complaints related to the use of CS spray or leg and arm restraints.

Four complaints in C division related to the handling of domestic disputes, with two in connection with officers carrying out a search of a person.

Members of Wiltshire Police Authority's Com-plaints and Professional Standards Committee were due to discuss the latest complaints stat-istics at a meeting held at Devizes Police Head-quarters this morning.