COMPLAINTS against Gwent police officers are at a ten-year low, the force says. From April 2002/2003 Gwent Police had 165 complaints made against its officers - compared to 219 for the year before and 275 in 2000/01.

Of the complaints, 3.2 per cent were substantiated. In 2000/01, the force was ranked one of the worst in the country for their number of complaints but this year's figures are likely to put them among the best.

Detective Superintendent Ray Wise (pictured) said: "We have carried out a system of training all officers in Gwent who supervise and record complaints on the importance of this being done professionally.

"This has benefited complainants in that a number of complaints are dealt with at the time they are made and are invariably resolved by officers explaining their actions to the satisfaction of the complainant.

"A small number of complaints are found to be substantiated, and some high profile court cases have resulted from these investigations.

"And we have invested a great deal of time in reinforcing the code of conduct with officers and identifying lessons that can be learnt from substantiated complaint matters.

"We also now analyse the public complaints in terms of divisions and the type of compl We can clearly identify problem areas which we have now started to address."

The main basis of the most recent complaints is allegedly oppressive behaviour, which includes alleged assaults and failures in duty.

Det-Supt Wise said that Gwent Police had installed CCTV in all their custody units and vans which has helped dramatically in reports of assaults.

He said: "When no complaints are substantiated we are accused as white washing an investigation and when officers are imprisoned the media inference is that all our officers are reflected by the conviction.

"My two years' experience in this area of work has convinced me that the vast majority of all our staff are honest and hard working and very few step over the line into criminality and deliberate misconduct.

"Those that do commit criminal offences are dealt with firmly and in accordance with the law.

"I am extremely proud of those officers who during the last two years have had the strength to challenge the behaviour of their colleagues and at times give evidence against colleagues in court.

"This has to be healthy for our organisation and Gwent Police owes them a significant debt of gratitude.

"In respect of some of the cases we have had over the last two years, we as an organisation were not good at supporting these officers who came forward but we have listened and have now developed a new policy for supporting such members of staff and the people who have experienced the problems have contributed to this document."