THUNDER BAY – Four official complaints were filed against the city police service in the third quarter of this year.
The statistics for the period between July and September were revealed at Tuesday morning’s police services board meeting, which was held at the Balmoral Street station.
Two of the complaints were filed for discreditable conduct while one alleges excessive force with another classified as a service complaint.
Half of those complaints will be investigated by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, an independent body that is charged with overseeing complaints made against police forces.
The OIPRD has also retained a complaint that was previously concluded to review at the request of the complainant.
“We don’t look at them retaining an investigation as a bad thing,” police chief J.P. Levesque said. “We look at it as a positive thing, actually.”
The number of complaints made in the quarter are relatively low compared to the annual totals from the past two years. Last year the police had a total of 29 complaints officially filed, a significant decrease from 51 in 2013.
