Specialist Unit with London Police Subject of 5,000 Complaints

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act have confirmed that the Territorial Support Group (TSG), a unit within London's Metropolitan Police Service, has received 5,000 complaints in just four years.

Since August 2005 5,241 allegations against the TSG have been recorded, a large number of those allegations being for "oppressive behaviour". However, as the Guardian reports, only nine of the complaints, less than 0.18 percent, lodged against a unit which deals with any outbreaks of disorder in the English capital, have been "substantiated" once investigated by the Metropolitan Police Service's complaints department. The figures obtained by the Guardian reveal that 376 complaints related to discrimination of some form, 977 complaints were concerning "incivility", and 1,100 complaints were in respect of what members of the public considered to be "failures in duty". But it is the 2,280 complaints received because of supposedly "oppressive behaviour" by members of the TSG that are likely to cause the greatest alarm to the authorities. In contrast to the minuscule number of complaints that were substantiated, 38 percent, over 2,000, were "unsubstantiated". The remainder were resolved at a police station, discontinued, dismissed or dealt with in another unspecified way. According to the Daily Mail the low number of "substantiated" complaints has led to suggestions, a member of the supervisory Metropolitan Police Authority is one person making such a suggestion, that the TSG enjoys some form of immunity as far as the actions of its members are concerned. A spokesman from the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service at Scotland Yard has denied that to be the case, emphasizing that complaints about the conduct of its officers are taken 'extremely seriously' by the Met, as the service is often known. The actions of the TSG at the G20 conference in April are under investigation following the death of Ian Tomlinson, a London newspaper vendor who was not involved in the protests the TSG was sent in to deal with. One officer with the TSG, 42-year-old former Royal Marine PC Mark Jones, has been the subject of 31 complaints since 1993 and he was one of the officers present when 34-year-old suspected terrorist Babar Ahmad was allegedly assaulted whilst being arrested at his home in South London. PC Jones only returned to duty on Wednesday after he was acquitted of racially aggravated assault. Indeed, the Daily Mail confirms that 26 allegations of assault have been lodged against the former Marine, many of the complainants being black or Asian men. None of the complaints have been proved. There are instances where a complaint is made against a whole team of officers, rather than an individual officer.