COMPLAINTS of rudeness against Greater Manchester Police have soared.

Allegations that police were impolite - by far the most common complaint against the force last year - rose 19 per cent to 855 complaints, according to a report published by Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA)

GMP's Professional Standards Branch, which deals with all complaints, has now set up an 'incivility focus group' in North Manchester - the division with the most complaints for rudeness.

And police chiefs have admitted the massive increase in rude officers 'is an issue we are trying to address'.

The report says more than a quarter of all complaints last year were for 'incivility', including abusive language and insulting or inconsiderate behaviour.

It says the focus group will now 'formulate initiatives to combat the rise in incivility complaints'.

Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney, of GMP, said: "The rise in incivility is an issue we are trying to address by better understanding the interactions of officers with the public and causes of these complaints, and then looking for new solutions to the issues that people raise.

"The incivility focus group has been set up to bring representatives from staff associations together to look for new approaches and then implement them so we can improve our citizen focus service.

"We are always trying to improve the service we give and this is one of a number of approaches we are trying to raise professional standards.

Trust and confidence

"As part of the drive to improve trust and confidence in the police, we have worked hard to improve access to the complaints system.

"For example, we have established third party reporting for minority communities and improved access for the public through e-mail, telephone and greater training for our staff."

The increase in rudeness is also being taken seriously by GMPA.

Executive director off GMPA, Russell Bernstein, said: "The issue of complaints against the police is taken extremely seriously by GMPA.

"This is reflected in our scrutiny and monitoring processes which enable us to identify and address areas of concern.

"In cases where problems are identified we ensure solutions such as personal action plans for officers who may have received a high number of complaints are applied.

"This has proved extremely successful in addressing problems such as incivility and we will continue to apply the action plan approach.

"In addition, the authority's Complaints and Professional Standards Committee will regularly sample complaints about incivility.

"This measure will bolster our regular reporting mechanisms and ensure any emerging problems are identified and addressed as soon as possible."

The report also stated that the total number of complaints against the force rose to 2,007, rising around five per cent compared to the year before.

Other figures in the report show a massive rise in the number of complaint cases in the first three months of the current financial year, April to the end of June.

The force received 760 official complaints, up 27 per cent on the same period the previous year.

It says three events where police clashed with the public 'contributed significantly to the rises'. These were the Glasgow Rangers riots, a clash outside the Bridgwater Hall involving peace activists and a Fallowfield street party that turned sour.

The figures show other similar police forces received far fewer complaints in the same period.

West Midlands Police received the next highest number of complaints (636), followed by West Yorkshire (313), Merseyside (260), Northumbria (203) and Cleveland (156).

The total number of complaints against GMP has almost doubled in the last seven years although police say the increase is due to better recording procedures.