A qualitative content analysis of public complaints against police officers in Ghana

Abstract

This study employed the qualitative approach to examine complaints lodged by citizens against some police officers of the Ghana Police Service. Particularly, the study relied on documented complaints at the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB), a body established under the Police Service to deal with issues of police conduct and professionalism. Relying on the Procedural Justice and the Media Richness theories, the researcher analysed the kind of complaints lodged against the police, the channels of lodging these complaints and how the complaints were resolved. Out of the 1709 complaints lodged at the bureau in the year 2018, 987 of them were connected to the theme of unfair treatment and abuse of power. The second most dominant category of complaints included performance deficit which encapsulates unprofessional handling of cases, undue delay of investigation, enlistment fraud, inability to apprehend criminals, involvement in civil cases and lackadaisical attitude towards work. Also, complaints were lodged against the off-duty conduct of some police officers. The study found that the most paramount channel of lodging complaints is through letters to the Director of the PPSB. Nonetheless, some complainants rely on their lawyers or law firms to lodge complaints. Findings suggest that the complaint resolution process is largely rigorous. When complaints are lodged, they are first processed, investigators are assigned to investigate the issues and the issues are dealt with based on the outcome of the investigation. In light of the findings gathered from this study, it is recommended that the bureau optimises the use of other media, particularly social media, and emails for receiving complaints because the over-reliance on official letters, might inconvenience other complainants. Other digital channels could also be adapted to support the complaint process in order to minify police misconduct.