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DAILYMAIL.CO.UK MANCHESTER, ENGLAND Rude and sarcastic police officers are to get a lesson in manners after a surge in complaints about incivility. Chiefs have singled out officers who swear at members of the public and ordered them to attend a training course to make them more polite. Hundreds of officers and 999 call handlers from Greater Manchester Police have been sent on the course to learn to 'mind their Ps and Qs'.  Police chiefs have singled out officers who swear at members of the public and ordered them to attend a training course to make them more polite (file picture) The worst culprits in the riot squad and drug-fighting teams have also been given lessons in deportment and told how to stand at a person's door without 'acting overbearingly'. But the courtesy course has angered many officers who claim they are being forced to act like 'Mary Poppins' when dealing with thugs. The move comes after reports of police rudeness have shot up by 14 per cent in the last year from 11,385 allegations in 2007-2008 to 12,948 this year across the UK. Greater Manchester Police saw a 17 per cent rise in complaints from the public from 1,794 to 2,102 in the same period, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission A quarter of those were about officers being impolite or intolerant, which was higher than the national average of 21 per cent. In response, police chiefs from the force have sent 200 officers with a history of complaints from specialist operations divisions like the drugs and riot squads and call handlers to an 'incivility focus group'.The seminar held in June was attended by inspectors and superintendents from the divisions with the worst record as well as student officers and newly promoted sergeants and inspectors who received training in how to police politely. The force now plans to introduce incivility seminars for all managers. Customer care workshops have been introduced in the specialist operations branch and training for call handlers has been extended by a week to focus on politeness. Detective Superintendent Mike Freeman, head of investigations for the force's professional standards department, told Police Review: 'For as long as I can remember the biggest single cause of complaints against officers are about incivility. 'It is not about officers shouting and swearing at the public, it is more than that. 'It is about deportment; how that officer stands at a person's door, for example.' He added: 'It is my view that most of this type of behaviour by officers is unnecessary and undermines the good work they do. 'We recognise that one or two of our best performing officers need to mind their Ps and Qs and this is why we are running this initiative.' But some disgruntled officers have objected to the lessons. One said: 'We're being told that we have to be courteous to some scumbag who we've nicked a hundred times and that we have to stand a certain way when we turn up at their door and not swear at them. 'I can see how call centre staff should be polite, but when it comes down to it we've got a job to do. 'We're not Mary Poppins for God's sake.' A spokeswoman for the force said: 'The force has identified through analysis the problem areas in GMP. 'Senior leadership across the force were made aware of the problem. Officers with a history of complaints of this nature were identified. 'As a result strategies have been put in place to make all staff aware of the negative impact that poor or inappropriate communication can have on our public and equally how this affects the confidence agenda. 'An incivility focus group was set up by force command to identify initiatives and best practice to combat poor standards.' Earlier this year, Leicestershire Police sent hundreds of police to charm school to teach them how to smile and not be a 'killjoy'. Frontline officers were instructed to be more friendly and to tell drunken revellers on a night out to have a good time as part of a positive language course.
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TELEGRAPH.CO.UK MANCHESTER, ENGLAND Officers at Greater Manchester Police have been told they must stop "speaking sarcastically", swearing and "acting overbearingly" when talking to the public. Call handlers, drugs teams and riot squads were identified as being among the worst offenders. Police chiefs said that even how an officer stands at a person's door can be important and disclosed that a quarter of all complaints made against police were about rude behaviour. Around 200 officers are now undergoing training in a series of seminars to improve their manners. Det Supt Mike Freeman, from GMP's professional standards department, told Police Review magazine: "For as long as I can remember the biggest single cause of complaints against officers are about incivility. "It is not about officers shouting and swearing at the public, it is more than that. It is about deportment; how that officer stands at a person's door, for example." The courses have been hailed a success, with complaints about GMP officers having fallen by 29 per cent since May. Mr Freeman said that officers had a three-strike rule. When there were three complaints about them concerning rudeness they were talked to by an inspector and asked to "re-examine their attitude". He added that officers are now regularly reminded that "courtesy does not cost anything." A spokeswoman for the force said: "The majority of complaints we receive, like with most forces, are about civility issues, so we held a series of seminars about how we can prevent these issues because these are things that really matter to public confidence." Earlier this year it was disclosed that the number of complaints about police rudeness had risen more than 10 per cent per cent from 2007 to 2008 from 11,385 complaints to 12,948.
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