A QUARTER of all allegations of police assault in Scotland are against officers in Glasgow.

The city also has the highest number of excessive force and oppressive conduct complaints, according to a new report.

The report, by Chief Superintendent Ellie Mitchell, reveals complaints about officers in the West Police Area - which covers the Glasgow, Lanarkshire, and Dunbartonshire areas, rose to 1847 in the past year - up 10% on the three year average of 1678. The complaints arose out of nearly 800,000 incidents.

Figures obtained by the Evening Times also show more than 120 officers across Scotland are working restricted hours due to ongoing investigations. A handful are suspended and under investigation for a string of alleged offences, including rape, stalking, and assault. Four face data protection probes.

The latest report reveals there are 1027 allegations faced by officers in Glasgow alone. Of those, 1008 relate to complaints against officers on duty. The allegations include 115 alleged assaults - around a quarter of all assault allegations for the whole of the Scottish force, plus 89 accusations of excessive force, 75 of oppressive conduct and 25 unlawful arrest allegations.

Police Scotland say all complaints are thoroughly investigated and those facing allegations represent a fraction of the overall workforce.

Overall, there were 7765 allegations made against officers in Police Scotland from April 1 2013 to March 31 this year.

Complaints against the force rose by 4.6%, to 4564. Chief Superintendent Mitchell said each complaint involved nearly two separate allegations of offences.

She told the Evening Times that, given the size of Glasgow, it was no surprise the city had the highest number of allegations.

She said: "Given the relative size of the Greater Glasgow division and the high volume of incidents attended by Police Scotland officers, then it is understandable that statistically there are a larger number of allegations recorded for this division."

She put the rise in the number of allegations down to changes in the way the force recorded complaints.

She said: "We treat and deal with all allegations very seriously.

Rab Milligan, deputy general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said: "What these figures do not show is the vast amount of good work and commitment which is displayed across Scotland by Federation members which attracts little or no comment."

The report does not give a breakdown about what happened to the complaints for separate force areas, but showed force totals for around 5500 allegations dealt with during the same period. They showed 338 were withdrawn, 168 abandoned, 3748 were not upheld and 12 were found to be malicious. Twenty one went to criminal proceedings and 59 to misconduct procedures.

victoria.brenan@eveningtimes.co.uk