New report claims bias in North Charleston PD complaint investigations

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - A new report claims North Charleston police are more likely to investigate complaints against their officers if the person complaining is white.

The study was done by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, one of several groups that called for an investigation into the police department after the Walter Scott shooting.

They say that shooting is the result of a pattern of excessive force and racial discrimination inside the department.

Some of the takeaways from the study include black residents filed almost twice as many complaints against police as white residents, even though their populations are similar.

Even though they filed twice as many complaints, those complaints were investigated 31 percent of the time compared to 50 percent of the time for whites.

Black residents were also twice as likely to make a "use of force" complaint against police.

The review also found that complaints were not being filed accurately - for example, instead of "use of force", a complaint may be filed as "conduct unbecoming."

North Charleston police say they have already asked the Department of Justice to review their department.

Copyright 2017 WCSC. All rights reserved.