will be proposed to the Public Safety Minister "shortly.'' And the number of complaints initiated against the police dropped by almost half last year.

PCA chairman Coles Diel told The Royal Gazette that a series of legislative amendments were currently being drafted for the attention of the minister.

"I would call it a substantial change, but I wouldn't call it a complete overhaul,'' said Mr. Diel.

He could not say specifically what the amendments entailed, only that he was seeking "different powers'' for the Authority.

What is certain is that Mr. Diel wants more funds from Government.

The Police Complaints Authority was established in October 1998 as an independent civilian body to exercise oversight in the investigation of complaints against the Police.

While hailed as an improvement on the previous system in which the Police investigated itself, the Authority's work has been stymied by a lack of adequate resources.

"We are having difficulty simply because of the fact that the administrative work is substantial,'' said Mr. Diel. "There is a lot of paperwork being generated that does not allow us to conclude cases within what I consider a reasonable period of time.'' Police watchdog seeks more funds Last year, funds were provided to hire a part-time administrator for the Authority. At the time Mr. Diel said the move would enable a "rebirth'' of the Authority. But a huge backlog of cases still exists and the implications, said Diel are significant.

"Matters that ought to be processed quickly are not being processed as quickly as they should. The complainant is disappointed -- that's the major problem in my view,'' Mr. Diel said.

"The Police Complaints Authority is supposed to exercise civilian oversight over the Police service. If they don't see it happening, they don't know it's happening.'' In 1999, members of the public initiated a total of 67 complaints against the Police. "Some of them haven't been resolved and as far as I am concerned not enough of them have been resolved,'' Mr. Diel said.

In 2000, just 37 complaints were initiated. Mr. Diel said he had "no idea'' why there was a drastic drop in complaints.