Ombudsman Arlene Brock has suggested it’s “unrealistic” to expect the volunteer Police Complaints Authority to turn around grievances in a new two- to three-month time frame set by Government.As revealed by The Royal Gazette last week, the board has yet to resolve complaints dating back to 2008 but this year’s Budget book sets it a performance goal to resolve complaints “within two to three months of receipt”.The PCA, which receives on average about 50 complaints a year, is currently without a chairman and has five volunteer members.It gets an annual budget of $20,000 from the Ministry of National Security and has a part-time administrative assistant, who is also a long-standing police reserve.Former PCA chairman Ms Brock told The Royal Gazette the two- to three-month time frame was “generally unrealistic unless a matter is highly time sensitive”.She pointed out all complaints must first be dealt with by Bermuda Police Service’s Professional Conduct Unit, which has a current turnaround time, according to Deputy Commissioner Mike Jackman, of two months.“Then it has to be reviewed by the Police Complaints Authority itself,” said the Ombudsman, adding that the clock started ticking, from the complainant’s perspective, when they first filed their grievance.The board meets once a month and Ms Brock said subcommittees would also meet in between during her tenure to review cases.“Each complaint was reviewed about three times,” she said. “First, it was reviewed quickly by the chair, as part of a triage process.“Then, after the report comes in from the police, we would have subcommittees and so each subcommittee would go through with a fine-tooth comb what the Professional Conduct Unit has come up with. Then that would be taken to the full monthly meeting.”She said a complainant who filed a grievance in January might not get a response until April, at the earliest, and it was rare for the board to call witnesses.“The PCA is a voluntary body,” said Ms Brock. “It does not have the training or the resources to do its own investigations.”She said the Ministry of National Security’s plan to hire two former Bermuda Police Service officers to investigate cases for the PCA could work well, so long as there was enough “distance” between the retired officers and those whose actions they were scrutinising.“I don’t see it as being a huge problem,” said the Ombudsman. “Bermuda doesn’t have the resources to get fully independent people.”She said retired officers were likely to have valuable forensic skills, a healthy dose of scepticism and understand the culture of BPS.“You want them to have some distance. You don’t want someone who retired last year. You would need several years of distance and it might be useful if, in that period, the policemen were doing other things in the community.”Ms Brock did raise a concern about the board’s administrative assistant, who has been a police reserve for the past 14 years.“I think that, even if it was someone with the utmost integrity, I think that would still have an appearance of a conflict,” she said. “It could still be viewed or perceived as a conflict. I would agree that also puts her [the assistant] in a difficult position.”Ms Brock, who served as PCA chairman between 2003 and 2005, said a lack of administrative support for the board had been an issue “for years”.A Ministry spokesman said there were “no concerns about conflict of interest” with either the retired officers or the administrative assistant.“The retired officers in question served with distinction at senior levels with the service and can be relied upon to act and conduct investigations professionally,” he said.“[The assistant], in her role as administrator, is likewise a seasoned professional who plays no role in the deliberations of the authority.”There were 22 complaints of police misconduct filed in the first six months of 2012, compared to 25 for the whole of 2011. The highest annual number of complaints received by the PCA in the past 12 years was in 2000, when there were 69.According to Mr Jackman, the PCA is currently dealing with 24 active cases, some dating back four years.l Members of the public can complain to the Ombudsman if they are not satisfied with the PCA’s performance. The number to call is 296-6541 or e-mail info@ombudsman.bm.