Trooper complaints

The S.C. Department of Public Safety handled 511 complaints against state troopers over four years — 2004-07. One-fourth are pending final action. Among those in which action was taken:

65 PERCENT

were ruled “ exonerated,” “ unfounded,” “ notsustained,” or “administratively closed,” which means troopers were not formally disciplined

35 PERCENT

were “ sustained,” which means troopers were found at fault

39 PERCENT

of the total complaints involved “ misconductissues,” the largest group, which can range from failure to file paperwork to more serious actions

38 PERCENT

of the complaints involving “ misconductissues” were “ sustained”

23 PERCENT

of the total complaints involved “ trafficenforcement” or “ improperaccidentinvestigation”

7 PERCENT

of the total complaints involved “ pursuitpolicyviolations”

5 PERCENT

of the total complaints involved “ useofforce”

SOURCE: S.C. Department of Public Safety