Younger men complain about police most often
Younger men are the people most likely to make a complaint about the police, according to a report by the Police Ombudsman's Office.
The office has received more than 16,000 complaints in the past five years.
Almost 50% of these were from men under the age of 45.
Just over a quarter of complainants said that they had a disability and 11% were not born in Northern Ireland.
A Police Ombudsman spokeswoman said men younger than 24 are the group most likely to complain.
"There is some research evidence to suggest that young men may be more likely to come in contact with the police and because of the nature of the contact are more likely to either experience or allege inappropriate police behaviour," she said.
The report also suggests that the greatest number of complainants - 48% - said they did not support any political party.
"Traditional Northern Ireland politics does not seem to be a factor when people make complaints about the police," the spokeswoman said.
"There were no real differences in the types of allegations made against the police according to the broad category of political opinion stated by respondents in terms of either support for unionism or nationalism."