IOPC publishes figures on deaths during or following police contact for 2024/25

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has today published its annual report on deaths during or following police contact in 2024/25.

Now in its 21st year, the statistics provide an official record setting out the number of such deaths, the circumstances in which they happen, and any underlying factors. Figures across the different categories can fluctuate each year, any conclusions about trends need to be treated with caution.

The report shows:

• There were 17 deaths in or following police custody, eight fewer than 2023/24 and just under the average for the last decade (18).
  • Eight people were taken ill or were identified as being unwell in a police cell. Five were taken to hospital where they later died.
  • Three people died in a police custody suite.
  • Six people were taken ill at the scene of arrest. Four people were taken to hospital, where they later died. Two people died at the scene.
  • One child died while being transported to custody.
  • One man died following release from police custody.
  • One man was taken ill in Border Force detention and died in hospital.
• There were two fatal police shootings, same as the previous year.
• There were 26 fatalities from 25 police-related road traffic incidents (RTIs). This is six fewer deaths than 2023/24. Of the 26 deaths, 18 arose from 17 police pursuit-related incidents. There were five emergency response-related incidents and fatalities, and three deaths related to other police traffic activity.
• There were 60 apparent suicides following police custody, eight fewer than in the previous year.
• The IOPC investigated 50 other deaths following contact with the police in a wide range of circumstances, a decrease of 12 on 2023/24. Deaths are only included in this category when the IOPC has conducted an independent investigation. 
   

Mental health, drugs and/or alcohol: 

• of the 17 people who died in or following police custody, nine had known mental health concerns, and 15 had links to drugs and/or alcohol.
• over half (29) of those who died following other police contact were reported to be intoxicated by drugs and/or alcohol at the time of the incident, or it featured heavily in their lifestyle; a similar proportion of the people who died were reported to have mental health concerns (32).
• of the 60 apparent suicides, 37 people had known mental health concerns and 28 people had links to drugs and/or alcohol.

Restraint and use of force:   

• five of the 17 people who died in or following police custody had some use of force against them by the police before their deaths. All five involved use of force by the police. One death also involved use of force by security officers.
• seven of the 50 other deaths following police contact which were independently investigated, involved restraint or other use of force by police. Three deaths involved restraint by non-police (one involved security guards, one involved prison officers, and another involved the application of leg restraints by paramedics). No deaths involved Taser discharge.
• the use of force did not necessarily contribute to the deaths.

Ethnicity:

• of the 17 deaths in or following custody, 15 of the deceased were White and two were Black.
• of the two deaths by fatal shooting, one was White and one was Black.  
• of the 50 other deaths following police contact the IOPC decided to investigate, 43 people were White, five were Asian, and two were Black.
• of the five deaths in or following custody where there was use of force by police, three of the deceased were White and two were Black.
• of the seven other deaths following police contact which involved use of force by police, all were White.  

Road traffic fatalities: 

• of the 18 pursuit-related fatalities, 14 were the driver or passenger in the pursued vehicle and three people were drivers or passengers of an unrelated vehicle which was hit by the pursued car. One pedestrian was hit by a pursued vehicle. The average age of those who died either as driver or passenger in a pursued or fleeing vehicle was 25 years.
• one pursuit-related incident resulted in two fatalities.
• five of the people who died were the driver or passenger of a motorcycle (4) or moped (1).
• the 26 total deaths figure is below the average (28) for road traffic incident fatalities recorded over the last decade.

Other deaths following police contact:

• 44 fatalities followed contact with the police, either directly or indirectly, after concerns were raised about someone’s welfare.  
• of the 50 deaths, 33 were male and 17 female.
• 13 of the 16 domestic-related concern for welfare deaths were of women.

Apparent suicides:   

• of the 60 apparent suicides, 38 (63%) had been arrested for an alleged sexual offence – 27 of the 36 (45%) involved alleged offences against children. 

For more information, read our report Deaths during of following police contact: Statistics for England and Wales 2024/25. The statistics include some force-specific data. Additional data tables are also available on the IOPC website, including a separate table showing a breakdown of types of use of force by gender, age and ethnicity.