Not all of the available actions arising from the complaint handling are shown. The actions presented in the table are those that focus on putting the issue right and preventing it from happening again.
Number of valid complaint cases finalised outside of Schedule 3*
Average number of days to finalise outside of Schedule 3
Number of valid complaint cases finalised under of Schedule 3*
Average number of days to finalise under of Schedule 3 (inc suspension)
Average number of days to finalise under of Schedule 3 (exc suspension)
Avon & Somerset
1,543
14
1,104
123
119
Bedfordshire
1,075
53
241
140
136
British Transport
534
11
243
45
43
Cambridgeshire
811
29
344
130
126
Cheshire
668
21
953
69
61
City of London (with Action Fraud)
423
123
50
133
133
Cleveland
1,765
15
348
128
118
Cumbria
974
19
241
125
114
Derbyshire
866
15
943
106
104
Devon & Cornwall
367
200
525
347
338
Dorset
603
50
560
130
105
Durham
815
8
199
215
188
Dyfed-Powys
474
18
378
124
121
Essex
1,517
20
1,284
148
140
Gloucestershire
773
86
208
287
253
Greater Manchester
4,737
7
1,990
133
130
Gwent
500
49
147
202
185
Hampshire
3,088
16
405
120
116
Hertfordshire
1,070
7
351
139
136
Humberside
1,244
10
334
97
91
Kent
1,927
24
1,409
114
104
Lancashire
1,304
6
684
323
317
Leicestershire
425
9
1,182
71
61
Lincolnshire
282
10
1,067
81
79
Merseyside
1,953
29
231
183
165
Metropolitan
8,339
11
4,400
202
200
Norfolk
89
36
254
180
140
North Wales
347
11
232
83
82
North Yorkshire
617
145
233
261
256
Northamptonshire
788
9
353
155
153
Northumbria
2,069
36
647
194
189
Nottinghamshire
1,224
27
447
128
121
South Wales
627
12
2,099
113
110
South Yorkshire
711
30
490
121
118
Staffordshire
1,197
13
549
131
107
Suffolk
81
42
241
179
138
Surrey
1,931
16
689
133
122
Sussex
1,154
26
1,072
80
76
Thames Valley
2,289
6
1,461
181
170
Warwickshire
801
39
140
115
100
West Mercia
1,681
25
356
160
132
West Midlands
3,110
25
778
159
153
West Yorkshire
2,344
7
1,344
102
86
Wiltshire
894
51
481
204
183
Total
60,031
22
31,687
146
138
*The number of complaint cases presented in this table are only those with valid dates that are used in the calculation for the average number of days to finalise complaint cases. Therefore they may not match the actual number of complaint cases finalised presented in Table 20.
The figures for City of London include complaint cases logged in relation to ‘Action Fraud’. Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. The service is run by the City of London Police, which is the national policing lead for economic crime. Further details on these two organisations separately is available via the IOPC website.
Under Schedule 3 - investigated (not subject to special procedures)
Under Schedule 3 investigated (subject to special procedures)
Allegation decision
N
%
N
%
N
%
N
%
Not resolved
3,637
5
Resolved
68,336
95
Service provided - acceptable
48,901
67
11,450
72
338
16
Service provided - not acceptable
9,844
13
1,931
12
79
4
Service provided - unable to determine
6,698
9
1499
9
38
2
No further action
5,604
8
503
3
26
1
Withdrawal
2,080
3
426
3
52
3
Regulation 41 applies
107
0
192
1
2
0
No case to answer
1081
52
Case to answer
454
22
Total
71,979
100
73,234
100
16,001
100
2,071
100
The number of allegations presented in this table may not match the totals in Table 14. This is due to a small number of finalised allegations which had recorded decisions incompatible with the way they were handled. These have been excluded from the totals.
Total number of allegations finalised under Schedule 3
Delivery of duties and service
Police action following contact
14,586
88
2,063
12
16,649
Decisions
5,818
85
998
15
6,816
General level of service
11,307
81
2,570
19
13,877
Information
4,711
84
884
16
5,595
Police powers, policies and procedures
Stops, and stop and search
685
69
306
31
991
Searches of premises and seizure of property
1,907
82
428
18
2,335
Power to arrest and detain
3,559
81
845
19
4,404
Detention in police custody
3,215
78
902
22
4,117
Bail, identification and interview procedures
1,094
84
204
16
1,298
Use of force
4,749
67
2,364
33
7,113
Evidential procedures
1,534
83
306
17
1,840
Out of court disposals
196
82
44
18
240
Other policies and procedures
1,620
81
389
19
2,009
No subcategory recorded
0
0
1
100
1
Handling of or damage to property / premises
Handling of or damage to property/ premises
1,761
80
430
20
2,191
Access and/or disclosure of information
Use of police systems
103
64
58
36
161
Disclosure of information
1,159
77
355
23
1,514
Handling of information
348
75
119
25
467
Accessing and handling of information from other sources
66
74
23
26
89
Use of police vehicles
Use of police vehicles
373
81
88
19
461
Discriminatory behaviour
Age
45
73
17
27
62
Disability
553
77
164
23
717
Gender reassignment
38
81
9
19
47
Marriage and civil partnership
0
0
1
100
1
Pregnancy and maternity
1
100
0
0
1
Race
1,468
72
558
28
2,026
Religion or belief
82
69
37
31
119
Sex
459
78
132
22
591
Sexual orientation
92
74
32
26
124
Other
219
75
73
25
292
Abuse of position / corruption
Abuse of position for financial purpose
29
48
31
52
60
Abuse of position for sexual purpose
16
26
45
74
61
Abuse of position for the purpose of pursuing an inappropriate emotional relationship
8
36
14
64
22
Abuse of position for other purpose
240
60
161
40
401
Obstruction of justice
398
62
241
38
639
Organisational corruption
170
64
95
36
265
Individual behaviours
Unprofessional attitude and disrespect
2,703
80
660
20
3,363
Lack of fairness and impartiality
1,615
82
365
18
1,980
Overbearing or harassing behaviours
1,802
78
517
22
2,319
Impolite language / tone
2,220
84
410
16
2,630
Impolite and intolerant actions
1,287
82
282
18
1,569
No subcategory recorded
1
100
0
0
1
Sexual conduct
Sexual assault
110
49
116
51
226
Sexual harassment
9
33
18
67
27
Other sexual conduct
20
43
27
57
47
Discreditable conduct
Discreditable conduct
326
40
481
60
807
Other
Other
535
72
209
28
744
Total allegations
73,237
80
18,072
20
91,309
The number of allegations logged presented in this table are only those with a category recorded. Therefore they may not match the actual number of allegations logged presented in Table 5.
*The erroneous categorisation in 'Use of police vehicles' is a typographical error only and can be conisdered valid to the category.
This describes what is being complained about. An allegation is made by someone defined as a complainant under the Police Reform Act 2002 (see ‘complainant’). An allegation may be made by one or more complainants about the service they received from a police force. For example, about force-wide crime initiatives, organisation of policing resources, or general policing standards. However, it can also be about the conduct of any person serving with the police. A complaint case may involve more than one allegation. For example, a person may allege that an officer pushed and was rude to them. This would be logged as two separate allegations forming one complaint case. Each allegation is logged against a specific category (a full list of the allegation categories and their definitions can be found in the IOPC’s Guidance on capturing data about police complaints).
Appropriate authority
(Section 29, Police Reform Act 2002) The organisation responsible for assessing how to deal with a complaint. For example, whether it can be handled locally or reaches the criteria for referral to the IOPC. The appropriate authority may be the chief officer of the police force or the police and crime commissioner for the force. If a complaint investigation finds someone has a case to answer for misconduct, the appropriate authority is responsible for arranging any misconduct proceedings. If you make a complaint, the appropriate authority for your case will contact you.
Complainant
A person who makes a complaint about the conduct of someone serving with the police or about a police force. The law sets out the circumstances that need to exist for someone to make a complaint (see section 5.6 of the IOPC Statutory guidance on the police complaints system).
Complaint
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction raised by or on behalf of a member of the public to a police force. A complaint does not have to be made in writing and does not have to state explicitly that it is a complaint.
Complaint case
A complaint may involve more than one allegation. The allegation/s may be made by one or more complainants, against one or more persons serving with the police. ‘Complaint case’ refers to all the allegations and complainants connected with a complaint.
Directed investigation
An investigation conducted by the appropriate authority under the direction and control of the IOPC. The IOPC directs the investigation by appointing an investigator and setting out its scope and investigative strategy. The IOPC controls the investigation by reviewing the policy books, confirming the investigation has met the terms of reference and making the decisions at the end of the case.
Independent investigation
An investigation carried out by IOPC staff (Paragraph 19, Schedule 3, Police Reform Act 2002). An independent investigation is often used for the most serious incidents and/or those with the greatest public interest. For example, incidents that cause the greatest level of public concern, have a high potential to impact on communities, or have serious implications for the reputation of the police service.
This focuses on putting an issue right and preventing it from happening again by encouraging those involved to reflect on their actions and learn from them. It is not a disciplinary process or a disciplinary outcome.
Review
Where a complaint has been recorded under Schedule 3 to the Police Reform Act 2002, the complainant has a right to apply for a review of the outcome of the complaint. The review will consider whether the outcome of the handling of the complaint is reasonable and proportionate. It will uphold the review where the relevant review body finds that the outcome of the complaint is not reasonable and proportionate. This applies whether the complaint has been investigated or handled in another way.
Special procedures
Special procedures only apply to investigations of complaints about a member of a police force or a special constable. In the case of any other person, the investigator must adhere to the relevant policies and procedures for investigating allegations of any form of misconduct. Investigators must apply special procedures:
in a complaint investigation, when there is an indication a person being investigated may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings
A series of steps used to improve someone’s performance. It is used when a person was unable or failed to perform their role to a satisfactory level but did not breach the Standards of Professional Behaviour.
With informal handling and recording of complaints, when an expression of dissatisfaction is made, it is logged as a complaint.
The force may attempt to resolve the complaint informally - if that can be done to the complainant's satisfaction, the complaint is considered resolved. Available actions at this point are organisational learning, learning from reflection, a policy or procedure review, a goodwill gesture, an apology, explanation or debrief, some other action, or no further action.
If the complaint is not resolved to the complainant's satisfaction, but they do not still wish to pursue the matter, no further action is taken.
If the complaint is not resolved to the complainant's satisfaction, but they do wish to pursue the matter, the complaint would be recorded.
Once recorded, the complaint becomes subject to formal handling and / or investigation.
The complaint would also have been recorded at the outset, if matters within the complaint meet the appropriate criteria.
Once a complaint is recorded, the force must decide if an investigation is required. If not, the complaint can be handled in a reasonable and proportionate manner, leading to one of the following decisions: that the service provided was acceptable, was not acceptable, or that it is not possible to determine which. Other possible decisions are for no further action, or that the complaint is withdrawn.
After a decision, available actions are the reflective practice review process, unsatisfactory performance proceedings, organisational learning, a policy or procedure review, a goodwill gesture, an apology, explanation or debrief, some other action, or no further action.
Once recorded, a complaint may be referred to the IOPC, who would make a decision on the mode of investigation required: this might be local, directed or independent.
If the investigation is not subject to special procedures, the available decisions and actions are the same as listed above.
If the investigation is subject to special procedures, the available decisions are that there is either a case to answer, or no case to answer.
From this point the available actions are: misconduct proceedings, criminal proceedings, the reflective practice review process, unsatisfactory performance proceedings, organisational learning, learning from reflection, a policy or procedure review, a goodwill gesture, an apology, explanation or debrief, some other action, or no further action.
This report presents figures on complaints about the police in England and Wales for 2024/25. These complaints are made by members of the public about the service they have received from a police force. They are handled under the Police Reform Act 2002, as amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2017.
The Policing and Crime Act 2017 and supporting regulations made significant changes to the police complaints and disciplinary systems. These changes were designed to achieve a simpler, more proportionate, and customer-focused complaints system focused on learning and improvement. The changes were implemented on 1 February 2020 with the British Transport Police falling under the new legislation from 4 January 2021.
A police complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction by a member of the public about the service they have received from a police force. Police forces and local policing bodies deal with the majority of complaints themselves. The IOPC sets the standards for complaints handling through its Statutory Guidance 2020.
Statutory Guidance helps local policing bodies and forces achieve high standards in handling complaints about the police. It also helps them to comply with their legal obligations. The IOPC oversees the complaints system and investigates the most serious and sensitive cases. It also carries out reviews of some complaints.
The first stage of complaint handling is for the relevant police force or local policing body to decide how it will handle the complaint. Legislation allows for certain types of complaints to be resolved informally, while allowing more flexibility in the formal handling of complaints. This allows the police to better meet the needs of the complainant, and quickly make improvements based on the complaints they handle.
A person can request a review if they are unhappy with the way their complaint was handled or the outcome. In some instances, this review will be carried out by the IOPC. Other reviews are handled by local policing bodies (Police and Crime Commissioners and Mayors).
Most of the data referred to in this report was recorded on police force IT systems and collected by the IOPC. While data has undergone quality assurance checks, the statistics remain under evaluation until their quality, including their accuracy, reliability, and their value, is established and verified. Therefore they should be treated as experimental to acknowledge that they should be interpreted with some caution and that further development and evaluation is currently taking place. The Office for National Statistics describes experimental statistics as ‘a series of statistics that are in a testing phase and not yet fully developed’
We have given police forces guidance setting out how we expect them to record the data we collect. Therefore, the consistency of the data we report relies on police forces applying our guidance correctly when they record data.
Our guidance on how police forces should record data about complaints under the Police Reform Act 2002, as amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2017, is available on our website: www.policeconduct.gov.uk.
