Police Complaints
If you have been stopped, searched or arrested by the police and are not happy with the way you were treated, you have the right to complain about this. Reasons to complain can include things like being constantly stopped and searched for no obvious reason, being verbally or physically threatened, not being given a solicitor when you ask for one, and not being given medication that you need whilst in the police station.
There are two ways to make a formal complaint about the behaviour of a police officer or officers:
- The first is to make a complaint directly to the police. You can do this via the online police complaints form, by calling 101, or by visiting your local police station. You can find your local police force via this online tool: https://www.police.uk/pu/find-a-police-force/.
You may wish to make your complaint in writing as you may feel you can express yourself better and more clearly in this way. You should include as much information as possible but it is important to include the date of the issue you wish to complain about, the names of those involved and any information as to what happened. You should also include the relevant officers’ shoulder number and the police station they are based at if you have this information. If you are complaining about an incident which happened more than 12 months ago, you should include an explanation why.
If you would prefer a meeting in person, or require any reasonable adjustments to make your complaint, you should make these known.
You have the right to be told how the complaint will be dealt with and what action will be taken. Depending on the issue, the police may offer suggestions to resolve your complaint without an investigation.
If an investigation is required, the allocated complaint handler will be in touch with you. The complaint should also then be recorded; this requires it to be dealt with in line with formal rules. Only some complaints must be formally recorded although you can ask for your complaint to be recorded.
The police should provide you an update on your complaint every 28 days, until the end of the complaint process. Once concluded, you should be advised of the outcome. If you are unhappy with the outcome or how your complaint was handled, you can ask for a review.
- If you are not comfortable making your complaint directly to the police, you can submit it via the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). However, this will be sent directly to the relevant police force concerned for an initial assessment.
The IOPC will only investigate the most serious complaints, which it considers have ‘the potential to affect public confidence in the police, such as death or serious injuries’. Certain complaints must be referred to the IOPC by the police.
You might want to get in touch with a law firm or organisation which undertakes ‘actions against the police’ to determine if there are any other legal remedies available to you. You can search for a solicitor via the Law Society’s ‘find a solicitor’ tool.
Also check out StopWatch’s stop and search complaint guide.