London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 21, 2025

Only 1% of complaints about police lead to proceedings, Home Office reveals

Only 1% of complaints about police lead to proceedings, Home Office reveals

Figures for England and Wales show that in year to April 2021, 92% of complaints resulted in no action

Only one in every hundred complaints against police officers has resulted in misconduct proceedings, new figures disclose.

Data released on Wednesday by the Home Office showed that 14,393 complaints were made against officers in England and Wales in the year to 1 April 2021.

Of those, 92% faced no action and only 1% were referred to a formal process to hear cases, initiated when an officer has a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct.

Of those subjected to complaints, 1,675 were deemed to be “conduct matters” – where there was a claim that the officer had broken the law or should be disciplined.


Another 940 complaints accused an officer of conduct that had an adverse effect on a member of the public, including sexual offences, serious assaults or death or injury.

The figures have been released as the conduct of officers faces intense scrutiny in the wake of allegations of high-profile sex crimes by officers as well as the unauthorised strip searches of children.

Nicholas Taylor, an ex-detective at West Midlands police, was last week found guilty of gross misconduct after selling sexual services to strangers via an adult website, including threesomes at an hourly rate of £150.

The Metropolitan police officer David Carrick is due to go on trial in February charged with 44 offences against 12 women, including sexual assault, rape, and coercive and controlling behaviour.

Two teenage girls, known as Child Q and Olivia, were strip-searched by officers while they were menstruating in December 2020. Details of the cases prompted outrage and concerns that they had been treated differently because of their ethnicity. Child Q is black, and Olivia (not her real name) is of mixed ethnicity.

According to the data release, if a complaint was sent to a misconduct meeting – which hears less serious matters – the most common outcome was a written warning, with 67% of meetings involving officers resulting in this outcome.

Of the allegations against police officers that went to a misconduct hearing or accelerated hearing because of an allegation of gross misconduct, the most common outcome was dismissal, with 36% and 49% respectively resulting in this outcome.

Police officers have criticised the length of internal inquiries and the stress that they are often put under by the process.

Sgt Simon Kempton, of Dorset police, was given a final written warning for “gossiping” about the defence case submitted by the former police officer Wayne Couzens, who was subsequently found guilty of the murder of Sarah Everard.

A senior figure in the Police Federation, which represents rank and file members, Kempton shared details he was given by a journalist in an online group chat and was found guilty of misconduct in February after a yearlong inquiry.

Kempton’s misconduct hearing was told the officer started one message to his colleagues on the chat app Signal by saying, “Wait until you hear what his defence was.”

In an interview this week with Policing TV, Kempton said the “key thing” the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) should do was to focus on proportionality and timeliness of its investigations.

“It drives a wedge between the officer and the police service, so I’ve had to be very careful to make sure that wedge doesn’t force us too far apart,” he said. “It would be very easy to throw your hands up in the air and say: ‘Not for me any more.’”

A panel at the Police Federation’s annual conference last month was told that there are more than 300 cases with the IOPC that have been ongoing for more than 12 months.

Representing senior officers, Chief Constable Craig Guildford of Nottinghamshire police told the conference he was optimistic about the future of the complaints system. “We are committed to fairness and timeliness in conducting and concluding misconduct hearings. Every individual case of delay faced in misconduct hearings needs to be called out by federation representatives,” he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
×