London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 12, 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
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
×