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This statistical news release shows the main findings from the report which presents figures on complaints recorded about the police in England and Wales for the years 2013/14 and 2012/13. These complaints are made by members of the public about the conduct of those serving with the police or about the direction and control of the police force and are dealt with under the Police Reform Act 2002.

The report, published by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, includes a range of figures broken down by individual police force, and is available here.

There are considerable variations between police forces in some of the areas reported on, including the rates at which appeals dealt with by chief officers were upheld. Some caution is needed when comparing forces in relation to appeals data due to the sometimes small number of appeals involved.

Complaint cases recorded

A total of 34,863 complaints were recorded during 2013/14. This is a 15% increase compared to 2012/13 and represents a 52% increase since 2004/05.

In 2013/14, 38 police forces showed an increase in the number of complaint cases recorded compared to 2012/13.

The majority of complaints (80%) continue to be recorded by police forces within the expected time of ten working days.

Allegations recorded

A complaint case may have one or more allegations attached to it. For example, a person may allege that a police officer pushed them and that the officer was rude to them. This would be recorded as two separate allegations forming one complaint case. During 2013/14, 61,694 allegations were recorded. This is a 10% increase compared to 2012/13.

Some of the increase in the number of allegations recorded in 2013/14 was due to the broadening of the definition of a complaint to include direction and control. New allegation categories for direction and control were introduced and, in 2013/14, direction and control allegations represented 4% of all allegations recorded.

An allegation rate per 1,000 police force employees is used to provide a meaningful comparison of allegations recorded across police forces. During 2013/14, the allegation rate per 1,000 force employees reflected the increase in the number of allegations recorded, at 251 compared to 228 in 2012/13.

The most common complaints involve allegations that an officer has been neglectful or failed in their duty, or that an officer’s behaviour has been uncivil, impolite or intolerant.

Allegations and complaint cases finalised

During 2013/14, a total of 53,393 allegations were finalised.

In 2013/14 it took on average 57 working days to deal with an allegation through local resolution and on average 135 working days to locally investigate an allegation.

A total of 30,005 complaint cases were finalised in 2013/14, 6% more than the number finalised in 2012/13.  It took on average 101 working days to finalise complaint cases in 2013/14, the same as the average time in 2012/13.

Appeals

A complainant has the right to appeal about the way in which a police force has handled their complaint. An appeal can be made about a decision not to record a complaint, the outcome of a local resolution process or the local or supervised investigation into a complaint. They can also appeal about the decision to discontinue a local investigation or to disapply the requirements under the Police Reform Act 2002, or about the outcome of a complaint that has been subject to disapplication.

During 2013/14 the number of appeals received across the complaints system increased by 16% compared to the number of appeals received in 2012/13. The number of appeals received during 2012/13 does not include those that were received by police forces as this data could not be collected. Due to the time it takes to deal with complaints to the point at which an appeal can be made, it is likely appeals relating to complaint cases received on or after 22 November 2012 were not made until the following year Therefore the number of force appeals received in 2012/13 is likely to be low.

Appeals to Chief Officers

In 2013/14, 3,134 appeals were made to Chief Officers about the handling of a complaint by their police force. Over half (52%) of the appeals received by Chief Officers were about an investigation into a complaint and 36% were about the outcome of a local resolution process.

In 2013/14, 20% of all appeals completed by Chief Officers were upheld. 

In 2013/14, 22% of investigation appeals and 21% of local resolution appeals completed by Chief Officers were upheld.

Appeals to the IPCC

In 2013/14, 4,079 appeals were made to the IPCC about the handling of a complaint by a police force.

Over half (2,407) of the appeals made to the IPCC were about an investigation into a complaint. The number of appeals about the decision not to record a complaint received by the IPCC increased by 24% in 2013/14 compared to 2012/13. The number of local resolution appeals received by the IPCC has gradually decreased in recent years, with 97 received in 2013/14 compared to 372 in 2012/13.

The proportion of appeals completed by the IPCC that are upheld continues to increase and in 2013/14, 46% were upheld.

In 2013/14, 44% of investigation appeals and 49% of non-recording appeals completed by the IPCC were upheld. 

Profile of Subjects

In 2013/14, a total of 37,032 people serving with the police were subject to a recorded complaint – an increase of 6% compared to 2012/13

88% (32,873) of individuals subject to complaint in 2013/14 were police officers rather than police staff.

Note to Editors

Changes to the handling of complaints

2013/14 was the first year the IPCC collected data from police forces that included ‘direction and control’ complaints, and appeals dealt with by police forces, as a result of changes brought in in November 2012 under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.

The Police Complaints: Statistics for England and Wales 2013/14 report also includes data for 2012/13 and is available here.

For media enquiries please contact the IPCC press office on 02920-266317 or 0207-166-3961