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

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

Data released on Wednesday by the Home Office showed there were 14,393 complaints 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.

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.

The constable was attached to the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command – the same unit as Sarah Everard’s killer, Wayne Couzens – prior to his suspension from the London force after his arrest.

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.

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 white and black ethnicity.

According to the release, of conduct matter allegations against police officers that went 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.