This release contains information on the number of police complaints, conduct matters and recordable conduct matters recorded by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2024.

The publication primarily focuses on those which were referred to misconduct proceedings. Data for all cases referred to misconduct proceedings is presented by:

• breach type
• the type of proceeding
• the outcome at such proceedings, including the level of misconduct found proven and disciplinary actions imposed
• where applicable, the result of appeals made to the Police Appeal Tribunal

Not all allegations will be handled at misconduct proceedings; in some allegations there may not have been a case to answer for misconduct, or the allegation was resolved via others means. Information is provided on the total number of police complaint, conduct matter and recordable conduct matter allegations finalised, including those not referred to misconduct proceedings.

For all allegations, information is provided on:

• allegation and breach types
• whether there was a case to answer
• the action and result taken

In addition, the publication includes timeliness measures (for how long it took to finalise such cases) and information on the number of cases which involved criminal proceedings.

Open data tables complementing this statistical release are also published and include information on the outcome of proceedings and allegations by protected characteristics (age, ethnicity and gender).

Tables labelled ‘misconduct proceedings’ include information on the misconduct finding level and outcome of meetings, hearings and accelerated hearings.

Tables labelled ‘misconduct allegations’ include information on the case to answer decision and action taken for conduct, recordable conduct and complaint (investigated subject to Special Procedures) allegations.

The data includes cases handled under the current regulations only which came into effect on 1 February 2020. Data is provided for police officers (which includes special constables) and police staff (which includes civilian staff, designated officers and Police Community Support Officers).

The data is Official Statistics in Development (formerly known as Experimental Statistics) to acknowledge that they should be interpreted with caution. These statistics are going through development, with a potentially wider degree of uncertainty in the figures whilst processes are established and verified.

See the ‘User guide to Police misconduct statistics’ for further information, including a glossary, conventions used, information regarding data quality and other background information.

To support the future development of these statistics and expand our user reach, we encourage users to complete our user engagement https://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/HOPoliceMisconductPublicationSurvey/">user engagement survey.

If you have any queries about this release, please email policingstatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk or write to:

The Home Office responsible statistician is Jodie Hargreaves.

Data tables to complement ‘Police misconduct, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2024’.

To view and use ‘ODS’ files, OS X users can http://www.openoffice.org/download/">download OpenOffice.

If you are experiencing difficulties opening these data tables please contact us at PolicingStatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk.

In June 2022 HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the College of Policing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) published a report about the super-complaint submitted by the Centre for Women’s Justice which addressed the police response to domestic abuse cases in which the suspect was a police officer or a member of police staff.

The report made recommendations to chief constables, police and crime commissioners (PCCs), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Home Office (HO). The report also included actions for the IOPC and the College of Policing. The details of these recommendations and actions are listed in the final section of the super complaint investigation report.

Information on whether organisations have accepted the recommendations made to them is provided in the letters from the ‘National Police Chiefs’ Council’ (NPCC), the MoJ, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) and the HO. Information on the actions for the College of Policing and the IOPC is provided below.

Recommendation 1 asked chief constables to write within six months to explain how their force has or will improve the response to PPDA allegations, following an audit of live and recently closed cases. An overview report of force responses to this and all recommendations to chief constables has been produced by the NPCC and is published as the “second NPCC response to recommendations.

https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/">IOPC

Action 1

This action was for the IOPC to carry out a targeted programme of oversight work in relation to police handling of PPDA.

Response

In addition to its wider work on the police response to violence against women and girls, the IOPC has developed a targeted programme that will include oversight work in relation to the police handling of PPDA. Work is already planned to carry out proactive reviews of local handling of PPDA allegations. Where appropriate, the IOPC will use its findings to develop additional guidance for the police service. The IOPC will also identify and share learning to improve policing practice in this area.

Action 3

This action was for the IOPC to consider how it could report data on police complaints involving an allegation of PPDA as part of its annual statistical release.

Response

The IOPC will review its annual data collection to determine the feasibility of producing statistics on complaints involving an allegation of PPDA and will work with police forces to introduce any changes.

https://www.college.police.uk/">College of Policing

Action 2

This action was for the College of Policing to review and update relevant ‘authorised professional practice’, guidance, training and curricula, to incorporate learning and findings from the super-complaint investigation.

Response

College of Policing domestic abuse APP will be updated to draw on findings and learning from the super-complaint investigation.

The College updated https://assets.college.police.uk/s3fs-public/2022-08/Guidance-on-outcomes-in-police-misconduct-proceedings.pdf">misconduct outcomes guidance has taken account of the super-complaint investigation findings. In particular, it stresses the seriousness of cases involving violence against women and girls and makes clear that ‘whether on-duty or off-duty’ this will ‘always harm public confidence in policing’. Other listed ‘aggravating factors’ (indicating a higher level of culpability and harm) include abuse of trust, position, powers or authority; concealing wrongdoing in question and/or attempting to blame others; and serious physical or psychological impact on the victim.

The College current review of vetting guidance and the Code of Ethics for policing will take account of findings from the super-complaint investigation. The revised versions are due to be published in 2023.

Learning from the super-complaint investigation and the final report has been included in the College of Policing ‘Public Protection and Safeguarding Leaders’ programme. The ‘Professionalising Investigation Programme’ Level 1 (embedded in the policing degree for new officers joining the service) will be updated to include content on domestic abuse cases involving police suspects. A ‘Domestic Abuse Matters’ course is currently being developed specific