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Information about making a complaint

Who can make a complaint

You can make a complaint if you:

• Have been the victim of conduct you felt was inappropriate by a police officer or member of police staff
• Were present when the alleged inappropriate conduct took place, or close enough to see or hear the inappropriate conduct, or have been adversely affected* by the incident
• Are distressed as a result of a friend or a relative being treated badly by the police
• Are acting on behalf of any of the above, for example a member of an organisation who has been given written permission by an individual to make a complaint on their behalf.

*Being adversely affected may include distress, inconvenience, loss or damage, or being put in danger or at risk.  This might apply for example, to other people present at the incident or to the parent of a child, young person or friend of the person directly affected. It does not include someone distressed by watching an incident on television or reading about it in the media.

What can I complain about?

The police Standards of Professional Behaviour set out the standards expected of police officers These include requirements to:

• Act with honesty and integrity
• Treat members of the public and their colleagues with respect
• Not abuse the extraordinary powers and authority police officers are granted
• Act in a manner that does not discredit or undermine public confidence in the police service.

You can make a complaint about the individual conduct of any police officer, or any member of police staff.  While we can't list here every situation you could complain about, this might for example be where you think that an officer was rude to you, failed to investigate a crime properly or caused damage to your property.

Complaints about the overall policies and procedures of a police force, as well as a number of other issues relating to quality of service or operational decisions do not fall within the remit of the IPCC and should be made to the Chief Constable of the police force concerned or the local police authority

It might be for example that you think there aren't enough police assigned to your area, that the police should prioritise the investigation of some crimes differently or that some part of how the police work needs to change.

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