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This site is a beta, which means it's a work in progress and we'll be adding more to it over the next few weeks. Your feedback helps us make things better, so please let us know what you think.
Being stopped and searched can be an unpleasant experience, no matter the approach of the police officers involved. But if it’s felt that there has been unnecessary force or an inappropriate attitude, then we'd like to hear about it and, where necessary, act upon it. Likewise, we welcome any suggestions or positive comments you’d like to share.
If you feel you’ve had an unpleasant or unsatisfactory experience, you may wish to make a formal complaint. You can do so if you think a police officer has behaved incorrectly or unfairly. For example, if you think an officer has:
All complaints are investigated and this can take time.
To make a formal complaint and for more information about how complaints are investigated, read our complaints pages. If you've had a positive experience, you can offer us feedback.
Anonymous details of every stop and search complaint we get are shared with the Stop and Search Independent Advisory Group (SSIAG), which meets every three months.
Read a summary of complaints we've received about stop and searches.
To raise an issue about something that has caused you concern, or was done well, it may be worth giving feedback. This might be particularly useful if you've witnessed something where, because you were not directly affected, you feel reluctant to make a formal contact, but you still feel unhappy, or pleased, about the way you've seen police officers behave.
There are options available for giving feedback:
The Ride Along scheme offers members of the public the opportunity to accompany our officers on patrol and experience first hand how stop and search may be used. The scheme enables two-way learning and helps create greater understanding and closeness between the police and the public.
For more information and details of how to apply, please download our Ride along policy.