Submitted by Emma Jayne Wells on Monday 16th February 2026
Published on Wednesday 25th March 2026
Current status: Open
Open until: Friday 25th September 2026
Current Signatures: 1,769
(count is updated approximately hourly)
Relevant Departments
Tagged with
concerns ~ England ~ England and Wales ~ Forced ~ independence ~ IOPC ~ Madely ~ Misconduct ~ Oversight ~ Police ~ police forces ~ Raise ~ Regular ~ Routine ~ The IOPC ~ trust ~ Wales
Introduce Independent Auditing of Police Complaints in England and Wales
There is no routine, systematic and independent audit of police complaints. Around 85–90% are handled by the forces complained about, while only a small fraction reach the IOPC.
No regular oversight exists for everyday complaints which are not regularly audited, raising concerns about transparency and trust.
Even when complaints identify serious failings or misconduct, police forces still decide whether cases are referred for independent oversight. Last year around 95,000 complaints were made only 7% crossed the IOPC's desk with the organisation being complained about effectively deciding if it should be scrutinised.
If you want to sign this petition (as opposed to merely discuss it), you need to do that on the government's e-Petitions website.
216.73.217.179 Tue, 23 Jun 2026 05:31:48 +0100
