Police forces across England and Wales referred a record number of cases to the watchdog last year, new figures have revealed.
Record Referrals
Data released on Wednesday by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) shows 7,088 referrals were made in 2025-2026, marking the highest annual total since the body was established. During the same period, the IOPC initiated 316 independent investigations, a significant 31 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
These probes included 134 into alleged police misconduct, 81 concerning deaths or serious injuries following police contact, and 101 stemming from public complaints. The watchdog concluded 245 independent investigations in 2025-2026, a figure consistent with the preceding 12 months.
Faster Processing
IOPC deputy director general Steve Noonan said the watchdog is now processing referrals from police forces at a faster pace. He added: “It takes an average of 4.3 days to assess and complete a referral, down from more than eight days previously. That’s a major improvement and is due to efficiency gains in our case management system, plus more intrusive triage of referrals to quickly identify issues and prioritise cases.”
He said the IOPC would like to take on more cases if it had more resources. Mr Noonan added: “We’re pleased to have taken on 316 independent investigations in the last 12 months. It’s important for public confidence that there is independent scrutiny into serious cases involving police contact and the most serious allegations of misconduct. However, we’d like to take on even more independent investigations but of course that needs to be weighed up against our resource.”
Investigation Timeliness
Figures show that 73 per cent of independent investigations are completed within a year, and 32 per cent within six months. “We know we have more to do around the timeliness of our investigations,” Mr Noonan said. “But we’re seeing improvements on the back of our transformation programme which has seen us adopt a national delivery model to ensure we direct resources according to demand and priorities.”
Appeals Increase
The figures also show that the IOPC received more than 3,000 requests to independently review the outcome of complaints made to police forces. The total received, 3,051, was up 24.3 per cent on 2024-2025 – when 2,455 such requests were received. The team completed 3,500 reviews in 2025-2026, up 61 per cent on the 2,169 the previous year, after changes to how appeals are handled.
