Cleveland Police Complaints Rate Almost Double the National Average, IOPC Figures Reveal...
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Mixed Report Card for Cleveland Police as Complaints Remain High but Response Times Improve..
9th June 2026
A Troubled Teesside Police force continues to record substantially higher rates of complaints than similar police forces, according to the latest complaints bulletin published by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The report, covering the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, shows that Cleveland Police logged 2,199 complaint cases during the financial year. The equivalent to 861 complaints for every 1,000 employees. By comparison, its claimed the average among Cleveland Police’s group of similar forces was 584 complaints per 1,000 employees, while the national figure stood at 432.
The number of allegations attached to those complaints also increased. Cleveland Police recorded 3,511 allegations during the year, up from 3,169 during the same period a year earlier. This represented 1,375 allegations per 1,000 employees, compared with a similar-force average of 983 and a national figure of 748.
The figures don't necessarily mean that every complaint was justified. However, they indicate that Cleveland Police continues to receive a considerably higher volume of complaints relative to the overall size of its workforce.
Complaints logged quickly
One of the strongest areas of performance highlighted in the bulletin is the speed at which complaints are acknowledged and recorded. Cleveland Police took an average of one working day to contact complainants and one working day to formally log their complaints. The average among similar forces was seven days to make contact and five days to record a complaint, while the national averages were eight and seven days respectively.
What are people complaining about?
The largest category of allegations related to the delivery of duties and services, accounting for 1,651 allegations, or 47 per cent of the total. A further 789 allegations related to police powers, policies and procedures, while 610 related to the behaviour of individual officers or staff. Within the individual-behaviour category, 272 allegations concerned impolite language or tone. The report also recorded 104 allegations involving overbearing or harassing behaviour.
Dissatisfaction after initial handling
The report also raised a notable issue around complaints which were formally recorded under Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act. Cleveland Police formally handled 21 per cent of complaints under Schedule 3, compared with a national figure of 34 per cent. However, where complaints were formally recorded, 71 per cent were escalated because the complainant remained dissatisfied after the initial handling of the matter.
This was significantly higher than the similar-force average of 22 per cent and the national figure of 18 per cent.
Mixed picture on complaint handling
As a whole, the report stated that Cleveland Police generally performed well when resolving less formal complaints. Allegations handled outside Schedule 3 took an average of 16 working days to finalise, compared to 19 days among similar forces and 22 days nationally.
However, locally investigated allegations reportedly took an average of 244 working days to conclude. This was slower than the similar-force average of 204 days and the national average of 228 days.
The bulletin also shows that six Cleveland Police complaint reviews were completed by the IOPC during the year. All six being upheld, meaning the original outcome was not considered reasonable and proportionate. The number of cases is small, but that finding in itself is likely to attract scrutiny from critics who feel Cleveland Police is repeatedly under-performing.
Overall, the report presented a mixed picture. Cleveland Police is recording complaints quickly and resolving many informal matters promptly, but the force that continues to attract public confidence concerns continues to face a much higher complaint rate than the national average, alongside questions about the handling of complaints which later require escalation.
