Artificial intelligence is helping people raise concerns about policing who may previously have struggled to access the complaints system, the Independent Office for Police Conduct has said.
The watchdog highlighted the role of AI as figures showed that police forces in England and Wales recorded 108,897 complaints between April 2025 and March 2026.
The total represents a 15 per cent increase on 2024–25 and is the highest recorded since the IOPC began collecting and analysing complaints data.
IOPC Director of Oversight and Casework David Ford said AI was making it easier for members of the public to make their concerns heard.
“It’s also simpler than ever before to register a complaint, especially with the assistance of AI which is making the complaints system more accessible for those who may have previously found it challenging to raise their concerns,” he said.
Complaints across the 43 forces have increased by 61 per cent since 2020–21.
Ford cautioned against interpreting the rise solely as evidence of increased dissatisfaction with policing. He said improvements in how forces record and handle complaints also explained part of the increase.
Some forces had centralised the receipt of complaints, resulting in more matters being formally recorded and reported to the watchdog.
The IOPC had identified previous under-reporting in some forces. However, Ford said others were now formally recording some matters as complaints when that might not be necessary.
He said other organisations outside policing were also experiencing rising complaints, with common factors including the availability of AI and systems becoming easier to navigate.
Requests for independent reviews rise
Applications to the IOPC for reviews of police complaint handling also increased.
The watchdog received 3,039 review applications during 2025–26, up 25 per cent on the previous year and the highest annual total under the current legislation.
The announcement did not identify how many complaints or review applications involved AI assistance, or establish whether AI contributed to the rise in reviews.
The IOPC completed 3,273 reviews during the year, an increase of 62 per cent.
In 27 per cent of those reviews, it found the complaint handling or proposed outcome was not reasonable or proportionate.
Its responses included returning cases to forces for further work, making learning recommendations, substituting force findings with its own, or directing misconduct proceedings.
In the remaining 73 per cent, the watchdog found that forces had handled complaints appropriately. That compares with 60 per cent in 2022–23.
Ford said the improvement showed that the IOPC’s Right First Time oversight work was helping forces deal effectively with complaints without repeated investigations and reviews.
Poor service dominates complaints
Poor service accounted for 55 per cent of complaints, followed by matters concerning police powers and policy at 22 per cent. A further 11 per cent concerned accusations against individual officers or staff.
There were 5,061 allegations of discriminatory behaviour, including 2,398 relating to race, 1,116 to disability and 728 to sex.
Forces finalised 107,616 complaints during the reporting year, up 17 per cent. Of those, 70,041 were resolved informally and 37,575 were handled formally under Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act 2002.
Among complaints handled formally, 65 per cent had at least one allegation resulting in an explanation. Seven per cent resulted in learning for an individual or force, while eight per cent resulted in an apology or debrief.
People dissatisfied with how their complaint was handled, or its final outcome, can apply for a review. The police outcome letter should identify the relevant review body, which may be the IOPC or a local policing body.
Ford said: “Members of the public need to have faith in the police complaints system. That’s what we’re here for, to hold policing to account in this regard.”
