New figures reveal a rise in complaints made against Greater Manchester Police (GMP), with 9,519 complaint cases logged between April 2025 and March 2026. This marks an increase of 2,854 from the 6,665 recorded over the previous financial year.
Nationally, police forces in England and Wales faced a record number of complaints last year, with the total topping 100,000 for the first time ever. A report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) showed that 108,897 complaints were logged by 43 police forces during the period, a 15 per cent increase on the year before.
GMP complaint categories
Only the Metropolitan Police in London received more complaints than GMP, although the Met and GMP are two of the largest forces in England. Complaints to GMP about 'police powers, policies and procedures' were the highest category, with the number standing at 4,047.
The 'handling of or damage to property/premises' followed, with 943 complaints. There were 271 complaints about 'access and/or disclosure of information'; 170 about 'use of police vehicles' and 575 about 'discriminatory behaviour'.
Referrals and finalised cases
Forces should refer certain matters to the IOPC for the IOPC to decide how they should be handled. On the part of Greater Manchester Police, 359 referrals were received, a fall from the same period over the last financial year. A total of 9,394 complaint cases were finalised by the force during the reporting year.
Nationally, the number of complaints has been climbing steadily, but the 15 per cent rise is the biggest annual increase since 2020/21 when the current definition of a complaint was introduced.
National complaint breakdown
This year's report revealed that most complaints (55 per cent) related to allegations of poor service, followed by matters linked to police powers and policy (22 per cent), and 11 per cent were accusations against individual officers or staff members, according to the report.
Discriminatory behaviour accounted for 5,061 (3 per cent) of allegations, with 2,398 of those related to accusations of race discrimination, 1,116 to disability, and 728 on sex discrimination grounds.
The IOPC's director of oversight and casework David Ford said artificial intelligence (AI) has made it easier than ever for people to make complaints. He said: "It's important not to jump to a conclusion that these figures solely equate to increased dissatisfaction in policing.
"We know through our oversight work with police forces that many are now better at recording and handling complaints. That in part explains the increase.
"It's also simpler than ever before to register a complaint, especially with the assistance if AI which is making the complaints system more accessible for those who may have previously found it challenging to raise their concerns.
"We're helping police forces identify ways to improve their complaints handling process. We have seen various police forces adopt a range of changes, such as centralising the receipt of complaints they receive. This is resulting in more matters being formally recorded and reported to us through their submissions."
Resolution and review outcomes
A total of 107,616 complaints were finalised during the reporting year – up 17 per cent on 2024-25 – with 70,041 resolved informally by forces and 37,575 dealt with formally under Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act 2002. Of the cases handled formally, nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) had at least one allegation resulting in an explanation being given; 7 per cent resulted in learning for an individual or a police force; and 8 per cent ended with an apology or debrief.
Of the 3,273 reviews it completed, the IOPC found complaints were handled appropriately by forces in 73 per cent of cases. Mr Ford said: "It's pleasing that almost three-quarters of the reviews we carried out last year concluded that police forces had handled complaints appropriately. 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."
