If you complain about Bedfordshire Police and ask for a review, the reviewing body found the force's original outcome was not reasonable and proportionate in 14.0% of 57 completed reviews in 2024/25, the 35th highest of 43 forces and 10.5 points below the national figure of 24.5%. Bedfordshire Police recorded 11,786 stop and searches between 2023-07 to 2026-04, and 72.8% ended in no further action.

14%

of completed reviews found Bedfordshire Police's own complaint outcome was not reasonable and proportionate

IOPC, 2024/25. 8 of 57 reviews.

405

complaint cases per 1,000 employees

IOPC, 2024/25. 1,111 cases, 2,745 employees.

72.8%

of stop and searches ended in no further action

data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-04. 8,581 of 11,785 recorded outcomes.

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The most common stated reason Bedfordshire Police gave for a stop and search was "Controlled drugs", with 8,272 searches, 70.9% of those with a reason recorded.

Source: data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-04. Figures as published; see the tables on this page for the full denominators.

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Before you share this. This is a statistic reproduced from an official publication, not an allegation against any officer or force, and not a finding of wrongdoing. Share it with the source attached, which is why the source is included in the share text. Do not add claims of your own to it, what you write alongside a figure is yours, not ours, and you are responsible for it. Numbers are as published at the date shown and may be restated later by the body that published them.

Complaints about Bedfordshire Police

Complaint cases logged	1,111
Employees	2,745
Cases per 1,000 employees	404.7 (24th of 44)
Review applications to the local policing body	32
Review applications to the IOPC	32

Stop and search by Bedfordshire Police

Searches recorded	11,786
Period	2023-07 to 2026-04
Months of data	34 of 36
Ended in no further action	72.8%

What Bedfordshire Police searched people for

Stated object of search	Searches
Controlled drugs	8,272
Offensive weapons	1,495
Article for use in theft	1,453
Stolen goods	343
Firearms	106

Who Bedfordshire Police searched

Officer-defined ethnicity	Searches	Share
White	6,230	56.3%
Asian	2,484	22.4%
Black	2,154	19.5%
Other	204	1.8%

Calculated over the 11,072 searches where an officer recorded an ethnicity, which is 93.9% of all searches by this force.

Compared with who lives in the Bedfordshire Police area

Ethnic group	Share of searches	Share of residents	Ratio
Black	19.5%	5.6%	3.5x
Asian	22.4%	16.6%	1.3x
Other	1.8%	1.9%	0.9x
White	56.3%	72.0%	0.8x

What this ratio is and is not. It compares the share of searches to the share of people resident in this force area at the 2021 Census. It takes no account of who is present in a place rather than living there, which matters most in city centres and transport hubs. A ratio above one means a group is searched more often than its resident share, and that is a pattern requiring explanation, not evidence of discrimination in itself. Groups under 0.5% of the resident population are omitted because the figure becomes unstable. Every force compared.

Recording gaps. Bedfordshire Police did not record officer-defined ethnicity for 6.1% over this period. Percentages on this page are calculated only over the records where the relevant field was actually recorded.

Use of force by Bedfordshire Police

Year	Use of force reports	Relative volume
2020/21	4,600
2021/22	6,116
2022/23	6,621
2023/24	7,502
2024/25	6,970

Recorded use of force by Bedfordshire Police has risen 51.5% since 2020/21. Nationally the total rose 39.4% over the same period, so this force is rising faster than the national trend.

Taser use

Total recorded Taser uses	412
Of which discharged	18
Share actually discharged	4.4%

Most recorded Taser use is drawing, aiming or red-dotting rather than firing. The share actually discharged is the figure worth knowing.

Complaining to Bedfordshire Police

Complaints go to the force first. Use its own official channel so the complaint is recorded properly and you get written confirmation.

Bedfordshire Police official websiteSource: data.police.uk
Telephone: 101Non-emergency number. Always call 999 in an emergency.

Build a complaint letter for Bedfordshire Police

What you can do about it

Complaining to a force and bringing a claim against it are different processes with different outcomes. Reviews overturn the force's own finding in roughly a quarter of cases nationally, which makes the review stage worth understanding before you use it.

How to complain about the police

Bedfordshire Police in the news

The five most recent reports mentioning this force, collected automatically. Headlines and links belong to the publishers named. We do not edit, summarise or endorse them, and inclusion here does not imply any finding against anyone.

Bedfordshire Police’s four-year fight for justice featured in new 24 Hours in Police Custody Bedford Independent · 29 Aug 2026
24 Hours in Police Custody returns with four-year fight for justice after teen left for dead Luton Today · 28 Aug 2026
Police deploy Live Facial Recognition technology in Luton town centre today Luton Today · 27 Aug 2026
Police 'missed opportunities' before woman's murder BBC · 26 Aug 2026
Police release CCTV images of man they want to speak to following burglary in Bromham Bedford Today · 25 Aug 2026

Sources

Independent Office for Police Conduct, police complaints statistics for England and Wales, 2024/25.
data.police.uk stop and search API, 2023-07 to 2026-04. Accessed 2026-08-29.
Home Office police use of force statistics, England and Wales, 2024/25.

Data last refreshed 29 August 2026, covering 2023-07 to 2026-04. Every figure on this page is recomputed from the source datasets, not edited by hand. Found something wrong? Tell us.