If you complain about British Transport Police and ask for a review, the reviewing body found the force's original outcome was not reasonable and proportionate in 8.3% of 48 completed reviews in 2024/25, the 42nd highest of 43 forces and 16.2 points below the national figure of 24.5%. British Transport Police recorded 41,350 stop and searches between 2023-08 to 2026-07, and 85.9% ended in no further action.
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27.9% of the people searched by British Transport Police where ethnicity was recorded were recorded by the officer as Black.
Source: data.police.uk, 2023-08 to 2026-07, 40,834 searches with ethnicity recorded. Figures as published; see the tables on this page for the full denominators.
Complaints about British Transport Police
| Complaint cases logged | 811 |
|---|---|
| Employees | 4,952 |
| Cases per 1,000 employees | 163.8 (42nd of 44) |
| Review applications to the local policing body | 39 |
| Review applications to the IOPC | 3 |
Where reviews found the outcome was not reasonable and proportionate
| Route | Reviews completed | Outcome overturned | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local policing body, complaint not investigated | 43 | 3 | 7.0% |
Stop and search by British Transport Police
| Searches recorded | 41,350 |
|---|---|
| Period | 2023-08 to 2026-07 |
| Months of data | 36 of 36 |
| Ended in no further action | 85.9% |
| More than outer clothing removed | 202 |
What British Transport Police searched people for
| Stated object of search | Searches |
|---|---|
| Controlled drugs | 26,406 |
| Stolen goods | 4,818 |
| Anything to threaten or harm anyone | 4,104 |
| Offensive weapons | 2,935 |
| Evidence of offences under the Act | 985 |
Who British Transport Police searched
| Officer-defined ethnicity | Searches | Share |
|---|---|---|
| White | 23,175 | 56.8% |
| Black | 11,373 | 27.9% |
| Asian | 3,658 | 9.0% |
| Other | 2,628 | 6.4% |
Calculated over the 40,834 searches where an officer recorded an ethnicity, which is 98.8% of all searches by this force.
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.
British Transport 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.
- Police launch investigation after dozens of dead birds dumped outside station
- Police appeal for witnesses after man racially abused on train
- Police launch appeal after man racially abused on train to Aberdeen
- VR campaign launched after hate crime on London transport rises 36%
- Passenger racially abused on Glasgow Queen Street train prompts police response
- Independent Office for Police Conduct, police complaints statistics for England and Wales, 2024/25.
- data.police.uk stop and search API, 2023-08 to 2026-07. Accessed 2026-09-12.
Data last refreshed , covering 2023-08 to 2026-07. Every figure on this page is recomputed from the source datasets, not edited by hand. Found something wrong? Tell us.