If you complain about Dorset Police and ask for a review, the reviewing body found the force's original outcome was not reasonable and proportionate in 27.7% of 112 completed reviews in 2024/25, the 11th highest of 43 forces and 3.2 points above the national figure of 24.5%.

27.7%

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

IOPC, 2024/25. 31 of 112 reviews.

457

complaint cases per 1,000 employees

IOPC, 2024/25. 1,325 cases, 2,901 employees.

279

searches involved removal of more than outer clothing

data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-06.

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The most common stated reason Dorset Police gave for a stop and search was "Controlled drugs", with 3,653 searches, 65.3% of those with a reason recorded.

Source: data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-06. 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 Dorset Police

Complaint cases logged	1,325
Employees	2,901
Cases per 1,000 employees	456.7 (14th of 44)
Review applications to the local policing body	96
Review applications to the IOPC	34

Where reviews found the outcome was not reasonable and proportionate

Route	Reviews completed	Outcome overturned	Rate
Local policing body, complaint not investigated	88	22	25.0%

Stop and search by Dorset Police

Searches recorded	5,765
Period	2023-07 to 2026-06
Months of data	36 of 36
More than outer clothing removed	279

What Dorset Police searched people for

Stated object of search	Searches
Controlled drugs	3,653
Offensive weapons	855
Stolen goods	789
Article for use in theft	251
Articles for use in criminal damage	47

Who Dorset Police searched

Officer-defined ethnicity	Searches	Share
White	4,331	88.5%
Black	315	6.4%
Asian	138	2.8%
Other	108	2.2%

Calculated over the 4,892 searches where an officer recorded an ethnicity, which is 84.9% of all searches by this force.

Compared with who lives in the Dorset Police area

Ethnic group	Share of searches	Share of residents	Ratio
Black	6.4%	0.7%	9.1x
Other	2.2%	0.9%	2.4x
Asian	2.8%	2.3%	1.2x
White	88.5%	94.1%	0.9x

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. Dorset Police did not record an outcome for 54.3% of its searches, and did not record officer-defined ethnicity for 15.1% over this period. Percentages on this page are calculated only over the records where the relevant field was actually recorded.

Use of force by Dorset Police

Year	Use of force reports	Relative volume
2020/21	6,352
2021/22	6,900
2022/23	5,853
2023/24	7,250
2024/25	6,983

Recorded use of force by Dorset Police has risen 9.9% since 2020/21. Nationally the total rose 39.4% over the same period, so this force is below the national trend.

Taser use

Total recorded Taser uses	219
Of which discharged	14
Share actually discharged	6.4%

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

Complaining to Dorset Police

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

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

Build a complaint letter for Dorset 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

Dorset 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.

Dorset police have brought in facial recognition technology to spot wanted people Rayo · 30 Aug 2026
Police appeal after woman, 49, arrested following Ferndown crash The New Stour And Avon Magazine · 29 Aug 2026
Burglar, 23, who stole PlayStation and knives from property is behind bars The Purbeck Gazette · 28 Aug 2026
News Article Dorset Police News · 28 Aug 2026
Stolen caravan recovered as investigation into thefts is launched Dorset Echo · 28 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 2026-06. 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 2026-06. Every figure on this page is recomputed from the source datasets, not edited by hand. Found something wrong? Tell us.