If you complain about Essex Police and ask for a review, the reviewing body found the force's original outcome was not reasonable and proportionate in 28.8% of 222 completed reviews in 2024/25, the 9th highest of 43 forces and 4.3 points above the national figure of 24.5%. Essex Police recorded 44,362 stop and searches between 2023-07 to 2026-06, and 70.9% ended in no further action.

28.8%

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

IOPC, 2024/25. 64 of 222 reviews.

495

complaint cases per 1,000 employees

IOPC, 2024/25. 3,163 cases, 6,393 employees.

70.9%

of stop and searches ended in no further action

data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-06. 31,445 of 44,362 recorded outcomes.

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11.1% of the people searched by Essex Police where ethnicity was recorded were recorded by the officer as Black.

Source: data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-06, 40,642 searches with ethnicity recorded. 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 Essex Police

Complaint cases logged	3,163
Employees	6,393
Cases per 1,000 employees	494.8 (11th of 44)
Review applications to the local policing body	125
Review applications to the IOPC	117

Where reviews found the outcome was not reasonable and proportionate

Route	Reviews completed	Outcome overturned	Rate
Local policing body, complaint not investigated	111	37	33.3%
IOPC, complaint not investigated	56	12	21.4%
IOPC, complaint investigated	55	15	27.3%

Stop and search by Essex Police

Searches recorded	44,362
Period	2023-07 to 2026-06
Months of data	36 of 36
Ended in no further action	70.9%

Who Essex Police searched

Officer-defined ethnicity	Searches	Share
White	30,957	76.2%
Black	4,529	11.1%
Asian	2,333	5.7%
Mixed	1,657	4.1%
Other	1,166	2.9%

Calculated over the 40,642 searches where an officer recorded an ethnicity, which is 91.6% of all searches by this force.

Compared with who lives in the Essex Police area

Ethnic group	Share of searches	Share of residents	Ratio
Black	11.1%	3.4%	3.3x
Other	2.9%	1.0%	2.9x
Mixed	4.1%	2.6%	1.6x
Asian	5.7%	4.2%	1.4x
White	76.2%	88.8%	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. Essex Police did not record officer-defined ethnicity for 8.4% over this period. Percentages on this page are calculated only over the records where the relevant field was actually recorded.

Use of force by Essex Police

Year	Use of force reports	Relative volume
2020/21	19,358
2021/22	22,830
2022/23	21,595
2023/24	22,305
2024/25	21,968

Recorded use of force by Essex Police has risen 13.5% 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	765
Of which discharged	62
Share actually discharged	8.1%

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

Complaining to Essex Police

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

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

Build a complaint letter for Essex 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

Essex 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.

Braintree: Man charged with ignoring town centre ban Essex Police · 29 Aug 2026
Next-generation Taser rolled out across Essex Police Essex Police · 29 Aug 2026
Southend: Jail for motorist who ignored driving ban Essex Police · 29 Aug 2026
Major Essex road CLOSED due to ongoing 'police incident' Colchester Gazette · 28 Aug 2026
Hero retired police dog Baloo learning to navigate life after losing her sight Colchester Gazette · 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.