If you complain about Northamptonshire Police and ask for a review, the reviewing body found the force's original outcome was not reasonable and proportionate in 28.4% of 74 completed reviews in 2024/25, the 10th highest of 43 forces and 3.9 points above the national figure of 24.5%. Northamptonshire Police recorded 11,682 stop and searches between 2023-07 to 2026-06, and 81.2% ended in no further action.

28.4%

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

IOPC, 2024/25. 21 of 74 reviews.

420

complaint cases per 1,000 employees

IOPC, 2024/25. 1,158 cases, 2,757 employees.

81.2%

of stop and searches ended in no further action

data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-06. 9,486 of 11,682 recorded outcomes.

328

searches involved removal of more than outer clothing

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

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Northamptonshire Police recorded 328 searches involving removal of more than outer clothing.

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 Northamptonshire Police

Complaint cases logged	1,158
Employees	2,757
Cases per 1,000 employees	420 (21st of 44)
Review applications to the local policing body	66
Review applications to the IOPC	16

Where reviews found the outcome was not reasonable and proportionate

Route	Reviews completed	Outcome overturned	Rate
Local policing body, complaint not investigated	63	18	28.6%

Stop and search by Northamptonshire Police

Searches recorded	11,682
Period	2023-07 to 2026-06
Months of data	36 of 36
Ended in no further action	81.2%
More than outer clothing removed	328

What Northamptonshire Police searched people for

Stated object of search	Searches
Controlled drugs	7,072
Offensive weapons	1,770
Evidence of offences under the Act	1,172
Article for use in theft	902
Stolen goods	510

Who Northamptonshire Police searched

Officer-defined ethnicity	Searches	Share
White	8,632	75.3%
Black	2,144	18.7%
Asian	598	5.2%
Other	84	0.7%

Calculated over the 11,458 searches where an officer recorded an ethnicity, which is 98.1% of all searches by this force.

Compared with who lives in the Northamptonshire Police area

Ethnic group	Share of searches	Share of residents	Ratio
Black	18.7%	4.0%	4.7x
Asian	5.2%	4.5%	1.2x
White	75.3%	87.9%	0.9x
Other	0.7%	1.0%	0.7x

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.

Use of force by Northamptonshire Police

Year	Use of force reports	Relative volume
2020/21	6,685
2021/22	7,880
2022/23	9,033
2023/24	11,701
2024/25	10,689

Recorded use of force by Northamptonshire Police has risen 59.9% 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	781
Of which discharged	41
Share actually discharged	5.2%

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

Complaining to Northamptonshire Police

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

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

Build a complaint letter for Northamptonshire 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

Northamptonshire 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.

Man, 72, appears in court charged with Sywell murder Northamptonshire Police · 29 Aug 2026
Victim of suspected caravan murder was a 'kind mum' BBC · 28 Aug 2026
Motorcyclist in his 20s seriously injured in Northampton collision with van Northampton Chronicle and Echo · 28 Aug 2026
Teenage boy stabbed in busy Northampton street – police appeal for witnesses Northampton Chronicle and Echo · 28 Aug 2026
Family tribute to “caring and incredibly kind” mum Sue Lumsden Northamptonshire Police · 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.