If you complain about Northumbria Police and ask for a review, the reviewing body found the force's original outcome was not reasonable and proportionate in 19.9% of 141 completed reviews in 2024/25, the 28th highest of 43 forces and 4.6 points below the national figure of 24.5%. Northumbria Police recorded 30,510 stop and searches between 2023-07 to 2026-06, and 74.2% ended in no further action.
Share a fact about Northumbria Police
Northumbria Police recorded 1,653 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.
Complaints about Northumbria Police
| Complaint cases logged | 3,300 |
|---|---|
| Employees | 6,044 |
| Cases per 1,000 employees | 546 (4th of 44) |
| Review applications to the local policing body | 77 |
| Review applications to the IOPC | 64 |
Where reviews found the outcome was not reasonable and proportionate
| Route | Reviews completed | Outcome overturned | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local policing body, complaint investigated | 64 | 16 | 25.0% |
| IOPC, complaint investigated | 64 | 9 | 14.1% |
Stop and search by Northumbria Police
| Searches recorded | 30,510 |
|---|---|
| Period | 2023-07 to 2026-06 |
| Months of data | 36 of 36 |
| Ended in no further action | 74.2% |
| More than outer clothing removed | 1,653 |
What Northumbria Police searched people for
| Stated object of search | Searches |
|---|---|
| Controlled drugs | 15,822 |
| Offensive weapons | 6,070 |
| Stolen goods | 5,296 |
| Articles for use in criminal damage | 2,196 |
| Evidence of offences under the Act | 270 |
Who Northumbria Police searched
| Officer-defined ethnicity | Searches | Share |
|---|---|---|
| White | 25,046 | 87.7% |
| Asian | 1,564 | 5.5% |
| Other | 946 | 3.3% |
| Black | 720 | 2.5% |
| Mixed | 290 | 1.0% |
Calculated over the 28,566 searches where an officer recorded an ethnicity, which is 93.6% of all searches by this force.
Compared with who lives in the Northumbria Police area
| Ethnic group | Share of searches | Share of residents | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 3.3% | 1.2% | 2.8x |
| Black | 2.5% | 1.2% | 2.1x |
| Asian | 5.5% | 4.2% | 1.3x |
| White | 87.7% | 92.1% | 1.0x |
| Mixed | 1.0% | 1.3% | 0.8x |
Use of force by Northumbria Police
| Year | Use of force reports | Relative volume |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 19,864 | |
| 2021/22 | 21,750 | |
| 2022/23 | 25,863 | |
| 2023/24 | 30,692 | |
| 2024/25 | 28,660 |
Recorded use of force by Northumbria Police has risen 44.3% 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 | 722 |
|---|---|
| Of which discharged | 123 |
| Share actually discharged | 17.0% |
Most recorded Taser use is drawing, aiming or red-dotting rather than firing. The share actually discharged is the figure worth knowing.
Complaining to Northumbria Police
Complaints go to the force first. Use its own official channel so the complaint is recorded properly and you get written confirmation.
- Northumbria Police official website
- Telephone: 101
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.
Northumbria 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.
- Ex-police trainer 'broke Covid lockdown rules taking student officer home for sex'
- Over 800 vehicles seized by Northumbria Police during crackdown
- Police blast 'completely unacceptable behaviour' after cars torched at A66 crash vigil
- Police encourage sexual abuse victims to come forward as predator jailed
- Woman granted bail after police cars targeted with fireworks at teenager's vigil
- 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 , 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.