If you complain about Sussex Police and ask for a review, the reviewing body found the force's original outcome was not reasonable and proportionate in 11.9% of 218 completed reviews in 2024/25, the 37th highest of 43 forces and 12.6 points below the national figure of 24.5%. Sussex Police recorded 19,557 stop and searches between 2023-07 to 2026-06, and 59.2% ended in no further action.

11.9%

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

IOPC, 2024/25. 26 of 218 reviews.

383

complaint cases per 1,000 employees

IOPC, 2024/25. 2,258 cases, 5,898 employees.

59.2%

of stop and searches ended in no further action

data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-06. 11,526 of 19,457 recorded outcomes.

452

searches involved removal of more than outer clothing

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

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Fact 9 of 10

Sussex Police recorded 18,948 use of force reports in 2024/25, against a workforce of 5,898.

Source: Home Office use of force statistics and IOPC, 2024/25. 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 Sussex Police

Complaint cases logged	2,258
Employees	5,898
Cases per 1,000 employees	382.8 (27th of 44)
Review applications to the local policing body	221
Review applications to the IOPC	4

Where reviews found the outcome was not reasonable and proportionate

Route	Reviews completed	Outcome overturned	Rate
Local policing body, complaint not investigated	210	22	10.5%

Stop and search by Sussex Police

Searches recorded	19,557
Period	2023-07 to 2026-06
Months of data	36 of 36
Ended in no further action	59.2%
More than outer clothing removed	452

What Sussex Police searched people for

Stated object of search	Searches
Controlled drugs	10,148
Offensive weapons	3,587
Stolen goods	1,961
Article for use in theft	1,942
Articles for use in criminal damage	350

Who Sussex Police searched

Officer-defined ethnicity	Searches	Share
White	15,756	81.4%
Black	2,057	10.6%
Asian	886	4.6%
Other	649	3.4%

Calculated over the 19,348 searches where an officer recorded an ethnicity, which is 98.9% of all searches by this force.

Compared with who lives in the Sussex Police area

Ethnic group	Share of searches	Share of residents	Ratio
Black	10.6%	1.3%	8.2x
Other	3.4%	1.3%	2.6x
Asian	4.6%	3.7%	1.2x
White	81.4%	91.0%	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.

Use of force by Sussex Police

Year	Use of force reports	Relative volume
2020/21	17,497
2021/22	18,041
2022/23	17,826
2023/24	19,187
2024/25	18,948

Recorded use of force by Sussex Police has risen 8.3% 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	922
Of which discharged	65
Share actually discharged	7.0%

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

Complaining to Sussex Police

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

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

Build a complaint letter for Sussex 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

Sussex 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 died after ‘Everything’s Unmissable’ sign fell at festival, say witnesses London Evening Standard · 30 Aug 2026
Big Church Festival: Police appeal for witnesses as prayers offered for those affected Premier Christian News · 29 Aug 2026
Police give new statement after man dies at Christian music festival The Argus · 29 Aug 2026
Police seek witnesses to incident at Big Church Festival Sussex Police · 29 Aug 2026
Big Church Festival 'devastated' as man dies after sign falls BBC · 29 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.