If you complain about West Mercia Police and ask for a review, the reviewing body found the force's original outcome was not reasonable and proportionate in 11.9% of 59 completed reviews in 2024/25, the 37th highest of 43 forces and 12.6 points below the national figure of 24.5%. West Mercia Police recorded 10,843 stop and searches between 2023-07 to 2026-06, and 65.4% ended in no further action.

11.9%

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

IOPC, 2024/25. 7 of 59 reviews.

429

complaint cases per 1,000 employees

IOPC, 2024/25. 1,922 cases, 4,480 employees.

65.4%

of stop and searches ended in no further action

data.police.uk, 2023-07 to 2026-06. 6,979 of 10,675 recorded outcomes.

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Fact 9 of 10

West Mercia Police logged 1,922 complaint cases in 2024/25, across a workforce of 4,480.

Source: 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 West Mercia Police

Complaint cases logged	1,922
Employees	4,480
Cases per 1,000 employees	429 (17th of 44)
Review applications to the local policing body	53
Review applications to the IOPC	0

Where reviews found the outcome was not reasonable and proportionate

Route	Reviews completed	Outcome overturned	Rate
Local policing body, complaint not investigated	56	6	10.7%

Stop and search by West Mercia Police

Searches recorded	10,843
Period	2023-07 to 2026-06
Months of data	36 of 36
Ended in no further action	65.4%

What West Mercia Police searched people for

Stated object of search	Searches
Controlled drugs	5,871
Offensive weapons	1,747
Stolen goods	1,366
Article for use in theft	1,095
Anything to threaten or harm anyone	278

Who West Mercia Police searched

Officer-defined ethnicity	Searches	Share
White	8,347	79.2%
Asian	951	9.0%
Black	745	7.1%
Mixed	328	3.1%
Other	169	1.6%

Calculated over the 10,540 searches where an officer recorded an ethnicity, which is 97.2% of all searches by this force.

Compared with who lives in the West Mercia Police area

Ethnic group	Share of searches	Share of residents	Ratio
Black	7.1%	0.9%	7.9x
Asian	9.0%	2.7%	3.3x
Other	1.6%	0.6%	2.7x
Mixed	3.1%	1.7%	1.8x
White	79.2%	94.2%	0.8x

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 West Mercia Police

Year	Use of force reports	Relative volume
2020/21	9,185
2021/22	8,810
2022/23	7,119
2023/24	6,740
2024/25	11,155

Recorded use of force by West Mercia Police has risen 21.4% 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	412
Of which discharged	25
Share actually discharged	6.1%

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

Complaining to West Mercia Police

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

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

Build a complaint letter for West Mercia 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

West Mercia 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.

Courier fraud warning after spate of incidents Yahoo News Canada · 30 Aug 2026
Police warning reveals how fraudsters target elderly victims The Hereford Times · 30 Aug 2026
Man arrested on suspicion of rape in Oswestry after alley cordoned off by police Shropshire Star · 30 Aug 2026
Man arrested on suspicion of rape after Oswestry town centre alley is cordoned off Border Counties Advertizer · 30 Aug 2026
Police issue warning following further courier fraud incidents Shropshire Live · 30 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.