Being stopped and searched can be an unpleasant experience, no matter the approach of the police officers involved. But if it’s felt that there has been unnecessary force or an inappropriate attitude, then we'd like to hear about it and, where necessary, act upon it. Likewise, we welcome any suggestions or positive comments you’d like to share.

Tell us about your experience of being stopped by the police

If you feel you’ve had an unpleasant or unsatisfactory experience, you may wish to make a formal complaint. You can do so if you think a police officer has behaved incorrectly or unfairly. For example, if you think an officer has:

  • been rude to you
  • used excessive force
  • abused your rights
  • arrested you unlawfully

All complaints are investigated and this can take time. 

To make a formal complaint and for more information about how complaints are investigated, read our complaints pages.

Alternatives to a formal complaint

To raise an issue about something that has caused you concern, or was done well, it may be worth giving feedback. This might be particularly useful if you've witnessed something where, because you were not directly affected, you feel reluctant to make a formal contact, but you still feel unhappy, or pleased, about the way you've seen police officers behave.

There are a range of options available for giving feedback:

  • Make a suggestion using our online form. 
  • Complete our anonymous stop and search feedback questionnaire Smart Survey.
  • Contact the borough commander of the borough you were stopped in. To find the relevant police station and commander’s contact details, visit our Contact us page. 

How to get involved

Join a monitoring group

The involvement and empowerment of London’s communities is essential to the success of policing in London, and an important part is local monitoring of stop and search activity.

At a borough level, stop and search is monitored by local independent community monitoring groups whose role is to:

  • hold their police to account
  • scrutinise the operational use of stop and search
  • provide local communities with a voice into their local police to communicate their experiences of street encounters

The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) supports these groups to ensure that stop and search monitoring remains effective at a borough level. For more information on how to get involved in community monitoring of stop and search, email the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

Ride Along scheme

Feel like seeing the world through the eyes of a police officer? To actually get the chance to experience how they deal with situations on the street?

The Ride Along scheme offers members of the public the opportunity to accompany our officers on patrol. The scheme enables two-way learning and helps create greater understanding and closeness between the police and the public.

For more information and details of how to apply, please download our ride along scheme guidance notes.