Complaints against Hertfordshire Constabulary rose higher than the national average this year, according to newly revealed statistics.

Police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), yesterday published its police complaints data for 2024/25.

The report showed that 1,474 complaints against Hertfordshire Constabulary were logged in the 12 months from April 2024 to March 2025, representing a 16.7% increase compared to 1,263 in 2023/24.

This was higher than the national data, which showed an 11% increase in complaints logged by the 43 police forces across England and Wales over the previous 12 months, rising to 94,940 – the most on record since the IOPC began gathering complaints data.

Despite this, Hertfordshire proportionally had a lower ratio of complaints compared to neighbouring forces. In Hertfordshire, the number of complaints logged per 1,000 employees stands at 330. This is lower than Essex (495), Bedfordshire (405), Cambridgeshire (406) and Thames Valley Police (424).

Elsewhere, among the 20 IOPC investigations into Herts Police in 2024/25, five (25%) resulted in findings being made against the force. This percentage is the same as the previous year, when findings were made in four of 16 cases.

This figure places Herts in the same league as its neighbours, with the IOPC making findings in 27% of investigations in Essex, 21% in Bedfordshire, 20% in Cambridge and 35% in Thames Valley.

IOPC director of oversight and casework, David Ford, acknowledged the overall increase in the number of complaints but noted that many police forces have improved the way they handle and record complaints.

He said: "We are seeing more public complaints being recorded, but it doesn't necessarily mean that there is greater dissatisfaction with policing.

"We know some forces have improved their complaints handling process, centralising their receipt of complaints and decision-making systems. It is resulting in more matters being formally recorded and reported to us through their data submissions."

Detective Chief Superintendent William Hodgkinson, head of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Professional Standards Department, said: "We have been working hard with the Hertfordshire Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to publicise and ensure that residents of our county know how to report matters of dissatisfaction.

"Everyone working for Hertfordshire Constabulary strives to deliver the best possible service to our communities, because we know that is what they deserve. When our service falls below our high standards, we want to know so that we can focus on improvement.

"We pride ourselves on identifying more opportunities for learning and handling complaints consistently in a timelier manner than is seen nationally."

Information on how the public can make a complaint can be found here.