Police Complaints Outcome Reviews

You will only have 28 days starting the day after the date on your outcome letter to request a review. If you do not submit your review request in this window, we may not be able to review your complaint.

To request a review from MOPAC, please send the below information to us by email or post:

• Name and contact details.
• MPS complaint reference.
• A copy of the outcome letter sent to you by the MPS.
• Explain why you are unhappy about how the MPS handled your complaint or the outcome it reached.
• If you are being represented by a third party, please include their contact details and your consent for them to represent you. 

Please contact us if:

• You need assistance in requesting a review or need us to make an adjustment.
• If you have any questions about the reviews process.

You may see information about MOPAC’s online review request web-form. Please note that we are currently unable to accept review requests using this method.

MOPAC Police Complaint Reviews Team

[email protected]

MOPAC Police Complaint Reviews Team                                               

169 Union St

London

SE1 0LL

Reviews are typically completed in writing. However, if you have an            accessibility need that means you need to speak with us, please phone 020 7983 4000 to request a call with the Police Complaint Reviews Team.

We will contact the MPS to access the information we need to review your complaint. As part of this, the information that you provide to us may be forwarded to the MPS.

We will consider if we are the relevant review body for your review. Sometimes, we may feel that the complaint should be considered by a different organisation - such as the IOPC. When this happens, we will forward your review request to the correct organisation, let you know that we have done this, and what information we have shared.

Once we have collected the information we need to review your complaint, we will inform you if the review request is valid, if we are the relevant review body, and if so – how long it is likely to take for your review to be allocated to a caseworker.

When considering your review, we will take into consideration why you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint – so it is important that you explain why.

We will then look at whether the outcome of your complaint was reasonable and proportionate, and provide you with a letter explaining our decision.

In most instances, if we find that the outcome of a complaint was not reasonable and proportionate – for example if it wasn’t addressed or information wasn’t weighed fairly - we typically either recommend that the MPS looks at the complaint again, or that it remedies the complainant’s dissatisfaction in another way. This may for example be by providing an explanation or apology, returning seized property, or committing to review a policy or procedure. In rare instances, we may also refer complaints to the IOPC.

Separately, we also identify learning opportunities to help improve complaint handling.

We cannot recommend compensation, we cannot determine if something was lawful, and we have no control over the police handling of a criminal matter. We cannot review the results of a criminal investigation or recommend the police investigate or reinvestigate one.

If you have concerns about the outcome of your review, please contact us in the first instance.

However, please note that there is no mechanism within the Police Reform Act 2002 for review decisions to be appealed. Our review decisions are final.

As a Public Authority, our review decisions can be judicially reviewed. A judicial review is a type of court proceeding in which a Judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body. Judicial reviews are a challenge to the way in which a decision was made, rather than the rights or wrongs of the conclusion reached.

Should you wish to seek a judicial review of our review decision, you may wish to consider seeking independent legal advice.

Please note:

• We cannot offer advice about or assist with the judicial review process.
• The judicial review process may cost you money – such as court and legal fees – and there is no guarantee of success.
• Applications should usually be made promptly, and within three months of the decision being challenged.