IOPC Youth Panel Survey

Youth Panel annual survey dashboard

This dashboard shows the results of the annual survey conducted by the Youth Panel of the IOPC (Independent Office of Police Conduct) between September 2024 and January 2025.

Take part in this year's survey to have your voice heard in next year's results.

Survey responses
2,692
Police force areas covered
43

Who responded to the survey?

Click to find out about the survey respondents

What is your age?

What policing region do you live in?

The colours in the map shows the number of responses from each police force area. Brighter yellow colours mean more responses were received from the force area. Hover over each force area to see the figures for that area.

The high response rates in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire are a result of a BBC radio interview with a member of the youth panel, resulting in increased awareness of the survey locally.

We asked young people which Police Force area they live in. It is clear from some of the results, not all respondents knew the name of their local force. As an example, 53 respondents said their local force is the City of London Police. This compares with only 7 who provided a postcode within the force area.

The map shows the corrected counts. The details below show the original and corrected versions.

Police Force area corrections
Police Force Respondents
Original Adjusted
Avon and Somerset Constabulary 24 25
Bedfordshire Police 6 4
Cambridgeshire Constabulary 136 137
Cheshire Constabulary 19 17
City of London Police 53 7
Cleveland Police 72 81
Cumbria Constabulary 20 19
Derbyshire Constabulary 197 197
Devon & Cornwall Police 34 34
Dorset Police 15 14
Durham Constabulary 14 8
Dyfed-Powys Police 4 4
Essex Police 28 26
Gloucestershire Constabulary 299 302
Greater Manchester Police 26 22
Gwent Police 3 4
Hampshire Constabulary 24 22
Hertfordshire Constabulary 3 3
Humberside Police 13 13
Kent Police 10 10
Lancashire Constabulary 83 82
Leicestershire Police 49 49
Lincolnshire Police 8 8
Merseyside Police 154 157
Metropolitan Police Service 83 124
Norfolk Constabulary 40 40
North Wales Police 24 24
North Yorkshire Police 43 34
Northamptonshire Police 4 3
Northumbria Police 39 41
Nottinghamshire Police 16 17
South Wales Police 22 21
South Yorkshire Police 24 21
Staffordshire Police 78 85
Suffolk Constabulary 6 7
Surrey Police 104 105
Sussex Police 8 6
Thames Valley Police 46 50
Warwickshire Police 12 14
West Mercia Police 16 17
West Midlands Police 194 187
West Yorkshire Police 269 278
Wiltshire Police 370 373

What's your current occupation?

We'd like to find out how experiences might be different for different groups. (Please tick all that you feel relate to you)

What is your gender?

How many experiences have you had with the police in the last 12 months?

Please tick all of the experiences which apply.

Policing

We asked young people about their thoughts on policing.

59%
trust the police in their area
3 in 5 young people

Participants were asked How much do you trust the police in your area? 1,561 (59.1%) said that they trust the police in their area either a fair amount or a great deal. 2,640 participants (98.1%) answered this question.

Young people lacked trust in the police due to concerns about stereotypes of young people in addition to wider concerns about discrimination, such us on the basis of ethnicity or gender. The Youth Panel stresses the importance of intersectionality in these concerns. Young people also highlighted issues around the right to protest, including in relation to Palestine, welfare cuts, and the Sarah Everard vigil, with some feeling the police were restricting free speech and rights. These perceptions came from primary or secondary experiences, and from both social and traditional media.

29%
said their trust in the police has decreased
3 in 10 young people

Participants were asked Over the last year, do you think your trust in the police has... 643 (28.6%) said their trust had decreased over the last year, either a lot or a bit. Only 386 (17.2%) said their trust had increased. 2,247 participants (83.5%) answered this question.

Police misconduct cases have heavily impacted young people's trust in the police. They want to see more accountability from the police service, with a greater response to the public following to instances of misconduct. It would be beneficial if this demonstrated learnings through a you said/ we did approach to community engagement.

70%
would go to the police if they were a victim of crime
7 in 10 young people

Participants were asked How likely do you think you would be to go to the police if you were a victim of a crime? 1,576 (69.5%) said they would be quite likely or very likely to go to the police. 2,266 participants (84.2%) answered this question.

Some young people expressed concerns of not being heard, believed, or being dismissed by the police. Snitching stigma is still prevalent, and young people also shared feelings of shame and blame in relation to reporting. Some of this was in relation to feeling 'exposed', perhaps being found to be 'in the wrong' themselves, or reporting 'backfiring' and getting them into trouble.

53%
think the police in their area treat young people fairly
1 in 2 young people

Participants were asked To what extent do you think police in your area treat young people fairly? 1,212 (53.4%) said they thought the police in their area treated yound people fairly either a fair amount or a great deal. 2,270 participants (84.3%) answered this question.

Many young people are concerned about the police stereotyping young people, in addition other forms of discrimination. Young people who had family known to the police sometimes felt judged and targeted by the police.

Despite these concerns, lots of young people took time to share positive experiences with the police, valuing interactions where police were friendly and they felt listened to.

60%
feel young people's voices are not heard by their local police force
3 in 5 young people

Participants were asked How much do you feel young people's voices are being heard by your local police force? 1,351 (60.3%) said they feel young people's voices are not being heard by their local police force (either not much or not at all). 2,241 participants (83.2%) answered this question.

Young people often did not feel listened to, and felt the police sometimes had a prior conception of the situation before speaking to those involved. The accessibility of the police was also limited by the closure of police stations and a lack of community policing in neighbourhoods.

Many respondents also wrote very positively about police cadets. Closure of some cadets programmes has had a big impact, as it is one of the main avenues for positive engagement between young people and the police. It has led some to feel that they're not valued by policing nationally.

Solutions suggested by young people

The top five issues young people would like police to focus on in 2025 were:

  1. knife crime (25.6%)
  2. drugs and drug dealing (20.4%)
  3. sexual violence (12.6%)
  4. young people (9.2%)
  5. and violence (8.4%)

Young people want to see improved interactive training on:

  • anti-racism and recognising unconscious bias;
  • mental health, recognising neurodiversity, and visible and non-visible disabilities;
  • VAWG and DV, in addition to greater vetting for officers to rebuild trust in policing.
  • Young people also wanted to see greater accountability, particularly in relation to these topics. If there is clear training, then it sets a standard by which the police can operate and thus be held accountable to.

The Youth Panel asserts that this training should be co-produced and delivered with external consultants with lived experience to ensure authenticity, emphasising a compassionate person-centred approach.

Young people want to see greater resourcing so that there can be more police on the streets, however this should not be a punitive role but to build relationships with the community. Young people want to see friendly body language and a new police uniform for this sort of engagement, so it is less intimidating for young people to engage with them.

Last year, we identified that young people wanted to see a return of community policing. Therefore in 2025, we asked young people what they would like this to look like in their area. Most young people called for increased police visibility in the community through positive engagements such as with community and youth groups and events, and educating young people on their rights. Respondents emphasised the need for this to be a collaborative, positive process, whereas an increased punitive police presence would only deepen divisions. Young people spoke about the importance of a local police officer they knew by name, who they knew would listen to them if they needed help.

Young people want to see a greater focus on prevention and diversion rather than prosecution, particularly targeted interventions with young people who are likely to be a victim of criminal exploitation in the future and work with communities to address underlying social issues.

Police complaints system

We asked young people about their knowledge and views of the complaints system.

17%
have heard of the IOPC
1 in 5 young people

Participants were asked Have you heard of the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct)? 375 (16.8%) said they had heard of the IOPC, compared with 1,629 (72.9%) who said they had not heard of the IOPC.. 2,235 participants (83%) answered this question.

70%
would go to a family member for support
7 in 10 young people

Participants were asked If you had a bad experience with the police, who would you go to for support? (Tick all that apply) 2,127 participants (79%) answered this question.

We found that young people were most likely to go to a family member or friends if they had a bad experience with the police, with 17% saying they would go to the IOPC, and 16% saying they would go to the police if they had a bad experience.

62%
willing to make a complaint
3 in 5 young people

Participants were asked If you had a bad experience with the police, how willing would you be to make a complaint? 1,327 (62.3%) said they would would be fairly willing or very willing to make a complaint about the police. 2,131 participants (79.2%) answered this question.

Some young people associated making a complaint to the police with feelings of blame and shame. Due to the distrust and fear surrounding the police, some young people are concerned about how they would be treated by the police if they complained. Concerns included the police protecting themselves, not taking their complaint seriously, or facing retaliation from the police. Young people who aspired to join the police did not want to make a complaint as they felt it would make them less likely to be recruited in the future.

35%
know how to make a complaint
1 in 3 young people

Participants were asked If you needed to, would you know how to make a complaint about the police? 734 (34.6%) said they would know how to make a complaint about the police if they needed to compared with 1,390 (65.4%) who did not. 2,124 participants (78.9%) answered this question.

Young people are becoming more aware that they can complain, but they want to see increased education on how to make a complaint and services to support them in the process. Education on rights in general would be beneficial, as young people may not realise when they’ve experienced misconduct.

The complexity of the police complaints system was a particular barrier for those with disabilities, special educational needs, or who are neurodiverse.

22%
thought their complaint would make a difference
1 in 5 young people

Participants were asked If you made a complaint, how much of a difference do you think your complaint would make? 473 (22.3%) said they thought their complaint would make a great deal or a fair amount of difference. 2,122 participants (78.8%) answered this question.

Young people worried about the power imbalance between the police and the public, feeling like the voice of a young person would not be held above the authority of a police officer. Young people lacked trust in the impartiality of police Professional Standards Departments, and some also had concerns about whether the IOPC was independent.

Young people spoke about whether making a complaint was ‘worth it’ given the complexity of the system, length of time, and emotional toll it would take.

60%
would like to be able to complain anonymously
3 in 5 young people

Participants were asked Please select up to three actions that you think would make the police complaints process easier. 1,156 (60.4%) said they would like to be able to make a complaint anonymously. 1,915 participants (71.1%) answered this question.

Solutions suggested by young people

Our survey asked young people how the police complaints system could be made more accessible for young people. Respondents were asked to select their top three actions from a list of possible solutions. The top five actions were as follows:

  • 60.4% wanted to be able to make a complaint anonymously
  • 60.2% wanted sessions in schools/colleges/universities on how to make a complaint
  • 36.0% wanted to have a police complaints procedure specifically for young people
  • 35.4% wanted to be informed that can make a complaint following a police interaction
  • 34.1% wanted someone to support them when if they made a complaint

The most popular way to make the complaints system more accessible was the option to make a complaint anonymously (60.4%). This is a theme we have noticed over multiple years, as young people are scared of repercussions of complaining and becoming a target.

The second most popular was holding sessions on the police complaints system and how to make a complaint in education institutions (60.2%). Last year, we recommended that education on young people’s right to complain be included in the curriculum to reach the majority of the young population. Further initiatives could focus on youth engagement with seldom heard groups, such as young people in the youth justice system, alternative education and marginalised communities.

The third most popular option drops down to 36% of respondents, who wanted to have a police complaints procedure specifically for young people. The current complaints system is not youth-friendly, a police complaints system built for young people could offer more accessibility, more options to complain, support signposting and advocacy.

The fourth most popular option was for young people to be informed that they can make a complaint during or following a police interaction (35.4%). We have just launched a poster campaign, targeting every public area in police stations in England and Wales, which aims, amongst others, to reach young people in custody. Some police services have also demonstrated good practice by informing members of the public of their right to complain during or following stop and searches and other interactions.

The fifth most popular option was support for young people when making a complaint (34.1%). Young people have often mentioned how they would seek the support of a friend or a family member. However, sometimes a young person would be better represented by an adult who has been trained in the police complaints system and can offer impartial advice.