Deaths of people in and following police contact

Statistics

19 February 2026

Since 1990, 1952 people have died in and following police contact in England and Wales.

Deaths in and following police contact include deaths in police custody and following police contact, in which the individual may or may not have been arrested. The data presented below includes police pursuit and road traffic incidents.

Total deaths in police custody or otherwise following contact with the police, England & Wales, 1990-date
Type	Metropolitan Police	Other forces	Total
Custody	297	926	1223
Shooting	35	53	88
Pursuit	65	409	474
Road Traffic Incident (RTI)	35	132	167
All deaths	432	1520	1952

Deaths in police custody or otherwise following contact with the police, England & Wales, 1990-date by year
Year	Type	Metropolitan Police	Other Forces	Total
2026	Custody	0	2	2
	Shooting	0	0	0
	Pursuit	0	0	0
	RTI	1	0	1
	Total	1	2	3

2025	Custody	3	16	19
	Shooting	0	4	4
	Pursuit	3	2	5
	RTI	1	2	3
	Total	7	24	31

2024	Custody	0	15	15
	Shooting	1	2	3
	Pursuit	1	6	7
	RTI	2	2	4
	Total	4	25	29

2023	Custody	6	11	17
	Shooting	1	0	1
	Pursuit	2	8	10
	RTI	2	3	5
	Total	11	22	33

2022	Custody	3	15	18
	Shooting	1	2	3
	Pursuit	0	13	13
	RTI	0	3	3
	Total	4	33	37

2021	Custody	5	15	20
	Shooting	1	1	2
	Pursuit	1	11	12
	RTI	1	2	3
	Total	8	29	37

2020	Custody	5	15	20
	Shooting	1	2	3
	Pursuit	1	13	14
	RTI	2	1	3
	Total	9	31	40

2019	Custody	5	15	20
	Shooting	1	2	3
	Pursuit	5	11	16
	RTI	5	1	6
	Total	16	29	45

2018	Custody	4	16	20
	Shooting	1	0	1
	Pursuit	2	15	17
	RTI	0	6	6
	Total	7	37	44

2017	Custody	4	21	25
	Shooting	4	2	6
	Pursuit	4	10	14
	RTI	1	9	10
	Total	13	42	55

2016	Custody	4	18	22
	Shooting	0	4	4
	Pursuit	4	17	21
	RTI	0	1	1
	Total	8	40	48

2015	Custody	5	21	26
	Shooting	2	1	3
	Pursuit	0	4	4
	RTI	1	2	3
	Total	8	28	36

2014	Custody	4	22	26
	Shooting	1	0	1
	Pursuit	1	2	3
	RTI	0	2	2
	Total	6	26	32

2013	Custody	1	16	17
	Shooting	0	0	0
	Pursuit	6	8	14
	RTI	0	1	1
	Total	7	25	32

2012	Custody	1	9	10
	Shooting	0	1	1
	Pursuit	3	5	8
	RTI	0	6	6
	Total	4	21	25

2011	Custody	3	20	23
	Shooting	1	1	2
	Pursuit	1	6	7
	RTI	0	1	1
	Total	5	28	33

2010	Custody	3	12	15
	Shooting	0	1	1
	Pursuit	0	6	6
	RTI	0	5	5
	Total	3	24	27

2009	Custody	4	11	15
	Shooting	0	2	2
	Pursuit	1	7	8
	RTI	3	2	5
	Total	8	22	30

2008	Custody	9	15	24
	Shooting	2	1	3
	Pursuit	5	23	28
	RTI	1	8	9
	Total	17	47	64

2007	Custody	6	23	29
	Shooting	3	2	5
	Pursuit	3	11	14
	RTI	2	4	6
	Total	14	40	54

2006	Custody	4	29	33
	Shooting	1	0	1
	Pursuit	3	20	23
	RTI	0	9	9
	Total	8	58	66

2005	Custody	9	33	42
	Shooting	2	4	6
	Pursuit	3	33	36
	RTI	2	7	9
	Total	16	77	93

2004	Custody	5	51	56
	Shooting	1	1	2
	Pursuit	3	27	30
	RTI	2	7	9
	Total	11	86	97

2003	Custody	12	50	62
	Shooting	1	1	2
	Pursuit	1	28	29
	RTI	0	11	11
	Total	14	90	104

2002	Custody	11	36	47
	Shooting	0	2	2
	Pursuit	3	31	34
	RTI	1	4	5
	Total	15	73	88

2001	Custody	9	25	34
	Shooting	2	2	4
	Pursuit	1	25	26
	RTI	1	8	9
	Total	13	60	73

2000	Custody	5	31	36
	Shooting	1	1	2
	Pursuit	2	22	24
	RTI	0	3	3
	Total	8	57	65

1999	Custody	15	32	47
	Shooting	1	2	3
	Pursuit	1	7	8
	RTI	0	5	5
	Total	17	46	63

1998	Custody	13	52	65
	Shooting	0	2	2
	Pursuit	3	7	10
	RTI	1	5	6
	Total	17	66	83

1997	Custody	15	43	58
	Shooting	0	0	0
	Pursuit	1	16	17
	RTI	3	5	8
	Total	19	64	83

1996	Custody	21	36	57
	Shooting	1	1	2
	Pursuit	0	10	10
	RTI	1	4	5
	Total	23	51	74

1995	Custody	12	36	48
	Shooting	1	1	2
	Pursuit	1	1	2
	RTI	0	1	1
	Total	14	39	53

1994	Custody	16	36	52
	Shooting	0	1	1
	Pursuit	0	1	1
	RTI	0	0	0
	Total	16	38	54

1993	Custody	17	19	36
	Shooting	2	1	3
	Pursuit	0	2	2
	RTI	0	0	0
	Total	19	22	41

1992	Custody	15	33	48
	Shooting	1	2	3
	Pursuit	0	0	0
	RTI	1	1	2
	Total	17	36	53

1991	Custody	24	36	60
	Shooting	0	3	3
	Pursuit	0	1	1
	RTI	0	1	1
	Total	24	41	65

1990	Custody	19	40	59
	Shooting	1	1	2
	Pursuit	0	0	0
	RTI	1	0	1
	Total	21	41	62

About INQUEST data collection

When INQUEST was first established, it was at the forefront of collecting and publishing data on state-related deaths, as it did so before any government or official bodies.

INQUEST played an instrumental role in ensuring transparency of data on deaths involving the state and campaigned for the government and official bodies to publish this.

As the Ministry of Justice began to publish data on deaths in prison going back to 2000, INQUEST now refers to the Ministry of Justice’s dataset.
As the Home Office began to publish data on deaths in prison going back to 2000, INQUEST now refers to the Ministry of Justice’s dataset.
For deaths in and following police contact, INQUEST solely refers to its casework service and monitoring of the media to compile its dataset.

For further information, please complete our enquiry form:

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Please credit INQUEST when citing information or data from this page.

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Deaths of people in and following police contact

Since 1990, 1952 people have died in and following police contact in England and Wales.

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