04. Your options for taking action

You can take different types of action. What you can do will depend on:

• what happened to you; and
• what you want done about it.

What you want can include:

• an apology;
• compensation; and
• making sure that you, or someone else, isn't treated in the same way in the future.

This leaflet looks in detail at the two types of action you can take, and when you can take them. They are as follows:

• Suing the police (also called 'Civil proceedings against the police'). If you sue the police, you can get compensation if you win your case. But you can sue the police only for very specific reasons.
• Making a complaint against an individual police officer. This could get you an apology, and may also mean that the officer involved is disciplined. If he or she has committed a crime, they may even be prosecuted. You can't get compensation by making this type of complaint, but you can make a complaint about almost anything that you felt was unfair (see 'Further help' for more information).