Make Them Pay: The UK Police Accountability Handbook (2026 Edition) The bodycam footage of your own stop is your data. You can ask for it, they have about a month to hand it over, and it costs you nothing. Almost nobody asks. Most people don't know they can. Here's the other one. If you were arrested and it went nowhere — "no further action" — that arrest does not fall off your record on its own. It stays. You have to apply to have it deleted, and until you do, it can surface in an enhanced check years later. Nobody writes to tell you any of this. I'm Oliver Bennett. For more than fifteen years I defended people in police stations and courtrooms across England and Wales, and every week on the channel the same comment appears under a video: nothing ever happens to the officer. I understand the anger. But it isn't quite true — and the gap between what people think happens and what can actually happen is where this book lives. Here's what fifteen years taught me: you almost never win it on the pavement. You win it afterwards, in writing, where a calm citizen with a paper trail stands on one side and an officer who couldn't name his power stands on the other. WHAT'S INSIDE — How to get their bodycam footage and custody record — free, in about a month, with the letter written for you — The two tracks, and why they are not the same thing: holding the officer to account, and being compensated — What to do tonight, while it's still fresh, that decides everything afterwards — Complaints: how to write one that lands with Professional Standards instead of being brushed off — and what to do when it is — Getting a wrongful arrest, your DNA and your fingerprints deleted from the record — Claims: what "no win, no fee" actually costs, and the time limit that quietly kills good cases — The ten mistakes that sink a strong complaint, all of them made by honest people — When it isn't the police at all — council, parking, private security, and who handles each THE TEMPLATE LETTERS This is the part that does the work. Five documents in the back, written out in full, with the bits you fill in marked in brackets: — The Subject Access Request, including the preservation request that stops the footage being overwritten — The chase letter for when they ignore it — The formal complaint to Professional Standards or the IOPC — A skeleton letter of claim — The evidence log, to fill in tonight Plus the one-page "morning after" checklist, a routes-at-a-glance table, and a glossary of every acronym they'll use at you. WHAT YOU GET 40 pages. 15 chapters. Plain English. Instant PDF, readable on any phone, tablet or computer. 2026 edition, England & Wales. THE FREE HELP, FIRST Specialist "actions against the police" solicitors will usually give you a free first view of your case, and most work no win, no fee. Citizens Advice is free. If a force ignores your Subject Access Request, the Information Commissioner's Office is free. Use all three — this book tells you when to, and what to say. WHAT THIS IS NOT This is not a way to make something out of nothing. A complaint that is exaggerated or dishonest is a criminal offence and it will collapse, taking any genuine part of your case with it. Everything here is for people who were actually wronged and want it on the record properly. £14.99. Yours instantly. If it doesn't help you, email me and I'll refund it. No questions. Oliver Bennett is a criminal defence solicitor in England & Wales. This handbook is general legal education about the law in England and Wales, not legal advice for your specific case. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different bodies and different time limits. For anything serious or time-sensitive, take advice from a regulated solicitor.