Agenda item

In March 2018, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published its inspection findings into police effectiveness as part of its annual rolling programme of inspections on the efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy of police forces within England and Wales (PEEL).

The PEEL Inspection Reports provided a judgement grade of ‘outstanding’, ‘good’ ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’.  Each force was given an overall grading as well as individual grades for each of the key areas which were subject to inspection in that year.  The overall grading for West Mercia in March 2018 was ‘requires improvement’ with a rating of ‘inadequate’ for tackling serious and organised crime.

The Panel received an initial report in June 2018, which outlined the areas for improvement and recommendations identified by HMICFRS and subsequently requested an update on the ongoing actions.

The Panel was reminded that HMICFRS identified six areas for improvement (AFIs) and five recommendations:  ‘Preventing Crime and Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour'  (ASB) and ‘Protecting Vulnerable People and Supporting Victims’ with each having 3 AFIs and ‘Tackling Serious and Organised Crime’ which had 5 recommendations.

The PCC advised that there was continued oversight and scrutiny of the Force’s response to the Inspection findings and he was pleased with the progress made to date and direction of travel.  He reported that he had recently attended the HMIC Police Performance Oversight Group with the Chief Constable and received feedback from Her Majesty's Inspector (HMI). Looking ahead it would be important to embed and sustain the momentum of the progress.

Main Discussion Points:

·       A Member referred to paragraph 15 of the Agenda Report about the NPCC/College of Police National Pilot for the telephone resolution of very low-level domestic abuse cases, where the deployment of an officer may not be necessary.  It was questioned whether this was an appropriate direction of travel for domestic abuse even at low level. Reassurance was given that there was a commitment to ensure that victims received the best and most appropriate service and sometimes an initial quick telephone response could be helpful in terms of starting the engagement process with victims.  The Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) reiterated that it was only a pilot at this stage for low level cases of domestic abuse and would be carefully monitored.

·       Paragraph 10 of the Report referred to the support that West Mercia Police received from Durham Police and asked about the reasons for Durham's success.  The PCC explained that that the financial resource per head of population was significantly higher in Durham than in West Mercia, however best practice was picked up from a variety of other sources as well as Durham and was always challenged by the Force as appropriate.

·       It was noted that there was a high proportion of crimes relating to domestic abuse, where the victim didn’t wish to progress police action. A member asked how the detail of this was discussed in the holding to account sessions that the PCC held with the Chief Constable.  The PCC advised the Panel that although these cases were complex and multi-faceted, the Chief Constable (CC) in the Holding to Account Sessions had reassured the PCC, that there was an oversight of the reporting of these cases and safeguards were in place to explain options and support victims if they changed their minds.

·       A Panel Member expressed concern about rural crime in the community and the lack of Police response to a reported crime.  It was suggested that in some cases, gangs were causing the rural crime, so could be classed as serious organised crime. The PCC confirmed that the Police would always investigate a crime if there was an ability to do so, he believed however, that communities weren’t always aware how the Police had responded to a reported crime and acknowledged that this was a gap in Service that needed addressing. He further explained that not every crime would be solvable and the emphasis needed to be on those crimes causing the most serious harm in the community. The PCC urged Panel Members to encourage their communities to discuss their concerns locally with Inspectors and if the issue remained unresolved to contact the PCC directly.

·       The impression that rural communities had about the Police's attitude to rural crime was that the Police didn’t care.  The PCC reiterated that he, the CC and Police Officers did care about rural crime, but the reaction of the Police would always be proportionate to the crime and it wasn’t always possible to convert a reported crime into a criminal outcome.

·       The PCC acknowledged that it could be difficult to change a community's negative perception of the Police, but it was important to continue to encourage communities to report crime, which would in time build confidence.

·       A Member referred to the House of Commons Library – Police Service Strength Report (October 2018) and in particular the table which showed Police Officer Strength in England and Wales, at 31 March 2018  (full time equivalents; including long term absentees). He suggested that comparatively, for West Mercia that police strength was at its lowest level ever.  The PCC responded  that this was not the case, however there was less resource to work with than previously and it was important to work within the resources available.  The PCC also stressed that the world had moved on and mobile working and the increased use of technology provided opportunities for different ways of working.  He outlined initiatives such as local policing teams and dedicated rural crime officers which aimed to build confidence in the community about acting on intelligence and reports made to the Police.  The reduced number of police officers didn’t necessarily impose greater risks to the community.

·       Paragraphs 29 and 30 of the Agenda Report referred to the Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) Peer Review which had taken place in October and the reality testing which had taken place in June. The ACC explained how this was working with examples, but advised that this was a challenge for West Mercia given its geographical size.