AS Police working hard after inspection calls for improvements
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services says the force needs to improve in several areas
One of the bosses of Avon and Somerset (AS) Police says staff are working hard to manage demand on their services, after an inspection found several issues, including that at times officers take too long to investigate crimes.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published a report on Thursday 6th February following an inspection of AS Police which began in 2023.
It concluded the force is "good" at treating the public fairly and preventing crime, but "requires improvement" at responding to the public, investigating crime, protecting vulnerable people, managing offenders and suspects and leadership and force management.
Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Will White said: "We're acutely aware (that) we've got officers and staff that are coming in, that are working tirelessly to try and deliver what the public want, but the expectations of them are so high.
"We need to understand how we make that manageable and more reasonable."
Investigating crime
When it comes to investigating reports of criminality, HMICFRS concluded that at times, AS Police has not been looking into reports in a timely manner.
"During our inspection, we found evidence of delays in crime investigations being allocated to investigators," the report reads.
"Supervisors were doing this to relieve the pressure on their teams and to make sure investigators had manageable workloads.
"We found supervisors in specialist rape investigation teams and the criminal investigation department were themselves managing between 80 and 170 unallocated crimes, some of which had been unallocated for a number of months."
ACC White told Greatest Hits Radio the force is bringing in new systems to help them manage the demand.
He said: "We're trying to problem solve and understand how we can tackle that, so for instance we brought in very recently, video response, which is a much more efficient way of speaking directly with a member of the public. So we'll balance that with seeing people in person.
"It's also about understanding how we can streamline some of the investigative work. So for instance we've now got new technology we want to bring in in the coming year, where, (at the moment) we have to review all the (case) material on the phone, if you imagine how much material that can be. It (the technology) can completely fast track that."
999 and 101 calls
HMICFRS also said the force needs to improve the time it takes to answer emergency calls.
In the year ending 31st July 2024, the constabulary answered 79.5 per cent of its 999 calls within 10 seconds. This is lower than the expected standard of forces in England and Wales, which is to answer 90 per cent of 999 calls within 10 seconds.
Additionally, in the year ending 31st August 2024 callers to the 101 service abandoned their efforts to get through in 23.9 per cent of cases, before the call was answered. The target set out nationally in 2020 is that less than 5 per cent of calls should be abandoned.
Inspectors noted however, that AS Police is trying to improve things.
They said: "...the constabulary has made changes in its control room which should allow continuous improvement to take place.
"In terms of non-emergency calls, this includes an evaluation as to why and when callers abandon their calls."
Inspector comments
His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said: "I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Avon and Somerset Constabulary, but there are areas in which the constabulary needs to improve.
"The way the constabulary treats the public and manages its use of powers such as stop and search remained positive. So does the way the constabulary prevents and deters crime, and how it communicates with the public. We saw progress in the constabulary's approach to problem-solving and its provision of bespoke training for neighbourhood policing teams."
HMICFRS graded no areas as inadequate and said they were impressed with the force's transparency, engagement and its willingness to learn and improve.
Force response
Overall ACC White said he welcomes the report.
“We’ve made significant and sustained progress since the Inspectors came in, which they’ve recognised," he said.
"We're now in the top 10 forces nationally in answering 999 calls and we’ve brought down the call abandonment rate; we’ve got clear plans and increased resources dedicated to tackling the workflow in areas including the Internet Child Abuse Team and Clare’s Law applications; we’re thinking innovatively to find ways to manage rising demand through the use of technology and artificial intelligence, and we’re making sure officers’ time is spent tackling the crimes which impact on the public the most – this includes reducing the amount of time spent on non-crime demand and where other agencies would be best placed to respond.”
You can find all the details of the HMICFRS report via this link.