Inspectors call for Warwickshire Police to improve response to the public
A report into the force is out today.
Warwickshire Police must improve its response to the public, but it prevents crime well; a new report finds.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded the police force performance across eight areas of policing.
The inspectorate found the constabulary was ‘good’ in two areas, ‘adequate’ in two areas, ‘requires improvement’ in three areas and ‘inadequate’ in one area.
The key area the force needed improvement was responding quickly to 999 or 101 calls.
In its previous inspection, Warwickshire Police wasn’t attending incidents within expected timescales or updating victims about delays.
Inspectors said that the force hasn’t improved in this area and is still failing to meet its own published targets.
Lee Freeman from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue who carried out the inspection said: “I've highlighted that the force is good at preventing and deterring crime and reducing reoffending, and it’s got a strong neighbourhood policing officer, which members of the community in Warwickshire should be confident in utilising and accessing”.
“But I do have serious concerns about how quickly the force then responds to these calls once they have been answered and these concerns are both for emergency calls that they grade and as priority calls.”
He added “That being said, there was a new chief constable in post who I've met recently. He's very determined in relation to improving in the areas that I've highlighted in my report and there is a solid financial position that the force finds itself in, which is positive, which would help them achieve the improvements.”
In response to the report Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith said: “Despite highlighting some of the excellent work and progress we’ve made; the HMICFRS inspection results demonstrate that at the time of inspection we were not where we needed to be in our response and investigation measures.
“We are pleased to see we have been positively recognised in the report on a number of key areas, including preventing and deterring crime, reducing reoffending, improving crime outcomes and our commitment to problem-solving.
“We were already taking steps to improve and have been working closely with HMICFRS in the months since the inspection. We have changed how we respond and investigate and now have additional officers and staff in our investigation teams. This has resulted in a better response and outcome rates. New working practices help us to manage ever increasing demand and reduce the risk to victims of crime.”