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Response to PEEL 2021/22 – An inspection of Warwickshire Police

As the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire (Local Policing Body), I am providing the following response to the Secretary of State for the Home Office, and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), in respect of the HMICFRS report ‘Warwickshire Police PEEL 2021/22 – Police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy’ that was published on the 14 October 2022. This action is pursuant to my obligations under Section 55(1) of the Police Act 1996.

Local Policing Body’s Comments

Whilst I welcome HMICFRS’s inspection and report – as it provides an in-depth assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Warwickshire Police and provides several areas for improvement for the force – the findings of HMICFRS do not come as a surprise to me as it reflects the analysis my own office undertakes, as well as some of the concerns that the public have raised. I have held the chief constable to account on these issues, and they are therefore already recognised by the senior leadership of Warwickshire Police. A summary of the report and the identified areas for improvement are: –

1. The force needs to improve how it identifies victims’ vulnerability at first point of contact.

Warwickshire Police is missing opportunities to safeguard vulnerable people. It needs to improve how it assesses calls from the public, so that vulnerable people and repeat callers are routinely identified. And it needs to do better at consistently giving advice to people about preventing crime and preserving evidence when they contact the force.

2. The force needs to make sure that it carries out effective investigations, giving victims the support they need.

Despite the force’s efforts to improve how it investigates crime, too many of its serious investigations aren’t supervised well enough and aren’t effective enough. This is resulting in a poor service to some victims of crime. The force doesn’t always pursue evidence-led prosecutions where appropriate. And it doesn’t always follow the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime or give enough support to victims by assessing their needs accurately.

3. The force needs to make sure that it has the right people in the right place with the right skills.

Although the force has invested substantially in its information technology (IT) infrastructure, which it hopes will improve its efficiency and effectiveness, we found that staff are being moved from critical areas of work to manage demand, and that some teams were under-resourced and without the specialist skills needed to perform their role. The force needs to optimise the benefits of its IT programme and make sure there is sufficient capacity, capability and supervisory oversight in teams that manage offenders and outstanding suspects, especially those who pose the highest risk of harm to the public.

Warwickshire Police has recently reviewed its operating model. Its investments in managing vulnerability are aimed at helping the force respond to threat, harm, and risk more effectively, enabling it to give a better service to the public.

It has been necessary for the force to revise its infrastructure at the same time as making changes to its systems. As stated above, this year the force has transformed its approach to IT, exemplified by the introduction of a new control room. Although at the time of the HMICFRS inspection it was too early to assess the benefits of these changes, the scale and pace of this transformation shouldn’t be underestimated. And the strategic plans the force has put, and is putting, in place give cause for optimism. But the plans must be carefully reviewed.

Areas for Improvement

Investigating Crime – Requires Improvement

  1. The force should make sure it carries out proportionate and thorough investigations into reported crimes.
  2. The force should make sure investigation plans are created where applicable, with supervisory oversight to make sure that all reasonable investigative opportunities are pursued.
  3. The force needs to make sure that the requirements of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime are complied with. This includes giving victims the opportunity to give victim personal statements and complete victim needs assessments.
  4. The force should make sure that there is an auditable record of the decision of the victim and their reasons for withdrawal of support. The force should make sure it documents whether evidence-led prosecutions have been considered in all such cases.
  5. The force should make sure that there is an auditable record of the decision of the victim and their reasons for withdrawal of support. The force should make sure it documents whether evidence-led prosecutions have been considered in all such cases.

Managing offenders and suspects – Requires Improvement

  1. The force needs to make sure that it has effective governance in place to monitor the application and use of release under investigation and bail.
  2. The force should improve its performance monitoring processes to make sure it can robustly address the backlog of work. Supervisory oversight should include a thorough review of Violent and Sex Offender Register records, providing additional scrutiny to address outstanding actions.
  3. The force should make sure it has the capacity and capability to progress all investigations of online indecent images of children effectively and quickly, including those referred to the force and those highlighted in peer-to-peer file-sharing systems. The force’s investigative practice should include early liaison with children’s services.

Responding to the public – Requires Improvement

  1. The force should make sure that repeat callers, and those that are vulnerable, are routinely identified.
  2. The force needs to make sure that call handlers give appropriate advice on the preservation of evidence and crime prevention.
  3. The force needs to make sure that call handlers give appropriate advice on the preservation of evidence and crime prevention.
  4. Our 2019 report said that the force needed to improve the application of risk assessment when delays occur. This remains an area for improvement. The force should make sure that risk assessments are consistently applied to calls for service so that risk and vulnerability are visible from the outset and inform deployment decisions. Improvements must also be made to the quality of incident risk assessments when deployment delays occur.

Preventing crime and anti-social behaviour – Adequate

  1. The force should make sure that abstractions are effectively monitored and reduced (An abstraction is the diversion of an officer to duties that aren’t part of their core duties, not necessarily emergencies, for an extended period.

Treatment of the public – Adequate

  1. The force should improve its external scrutiny processes for stop and search and for use of force, to make sure the powers are being used fairly and appropriately
  2. The force should increase its use of body-worn video to improve interactions between officers and the public.

Protecting vulnerable people – Adequate

  1. The force needs to improve its capacity and capability to deal with child sexual exploitation.
  2. The force should make sure its harm assessment unit within the multi‑agency safeguarding hub is resourced effectively so that delays can be avoided in the assessment of child and adult cases.

Developing a positive workplace – Adequate

  1. The force should continue to review and improve wellbeing support for staff in high-risk roles and staff experiencing trauma.
  2. The force should evaluate its wellbeing offer, and make sure its officers and staff have manageable workloads and the time to access wellbeing support.
  3. Our 2019 report said that the force should improve individual performance reviews and that processes for talent identification should be consistently and fairly applied across the workforce. Poor performance should be managed consistently. This remains an area for improvement.

Good use of resources – Adequate

  1. The force needs to make sure that it realises the benefits of its investment in IT and data to continue to improve its overall efficiency.
  2. The force needs to develop a comprehensive understanding of demand, and make sure it has the capability and capacity needed to meet and manage current demands efficiently. Within three months the force should make sure it:
    1. develops a comprehensive picture of demand and the capability and capacity of its resources to meet current and expected demand; and
    2. incorporates this information into its management processes and systems to supervise abstractions and leave effectively.

Comments from the Chief Constable

We welcome the independent scrutiny by His Majesty’s Inspectorate and we are pleased that HMICFRS are optimistic about our direction of travel.

The recommendations for improvement are very helpful, and they are areas we are already committed to addressing.

Organisational changes will ensure by Spring 2023 that we have the right people in the right place with the right skills. We’re committed to maximising the ongoing investments we have and need to continue to make in information technology (IT) to ensure we use our innovative new technological capacity and capability to serve the public as effectively and efficiently as we can.

New investigation teams will mean we can improve investigation of lower level but high-volume crimes that negatively impact people’s lives. We should also be in a positive position to investigate specialised incidents – improving our services to victims without impacting our capacity for community engagement and resolution of community issues.

Investment in protective services, prevention resources and provision for domestic abuse, rape, serious sexual offences, child exploitation and abuse, and trafficking and exploitation will enable us to more effectively prevent crime and safeguard vulnerable people.

Whilst there are improvements we must and will make, the report reflects the effectiveness of our strategic planning and performance framework, and our positive inclusive culture.

The force has a robust governance structure: each of the AFI’s (Areas for Improvement) is scrutinised and tracked through the relevant steering groups, and overall governance is provided through the force’s Assurance Board, chaired by the Deputy Chief Constable.

We are in an extremely strong position for the future to further improve how we prevent and reduce crime and protect people from harm.

Comments from the local policing body on the CC’s comments

On the 24 October 2021 I met with Chief Constable Tedds to discuss in depth the findings of the HMICFRS report. Following which I can provide reassurance that the force has a detailed Empower change programmes, both planned and already under way, to improve its overall performance.

Under this new Empower operating model Warwickshire Police’s will establish Patrol Investigations Units to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of volume crime investigations. A new Prevention Hub is to be created by the force, demonstrating its commitment to preventing crime. In respect of vulnerability and sexual violence, a dedicated Rape, Serious Sexual Offence and High-Risk Domestic Abuse Team (DART) is to be stablished to improve service delivery to those effected and increase positive outcomes to the investigations conducted.

These plans have been described by the HMICFRS inspectors as a cause for optimism, but clearly it will be important to understand how effective these changes are. I will be going through the inspection report carefully with the force in the weeks and months to come to make sure that the improvements required are being delivered.

This response will be published on the website of the Warwickshire Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC).

 

Philp Seccombe TD 

Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner