Sussex Police is successful in helping prevent crime and reduce offending.
Its good work was highlighted by the HMIC in its interim assessment of day-to-day policing in Sussex.
The first assessment in a new programme of inspections reviewed how well the force tackles crime, delivers value for money and how it acts with integrity and provides a service the public expects.
Deputy Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney said: "I am delighted that much of our service is recognised as 'good'."
The HMIC acknowledged that the force is:
* good at preventing offending and reducing crime
* good at tackling anti-social behaviour
* good at the efficiency with which it carries out its responsibilities
* acting to achieve fairness and legitimacy in its practises.
* confident in reporting internal wrongdoing where it is suspected and it deals with it robustly.
* and committed to assessing the risk of victims of domestic abuse effectively and taking positive action
"However it also identified areas where there is a need for improvement - the way the force investigates volume crime, capacity to manage demand and a need for more prompt contact with victims," said DCC Pinkney. "We take this seriously and have completed an internal review and I'm satisfied that work is underway to effectively address these."
The report also commented on how the force benefits from close partnerships and has effective processes in place for dealing with organised crime and, through collaboration, the necessary capability to tackle terrorism, civil emergency, serious organised crime and public order.
DCC Pinkney said:"The HMIC recognises a number of real strengths that are down to the hard work of officers, staff and volunteers. This is an opportunity for our professionalism to be publicly acknowledged.
"The report reflects the many positive things that the inspection team found, not least the energetic leadership of the Chief Constable, our success in tackling crime and supporting victims and our proactive steps to ensure officers and staff meet the high standards expected by the public and police service alike.
"We have worked hard to ensure that all staff understand the importance of delivering policing with as much transparency as possible, always remembering that we are accountable to the public for our actions. The Code of Ethics has been welcomed by the Force as it reaffirms our commitment to fairness, impartiality and integrity in all that we do and has provided a new impetus for us to go even further in our efforts to deliver our services in a way that enhances the confidence of communities in Sussex."
Sussex Police is focused on the priorities set by the Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne in her Police and Crime Plan and is delivering against these alongside the Chief Constable's commitment to fight crime, keep people safe and further professionalise the service. It is working closely with partners and Surrey Police, allowing both forces to benefit both in terms of financial savings and the quality of policing. One example of joint working is a new cyber crime unit for the two forces, one of the first in the country, set up to investigate but also spread knowledge and understanding of this type of crime to help bring offenders to justice.
DCC Pinkney said: "This assessment is a snapshot in time and following an earlier internal review we are comprehensively reviewing our crime investigation, putting more emphasis on effective investigation and making officers and staff more accountable for the quality of their investigation.
"The public should be reassured that overall crime has reduced in Sussex by 12% in three years to 2013/14 making it one of the safety forces nationally and in terms of risk of crime per 1000 population has the lowest risk in its group of eight most similar forces. In the last 12 months there has been a reduction in reported crime of 3%, greater than the overall reduction nationally.
Not only that but there has been a month on month improvement in the proportion of crimes we have solved - from 25.4% for the year to the end of October 2013 to 27.4% to the end of October 2014. And notably house burglaries have reduced by 333 in Sussex over the past 12 months to October from 3641 to 3308, marking a reduction of 9.1%, with a solved rate at 17.3%. More recently a three week regional burglary crackdown led to a 16% reduction in that period.
DCC Pinkney said: "The HMIC recognised that burglary investigation standards are good and we aim to bring all our crime investigations to an excellent standard.
"The project team is now working on a plan to improve our crime investigation standards and processes from the point of initial contact through to the conclusion of the investigation - a key part of this is knowledge and training. Improving victim service and contact in line with the Victim Code will also be central to the plan.
"We recognise crime trends are changing and this has generated a significant increase in demand for telephone and computer analysis. We are working on a plan which will improve the analysis turnround time and therefore enhance the quality and timeliness of investigations."
DCC Pinkney added: "In order to meet the competing demands we are redesigning the force to explore new ways of working. We need to deliver policing more efficiently, reduce cost, engage with the public in the best way and continue to support and promote partnership working wherever possible.
"The new model will help Sussex Police protect communities, prioritising those who are most vulnerable to harm, and being relentless in our pursuit of criminals. We will operate efficiently to a reduced budget; being a modern, trusted workforce with integrity at our core.
"This means we need to make decisions on which services to prioritise, and to whom they will be delivered, based on the level of threat, risk and harm. We will continue to prioritise crimes that cause the greatest harm to victims and the community.
"Often the police are used as the service of last resort - the simple fact is that we should not respond to issues which would be more effectively dealt with by other providers or by working in partnership. An example of where this works is our successful street triage scheme which pairs nurses with police in dealing with emergency responses to those with mental health issues and diverting them from police custody. It is this kind of thinking we need to apply in different areas of our business."
The review highlighted the force's quality of call handling as 'excellent' and that the Crime Survey of England and Wales found the proportion of respondents who thought the force does an excellent/good job was in line with the figure nationally.
The victim is at the heart of the force's operations and further work is being conducted to meet challenges in relation to their satisfaction. Where officers or staff have fallen short this will be directly fed back to ensure learning is delivered directly to the appropriate officers and teams.
The report also mentions crime data integrity and action following an internal review prior to the HMIC report has led to considering improvements in the overall level of compliance with the standards, which now sit just short of 97% compliant.
Crime figures do not relate to whether a criminal investigation has taken place. Once a crime is recorded we would take into account a range of risk and harm factors in making a decision in to how to proceed. The recording process is really important but a lot of what it does is administrative and sometimes we have not done that well enough. All victims of crime, and in particular victims of domestic abuse and rape, are additionally risk assessed for their safety and to make sure that support is provided."
http://www.sussex.police.uk/hmic-peel-assessment
--- Note to readers: This message has been disseminated by Sussex Police - please visit their official website for further information. Reported by Sussex Police 3 days ago.
Its good work was highlighted by the HMIC in its interim assessment of day-to-day policing in Sussex.
The first assessment in a new programme of inspections reviewed how well the force tackles crime, delivers value for money and how it acts with integrity and provides a service the public expects.
Deputy Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney said: "I am delighted that much of our service is recognised as 'good'."
The HMIC acknowledged that the force is:
* good at preventing offending and reducing crime
* good at tackling anti-social behaviour
* good at the efficiency with which it carries out its responsibilities
* acting to achieve fairness and legitimacy in its practises.
* confident in reporting internal wrongdoing where it is suspected and it deals with it robustly.
* and committed to assessing the risk of victims of domestic abuse effectively and taking positive action
"However it also identified areas where there is a need for improvement - the way the force investigates volume crime, capacity to manage demand and a need for more prompt contact with victims," said DCC Pinkney. "We take this seriously and have completed an internal review and I'm satisfied that work is underway to effectively address these."
The report also commented on how the force benefits from close partnerships and has effective processes in place for dealing with organised crime and, through collaboration, the necessary capability to tackle terrorism, civil emergency, serious organised crime and public order.
DCC Pinkney said:"The HMIC recognises a number of real strengths that are down to the hard work of officers, staff and volunteers. This is an opportunity for our professionalism to be publicly acknowledged.
"The report reflects the many positive things that the inspection team found, not least the energetic leadership of the Chief Constable, our success in tackling crime and supporting victims and our proactive steps to ensure officers and staff meet the high standards expected by the public and police service alike.
"We have worked hard to ensure that all staff understand the importance of delivering policing with as much transparency as possible, always remembering that we are accountable to the public for our actions. The Code of Ethics has been welcomed by the Force as it reaffirms our commitment to fairness, impartiality and integrity in all that we do and has provided a new impetus for us to go even further in our efforts to deliver our services in a way that enhances the confidence of communities in Sussex."
Sussex Police is focused on the priorities set by the Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne in her Police and Crime Plan and is delivering against these alongside the Chief Constable's commitment to fight crime, keep people safe and further professionalise the service. It is working closely with partners and Surrey Police, allowing both forces to benefit both in terms of financial savings and the quality of policing. One example of joint working is a new cyber crime unit for the two forces, one of the first in the country, set up to investigate but also spread knowledge and understanding of this type of crime to help bring offenders to justice.
DCC Pinkney said: "This assessment is a snapshot in time and following an earlier internal review we are comprehensively reviewing our crime investigation, putting more emphasis on effective investigation and making officers and staff more accountable for the quality of their investigation.
"The public should be reassured that overall crime has reduced in Sussex by 12% in three years to 2013/14 making it one of the safety forces nationally and in terms of risk of crime per 1000 population has the lowest risk in its group of eight most similar forces. In the last 12 months there has been a reduction in reported crime of 3%, greater than the overall reduction nationally.
Not only that but there has been a month on month improvement in the proportion of crimes we have solved - from 25.4% for the year to the end of October 2013 to 27.4% to the end of October 2014. And notably house burglaries have reduced by 333 in Sussex over the past 12 months to October from 3641 to 3308, marking a reduction of 9.1%, with a solved rate at 17.3%. More recently a three week regional burglary crackdown led to a 16% reduction in that period.
DCC Pinkney said: "The HMIC recognised that burglary investigation standards are good and we aim to bring all our crime investigations to an excellent standard.
"The project team is now working on a plan to improve our crime investigation standards and processes from the point of initial contact through to the conclusion of the investigation - a key part of this is knowledge and training. Improving victim service and contact in line with the Victim Code will also be central to the plan.
"We recognise crime trends are changing and this has generated a significant increase in demand for telephone and computer analysis. We are working on a plan which will improve the analysis turnround time and therefore enhance the quality and timeliness of investigations."
DCC Pinkney added: "In order to meet the competing demands we are redesigning the force to explore new ways of working. We need to deliver policing more efficiently, reduce cost, engage with the public in the best way and continue to support and promote partnership working wherever possible.
"The new model will help Sussex Police protect communities, prioritising those who are most vulnerable to harm, and being relentless in our pursuit of criminals. We will operate efficiently to a reduced budget; being a modern, trusted workforce with integrity at our core.
"This means we need to make decisions on which services to prioritise, and to whom they will be delivered, based on the level of threat, risk and harm. We will continue to prioritise crimes that cause the greatest harm to victims and the community.
"Often the police are used as the service of last resort - the simple fact is that we should not respond to issues which would be more effectively dealt with by other providers or by working in partnership. An example of where this works is our successful street triage scheme which pairs nurses with police in dealing with emergency responses to those with mental health issues and diverting them from police custody. It is this kind of thinking we need to apply in different areas of our business."
The review highlighted the force's quality of call handling as 'excellent' and that the Crime Survey of England and Wales found the proportion of respondents who thought the force does an excellent/good job was in line with the figure nationally.
The victim is at the heart of the force's operations and further work is being conducted to meet challenges in relation to their satisfaction. Where officers or staff have fallen short this will be directly fed back to ensure learning is delivered directly to the appropriate officers and teams.
The report also mentions crime data integrity and action following an internal review prior to the HMIC report has led to considering improvements in the overall level of compliance with the standards, which now sit just short of 97% compliant.
Crime figures do not relate to whether a criminal investigation has taken place. Once a crime is recorded we would take into account a range of risk and harm factors in making a decision in to how to proceed. The recording process is really important but a lot of what it does is administrative and sometimes we have not done that well enough. All victims of crime, and in particular victims of domestic abuse and rape, are additionally risk assessed for their safety and to make sure that support is provided."
http://www.sussex.police.uk/hmic-peel-assessment
--- Note to readers: This message has been disseminated by Sussex Police - please visit their official website for further information. Reported by Sussex Police 3 days ago.