I am very pleased with all aspects of the performance of Merseyside Police. The force provides a consistently good service.
Merseyside Police is good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. Neighbourhood teams have effective ways of connecting with the people of Merseyside.
The force has furthered its understanding of evidence-based practice, and is using this to improve its approaches. It continues to work well with partner organisations to prevent re-offending and manage the most dangerous offenders.
The force provides consistent protection to vulnerable people and has an effective victim care model that provides officers with guidance and links to a range of support agencies to which they can refer victims. It is good at investigating crime: officers are effective in their initial investigation of crime most of the time, although some early investigative opportunities are being missed.
I am pleased that the force has improved the promptness and consistency of how it allocates crimes to investigators. It makes good use of specialist officers to conduct complex and serious investigations, although there are some instances of officers without the correct level of training or experience investigating complex cases.
Since our inspection in 2014, the force has made some efforts to improve the accuracy with which it records crimes. However, I remain very concerned about the inaccuracies in the initial crime-recording decisions, and the force needs to improve how it supervises crime recording.
I continue to be impressed by Merseyside Police’s outstanding performance in tackling serious and organised crime. The force has a comprehensive understanding of the threat posed by serious and organised crime; the level of threat is assessed every day. This timely identification of the threats and risks from serious and organised crime in Merseyside allows the force to respond effectively.
Merseyside Police has an excellent understanding of the current demand for its services. I was particularly impressed with the force’s modelling of the cost and demand for its investigative services. The force bases its organisational plans on this understanding of demand, and has used it to inform the design of its new operating model.
The force collaborates with partner organisations to reduce costs and the demands for services; this includes working together to address the needs of people who repeatedly use one or more of their services.
Merseyside Police actively looks outside the force for new ideas, and welcomes innovative ideas from police officers and staff at all levels. The force has a strong ethical culture and is clear about how all officers and staff are expected to behave. The workforce understands what serious corruption is and how to report it. The force has rigorous methods for identifying and dealing with potential corruption and inappropriate behaviour, such as the abuse of authority for sexual gain (that is, taking advantage of a position of power to exploit vulnerable victims of crime).
I am reassured that Merseyside Police regularly seeks feedback about how the public perceives their treatment by its officers and staff, and whether this is fair and respectful. The force works closely with people who have less confidence in the police, although it could do more to understand the perceptions of the wider public, particularly those who rarely come into contact with the police.
In summary, I commend the force on the service it is providing to the people of Merseyside.
Context
Merseyside Police provides policing services to the metropolitan area of Merseyside. Merseyside has a high level of poverty, although there are some more affluent areas. The force area is home to around 1.4 million people who live in a predominantly urban setting. The force covers the conurbation that includes the city of Liverpool and surrounding towns.
The resident population is increased by very large numbers of university students and the large numbers who visit, socialise in, commute into, or travel through the area each year. The transport infrastructure includes 44 miles of motorway and trunk roads, major rail stations, an airport and a major sea port.
The proportion of areas in Merseyside that are predicted (on the basis of detailed economic and demographic analysis) to present a very high challenge to the police is broadly in line with the national average. The most challenging areas are generally characterised by a high concentration of people living, working, socialising, or travelling in the area.
Features that both cause and/or indicate a concentration of people include the number of commercial premises, including licensed premises and fast-food premises, public transport, and social deprivation. In some areas, these features are combined.
Working arrangements
Merseyside Police works with other emergency services in the area. It has a joint command and control centre with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and continues to assess the feasibility of extending this collaboration to better manage demand, and incorporate similar services each organisation provides.
The force is working with Cheshire Constabulary and North Wales Police to improve the sharing of information through joint processes, facilitated by a shared IT platform. It is also finalising agreements with these forces on a shared forensics service.
Paramedic and mental health triage services are provided in collaboration with the North West Ambulance Service and Mersey Care NHS Trust to assist in assessing victims of crime who may require medical attention.
Looking ahead to 2017
In the year ahead, I will be interested to see how the force responds to this assessment and to the areas for improvement that HMIC identified last year.
I will be particularly interested to see:
- the impact of the force’s new operating model on its service to the public; and
- how it improves the way it records crime.
