I am very pleased with the overall performance of Thames Valley Police.
Police officers, police community support officers and staff are doing a good job in recognising when a person is vulnerable.
As a result, the force assesses and addresses risk to vulnerable people well, and has excellent processes for safeguarding victims, including procedures for supporting missing children and assessing whether they are likely to be victimised by sexual predators. Police officers and staff routinely complete risk assessments for victims of anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse and honour-based violence.
The force has sustained its good performance in preventing crime and tackling anti-social behaviour, and uses innovative approaches to understand the problems affecting the people of Thames Valley. I am pleased with its continuing collaboration with partner organisations to reduce offending, support vulnerable people and prevent crime.
The force generally investigates crime to a good standard. The force has a number of specialist investigative teams to manage offences associated with vulnerable victims, but we found that despite efforts to manage the workloads of these teams, some domestic abuse investigators still expressed concern over their caseloads. I am encouraged that the force recognises this and is taking steps to address it.
Thames Valley Police generally responds effectively to organised crime. It uses publicity campaigns to help prevent people falling victim to crime of this type, in particular cyber-crime. The force is now working to ensure that local policing teams have a better understanding of the serious and organised crime threats the area faces.
I am impressed by Thames Valley Police’s comprehensive understanding of the current and future demands for its services, and I am particularly pleased that it has taken concerted action to uncover crimes that are often hidden from view, such as so-called honour-based violence and child sexual exploitation.
Thames Valley Police has a good understanding of where its crime hotspots are. It generally has the right number of police officers and staff, with the right skills and experience, in the right place to prevent crime, investigate crime (from the more straightforward to the most complex) and to bring offenders to justice. The force is working to gain a better understanding of the repercussions of reductions in the resources available to partner organisations such as local councils.
The force shares some services, such as its contact centre and vehicle fleet management, with other forces to improve efficiency and reduce costs. It works very well with its neighbour, Hampshire Constabulary, to reduce costs and generate economies of scale. It also works with other emergency services to agree the most appropriate service to respond to particular demands, and has a well-regarded mental health triage scheme.
I am very pleased to find that workforce well-being is taken seriously by the force. Its staff survey has been used to identify areas for improvement and track the success of the force in addressing them. The force’s occupational health team supports both mental and physical well-being, and it has a preventative approach that includes, for example, psychological screening of those with responsibility for protecting vulnerable people.
I am pleased to find that the workforce recognises abuse of authority for sexual gain (taking advantage of a position of power to exploit vulnerable victims of crime) as serious corruption. The force deals with the misconduct of police officers and staff well but it recognises that it could do more to gather information on potential corruption from external sources and its own IT systems, and to publicise the outcomes of misconduct cases.
We found that the workforce understands the importance of treating the public fairly and respectfully; the force also provided positive examples of how it deals with complaints.
In summary, the force provides a good level of service to the people of Thames Valley. I am extremely pleased that it has maintained its performance since my previous assessment.
Context
Thames Valley Police provides policing services to the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Thames Valley is generally affluent, although there are some areas of deprivation. The force area is home to around 2.4 million people, who mainly live in the city of Oxford and the towns of Milton Keynes, Reading, Aylesbury, Maidenhead and Slough.
The resident population is ethnically diverse, with 15 percent from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and is increased by university students and the large numbers who visit, socialise in, commute into, or travel through the area each year. The transport infrastructure includes 208 miles of motorway and trunk roads, and major rail stations.
The proportion of areas in Thames Valley 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. The police force area is large, relative to other forces in England and Wales, and it takes a comparatively long time to travel across the area by road, which increases the difficulty of providing police services.
Working arrangements
Thames Valley Police has a joint operation unit with Hampshire Constabulary, which incorporates specialist policing services, such as firearms and dog support. It shares two chief officer posts with Hampshire and has increased the scope of the collaboration to incorporate information and communications technology, and contact management.
The force works with other public sector organisations, including the three fire and rescue services in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.
Looking ahead to 2017
In the year ahead, I will be interested to see how Thames Valley Police responds to this assessment and to the areas for improvement that HMIC has identified.
I will be particularly interested to see:
- how the force continues to manage the increased workload of the investigation teams; and
- how the force implements and adapts to its new organisational structure.
