Thames Valley PEEL 2017

Thames Valley Police is good at preventing crime and tackling anti-social behaviour, which is consistent with our findings in 2016.

The force prioritises crime prevention, emphasising neighbourhood policing. These teams are assigned to specific areas and now spend a greater proportion of their time working in them. They have:

• the skills needed to prevent crime effectively; and
• a good awareness of vulnerable victims and of people involved in serious and organised crime in their areas.

Overall, Thames Valley Police has an adequate understanding of the threats facing its local communities and it responds well.

Joint work with partner agencies is helping to address the causes of problems such as begging and illegal drug supply.

The force is good at analysing its own and partner data to identify areas with high levels of crime and target preventative activity. Local briefing systems provide a good understanding of those who cause most harm to communities.The force uses crime prevention approaches that research has found to be effective and good value for money. It now records cases more systematically, and its case management system contains problem-solving plans. However, it is not easy to share best practice across the force on this system.

Thames Valley Police requires improvement at investigating crime and reducing re-offending. The force prioritises attendance at incidents appropriately and promptly. However, officers do not always complete all initial enquiries at the crime scene, and do not use body-worn video cameras consistently.

The force achieves a high proportion of good investigative outcomes, especially for more serious crimes. However, its investigations of offences such as assault and harassment vary in quality.

The force has recruited 89 police staff investigators to ease the strain on capacity and workloads caused by a shortage of investigators.

We found many examples of good practice in the force, which:

• deals well with the initial investigation of fraud and provides victims with a good service;
• makes good use of offender management arrangements to reduce offending;
• works well with partner organisations to reduce offending;
• has good arrangements to manage the risk posed by dangerous and sex offenders; and
• is increasing the number of officers dedicated to protecting the public from registered sex offenders.

The force makes determined efforts to arrest suspects quickly, especially those who present the highest risk to victims. However, local management awareness of activity to apprehend offenders wanted for lower-level offences is inconsistent. Also, the force makes fewer referrals to the Immigration Enforcement Service about arrested foreign nationals, which risks missing vital information about a person’s immigration status.

Thames Valley Police is good at protecting those who are vulnerable from harm, and supporting victims. Officers and staff:

• are trained to recognise vulnerability and understand all forms of domestic abuse;
• use risk-assessment tools to establish victims’ level of risk; and
• provide necessary information for specialist officers and partner agencies.

The force investigates crimes involving vulnerable people to a good standard:

• crimes are allocated to public protection specialist officers with appropriate training and supervision;
• supervisors hold investigators to account for the quality of their work, although the recording of this supervision is variable;
• investigations are well planned and progress in a timely way, and victims are provided with updates; and
• the force reviews investigative outcomes to improve its approach.

Daily management meetings focus on areas of vulnerability such as domestic abuse and hidden crimes such as human trafficking.

Although most domestic abuse risk assessments were completed well, others were completed poorly with inconsistent supervision. Officers need to be more consistent in speaking with children involved in, or present at, domestic abuse incidents.

The force effectively protects victims of domestic abuse and is improving officers’ awareness of relevant legal provisions. It pursues prosecutions where appropriate, even when the victim does not support police action.

The force responds well to people with mental health problems. Frontline officers and staff have:

• clear guidance on responding to people with mental health problems; and
• a generally good awareness of mental health problems and understanding of the importance of taking immediate action.

Mental health triage cars across the force are staffed by an officer and a mental health professional, with good links with other health professionals for immediate advice.

The force works well with partner agencies to provide tailored, continuing specialist safeguarding for vulnerable people.

The force uses multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASH) to exchange information about children with external organisations and agencies. It has plans to address the backlog of standard and medium-risk referrals awaiting a secondary assessment. Multi-agency risk assessment conferences that support victims of domestic abuse are effective.

This question was not inspected in 2017. The grade and findings from last year’s inspection still stand.

National threats often require forces to work together, across force boundaries. These threats include terrorism, large-scale disorder and civil emergencies. We examined the capabilities in place to respond to these threats, in particular a firearms attack.

Most positively, the force:

• works constructively with other organisations to build skills and competence in this area;
• tests its skills in training exercises; and
• has developed a good understanding of the threat to the public from an armed attack.