I congratulate Durham Constabulary on sustaining its exceptional overall performance.
Durham Constabulary has an outstanding approach to preventing crime and tackling serious and organised crime. It investigates crime to a high standard, and provides good support to victims and vulnerable people.
The force goes to great lengths to identify and mitigate the principal threats to the people it serves. It manages the threats from serious and organised crime by enforcement activities and a comprehensive approach for preventing people from becoming involved in serious and organised crime groups.
The force places an emphasis on preventative approaches such as restorative justice and problem solving. It has equipped its workforce with the knowledge and skills to use these approaches and to work with partner organisations. The force routinely shares knowledge of practices that are effective in solving problems and in preventing crime and anti-social behaviour.
The force has a thorough understanding of the costs of providing its services and consistently reviews these to improve its efficiency without reducing the level of service it provides to the public.
I am particularly impressed with the force’s continuing work to identify and understand those demands that may be hidden – for example, from victims of so-called honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Durham Constabulary has a thorough understanding of the current and future demands for its services, and of its costs.
This understanding shapes how the force organises the services it offers, and how it develops and supports its workforce. This includes the innovative and ambitious use of computers and technology, which allows it to provide services more efficiently and effectively.
The force has a good understanding of how demand for its services may arise from reductions in the funding of other organisations. It is working with partner organisations such as Darlington Council and the North East Ambulance Service to identify and reduce the impact of such changes.
I am reassured that Durham Constabulary has a culture in which high ethical standards are understood and practised across the organisation. It recognises the importance of enhancing public confidence and has established ways of engaging with those with less trust and confidence in the police to understand their perception of fair and respectful treatment.
The force is effective in making its workforce aware of what standards are expected of them. I am concerned, however, that the force does not have sufficient capability actively to monitor force systems to identify corrupt practices.
Durham Constabulary continues to work closely with Durham University Business School to understand the well-being and perceptions of the workforce. Officers and staff are encouraged to be innovative and offer suggestions for improvement. The force changes its working arrangements in response to this feedback to improve the well-being of the workforce.
In summary, I commend the force on the service it is providing to the people of Durham.
Context
Durham Constabulary provides policing services to the areas of County Durham and Darlington. Durham has a high level of poverty, although there are some highly affluent areas. The force area is home to around 0.6 million people, who live in a predominantly rural setting. The area includes the city of Durham and the town of Darlington as well as several smaller towns. The resident population is increased by university students and the large numbers who visit or travel through the area each year. The transport infrastructure includes 63 miles of motorway and trunk roads.
The proportion of areas in Durham that are predicted (on the basis of detailed economic and demographic analysis) to present a very high challenge to the police is very low compared to 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 which 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
Durham Constabulary is actively seeking all possible opportunities to work collaboratively with other police forces and a range of public and private sector partners.
It is already involved in a large number of collaborative agreements with police forces, partnership agencies, the private sector and other emergency service providers. Agreements cover operational services, operating systems, the vehicle fleet and the built estate.
The force is part of a longstanding collaborative arrangement with North Yorkshire Police and Cleveland Police, operating as ‘Evolve’. It has appointed a new deputy chief constable within the past year.
Looking ahead to 2017
In the year ahead, I will be interested to see how Durham Constabulary responds to this assessment and to the areas for improvement that HMIC identified last year.
I will be particularly interested to see:
- how the force addresses its limited capacity to seek intelligence on potentially corrupt practices; and
- the progress of the ambitious ICT strategy to enhance further the efficient provision of services.
