I am concerned about many aspects of Dyfed-Powys Police’s overall performance. In view of this, I have been in regular contact with the chief constable.
I am pleased that the force is addressing the concerns that we have raised in our inspection reports, but I do not underestimate how much improvement is needed for the force to provide a consistently good service.
Since my assessment last year, the force has introduced a new approach to handling calls for assistance that incorporates an assessment of the circumstances of each incident in terms of the likely threat and risk of harm to those involved.
This has resulted in a welcome improvement in the initial response to incidents involving vulnerable people: for example, call handlers advise the caller on how to preserve the scene of the crime, and how to keep those involved safe.
However, the force has not adopted this approach in deciding who should then attend incidents: frontline officers are dispatched to investigate whenever a crime is recorded, even when the crime presents a low risk of harm. This means that the force may not be making best use of officers’ time.
Linked to this, I am also concerned that opportunities to support those who are more vulnerable may be missed: cases are allocated for investigation to whichever officer happens to be available rather than to investigators with the appropriate skills and experience. This means that some investigators may not be properly equipped to deal with all the cases they are allocated. A more structured approach to deploying officers would address this issue.
Dyfed-Powys has a good approach to preventing crime and has devoted sufficient resources to neighbourhood policing. It is good at tackling serious and organised crime, and it works with other public services to develop a sound understanding of serious threats. The force is also good at deterring people from becoming involved in serious and organised crime, and at actively managing repeat offenders.
The force draws on a wide range of information to inform its understanding of the current threats faced by the people of Dyfed-Powys. However, it needs to do more to understand less visible demands for its services, such as internet crime, and how demand might change in the future. At the time of our inspection, the force was seeking to develop its understanding of the demand for its services through its ‘spending wisely’ project.
Although Dyfed-Powys has a good track record of achieving financial savings, I am concerned that it still does not have a comprehensive understanding of the costs, or quality, of the service provided through its current operating model.
There was no evidence that its commitment to attend all recorded crimes had been evaluated, and so the force does not know the cost of this commitment, or whether it has had an impact on crime investigation, crime reduction or public confidence. The force also has a limited understanding of the success of previous change programmes in reducing costs and improving quality.
The force does not have a sound understanding of the skills and capabilities of its workforce. There are imbalanced workloads across the force: resources have been redeployed without evidence of any analysis of the demand facing different parts of the organisation, or of whether those redeployed have the appropriate skills.
I am satisfied that Dyfed-Powys has some understanding of threats to the integrity of the organisation and undertakes some assessment of potential corruption. However, there are some gaps in its understanding of the extent to which corruption is having an impact on the organisation, and of the extent to which officers may be abusing their authority for sexual gain (that is, taking advantage of a position of power to exploit vulnerable victims of crime).
I was pleased that our inspectors found that the workforce understands the importance of treating people with fairness and respect. However, the force needs to improve the way it seeks feedback from the people it serves so that the focus shifts more towards understanding the issues that have the greatest impact on public perceptions of fairness and respect. This should inform the work the force is doing to improve its understanding of demand more broadly, and how it matches resources to that demand.
In view of these findings, I have been in regular contact with the chief constable. I do not underestimate how much improvement is needed for the force to provide a consistently good service to the people of Dyfed-Powys. I am sure that the force will be committed to making significant progress over the coming year.
Os hoffech chi ddarllen hwn trwy’r Gymraeg (PDF document)
Context
Dyfed-Powys Police provides policing services to the areas of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys. Dyfed-Powys has a high level of poverty, although there are some more affluent areas. The force area is home to around 0.5 million people, who live in a predominantly rural setting. The area has distinct, small urban areas including the towns of Carmarthen, Llanelli, Milford Haven, and Aberystwyth.
The resident population is increased by university students and the very large numbers who visit or travel through the area each year. The transport infrastructure includes 500 miles of motorway and trunk roads and a major sea port.
The proportion of areas in Dyfed-Powys that are predicted (on the basis of detailed economic and demographic analysis) to present a very high challenge to the police is lower than 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. The police force area is very 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
Dyfed-Powys Police works as part of the all-Wales counter terrorism unit and has a joint firearms team with Gwent Police and South Wales Police.
It also has co-located services with the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and constituent local authorities in Llandrindod Wells.
The Welsh Policing Estates collaboration is drawing up options for a joint estates service for policing in Wales, to reduce costs, enhance resilience and make service improvements.
A new chief constable and deputy chief constable have been appointed within the past year.
Looking ahead to 2017
In the year ahead, I will be interested to see how Dyfed-Powys Police 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 improves the way it allocates officers to investigations;
- how the force develops its understanding of demand through its ‘spending wisely’ project;
- how the force improves its understanding of the range of services it can provide, so that it can best match its resources to demand; and
- the direction in which the new chief constable leads the force.
Darllenwch y Trawsgrifiad fideo yn Gymraeg (PDF document)
