Cleveland Police has improved in some areas but still more to do
Cleveland Police has improved in some areas but further changes are needed to keep people safer and reduce crime, the police inspectorate has said.
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PEEL 2021/22 – An inspection of Cleveland Police
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded Cleveland Police’s performance across ten areas of policing and found the force was ‘good’ in one area, ‘adequate’ in four areas, ‘requires improvement’ in three areas and ‘inadequate’ in two areas.
HMICFRS said the good area was crime data integrity. The inadequate areas included preventing crime and use of resources.
Cleveland Police remains in the inspectorate’s enhanced monitoring stage, Engage.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke said:
“I am pleased with how Cleveland Police has improved since the arrival of the current chief constable, who has brought greater stability. However, I still have some concern about its performance in keeping people safe and reducing crime.
“The force has significantly improved its crime recording and made good progress in improving how it records the use of force and its understanding of how it uses stop and search.
“However, the force still needs to get better at investigating reported crimes. Our inspection found that some investigations lack a structured plan and appropriate supervision. The force also needs to ensure officers and staff have the knowledge and confidence to fully assess a person’s vulnerability.
“The challenges facing Cleveland Police shouldn’t be underestimated and the force remains under our enhanced monitoring, but I am optimistic that the trajectory and pace of improvement will continue this year. The force is undergoing significant change and restructuring as part of the chief constable’s long-term plans, and I will continue to closely monitor its progress.”
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PEEL 2021/22 – An inspection of Cleveland Police
Notes
- In 2014, we introduced our police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections, which assess the performance of all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Since then, we have been continuously adapting our approach and this year has seen the most significant changes yet.
- We are moving to a more intelligence-led, continual assessment approach, rather than the annual PEEL inspections we used in previous years. We have also changed our approach to graded judgments. We now assess forces against the characteristics of good performance, and we more clearly link our judgments to causes of concern and areas for improvement.
- We have also expanded our previous four-tier system of judgments to five tiers. As a result, we can state more precisely where we consider improvement is needed and highlight more effectively the best ways of doing things.
- However, these changes mean that it isn’t possible to make direct comparisons between the grades awarded this year with those from previous PEEL inspections. A reduction in grade, particularly from good to adequate, does not necessarily mean that there has been a reduction in performance, unless we say so in the report.
- More information about the new PEEL assessment framework 2021/22 is available on our website.
- For further information, please contact the HMICFRS Press Office on 0300 071 6781 or HMICPressOffice@hmicfrs.gov.uk.