North Yorkshire Police not properly recording 1 in 5 crimes
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has today published an assessment on the accuracy of crime recording in North Yorkshire Police, which found that the force records around 80 percent of crimes reported to it.
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North Yorkshire Police: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2017
HMICFRS previously inspected the accuracy of crime recording in North Yorkshire Police in 2014.
To assess the extent that recorded crime information in North Yorkshire Police can be trusted, HMICFRS asked:
- How effective is the force at recording reported crime?
- How efficiently do the systems and processes in the force support accurate crime recording?
- How well does the force demonstrate the leadership and culture necessary to meet the national standards for crime recording?
Based on these criteria, HMICFRS has judged North Yorkshire Police’s crime recording as ‘inadequate’.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said:
“While our inspection shows that North Yorkshire Police has implemented most of the recommendations from our 2014 report, we still found of plenty room for improvement. As it stands today, we estimate almost 1 in 5 crimes in North Yorkshire are not properly recorded. This is simply inexcusable.
“These crimes include serious and violent crimes such sexual offences, domestic abuse and rape. The force has robust processes in place to ensure the safeguarding of victims of these crimes, but too many offences continue to go unrecorded and therefore not investigated properly. The force is potentially depriving victims of the services and justice to which they are entitled.
“We identified flaws in the force’s crime-recording processes which mean that officers and staff often fail to make the right decisions at the earliest opportunity. We found some confusion over who was responsible for recording crimes, as well as issues arising from the time pressures on officers and staff.
“I am pleased to see the force has already taken some steps to address our concerns. For example, the force has already introduced a control room-based unit with the aim of improving crime recording at the first point of contact.
“Nevertheless, the force should review its systems and processes, develop new procedures for effective supervision and provide extensive training for all staff that make crime-recording decisions. Due to the serious nature of the force’s shortcomings, HMICFRS will re-visit North Yorkshire Police to assess progress in due course.”
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North Yorkshire Police: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2017
Notes to editors
- HMICFRS is an independent inspectorate, inspecting policing to promote improvements in policing that make everyone safer, and assesses and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces to tackle crime and terrorism, improve criminal justice and raise confidence.
- On 19 July 2017 HMIC took on responsibility for fire & rescue service inspections and was renamed HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.
- HMICFRS inspects all 43 police forces in England and Wales together with other major policing and law enforcement bodies.
- HMICFRS are unable to make direct comparisons with the 2014 inspection due to a change in the methodology used. In particular, the 2014 inspection was a dip-sample of records in each force which contributed to a statistically robust rate for crime-recording accuracy for England and Wales, whereas this inspection is working to a statistically robust standard within each force.
- Further information on how North Yorkshire Police is performing can be found on the HMICFRS online assessment tool.
- For further information, HMICFRS’ press office can be contacted during office hours from 8:30am – 5:00pm Monday – Friday on 0203 513 0600.
- HMICFRS’ out-of-hours press office line for urgent media enquiries is 07836 217729.