I congratulate Kent Police on its excellent overall performance.
I am particularly pleased with the improvements the force has made in how it keeps vulnerable people safe. The protection of vulnerable people is seen as everyone’s responsibility, not just that of specialist teams.
Our inspectors also found that frontline officers have a good knowledge of how young people might be at risk from child sexual exploitation and its links to missing children. The force is now more consistent in making positive interventions in domestic abuse cases to reduce the risk to victims and hold more offenders to account.
The force has an effective approach to preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, and has allocated dedicated resources to neighbourhood policing. It understands the communities it serves and has equipped its officers well to work with local partner organisations to prevent anti-social behaviour from escalating.
Kent Police is also good at tackling serious and organised crime, and it is working hard to improve further its response to newer organised crime threats such as human trafficking, digital crime and child sexual exploitation. Its collaboration with Essex Police allows the forces to combine specialist capabilities to tackle serious and organised crime.
The force’s initial investigation of crime is good, and people with the appropriate skills and experience continue the investigations to a high standard. I am reassured that the force is undertaking analysis to understand why a relatively high proportion of investigations are not proceeding because victims do not support police action. Kent Police is also good at protecting the public from the most prolific, serious and dangerous offenders. It works effectively with partner organisations to manage such offenders, as well as registered sex offenders.
We found the force to be outstanding at understanding and dealing with the wide range of demands it faces. It demonstrates an impressive and detailed understanding of local issues and public expectations.
Its future plans for its workforce are both realistic and sensible. I am also impressed that it has considered areas of growing demand such as internet crime, people trafficking and protecting vulnerable people, including the reporting and management of female genital mutilation.
The force has a good understanding of the skills and capabilities of its workforce, and it uses this understanding to inform training and recruitment.
It is making good use of technology, such as body-worn video cameras, and I will watch with interest the results of the force’s ambitious plans for mobile devices later in the year.
I am impressed by the exceptionally strong ethical culture in the force, which encourages its workforce to act both with integrity and lawfully. Its anti-corruption unit monitors a range of activities and also actively seeks out intelligence on potential abuse of authority for sexual gain (that is, taking advantage of a position of power to exploit vulnerable victims of crime), enabling the force to identify and address inappropriate behaviour early.
The force’s approach to communicating with the public is impressive. It works hard to identify and communicate with those identified as having less trust and confidence in the police. It also deserves praise for the way it speaks to young people – in particular those involved in gangs and other activities that put them at risk – and its engagement with the Gypsy and Roma communities is notable.
Kent Police has invested heavily in improving leadership at all levels, and leadership expectations are well understood across the force. There is a vibrant culture of innovation and improvement, and the whole workforce is encouraged to put forward ideas.
In summary, I commend the force on the service it is providing to the people of Kent.
Context
Kent Police provides policing services to the areas of Kent and Medway. Kent is generally affluent, although there are some areas of deprivation. The force area is home to around 1.8 million people, who mainly live in the city of Canterbury as well as the towns of Maidstone, Gravesend, Ashford, Margate, Dartford, Folkestone and Dover.
The resident population is increased by university students and the very large numbers who visit or travel through the county each year. The transport infrastructure includes 210 miles of motorway and trunk roads, major rail stations, the channel tunnel, and major sea ports.
The proportion of areas in Kent 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 that 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 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
Kent Police collaborates extensively with Essex Police across a range of areas of business.
Kent Police shares a control room with Kent Fire and Rescue Service, which saves on the cost of premises, and makes it easier to share information, particularly during major emergencies.
A new assistant chief constable has been appointed within the past year.
Looking ahead to 2017
In the year ahead, I will be interested to see how Kent Police responds to this assessment.
I will be particularly interested to see:
- the outcome of the force’s work to understand why investigations where the victims are not supportive of police action are high in comparison with other forces nationally; and
- how the force uses technology to make continued improvements.
