Leicestershire PEEL 2018

This question was not subject to detailed inspection in 2018/19, and our judgment from the 2016 effectiveness inspection has been carried over.

Leicestershire Police is good at investigating crime. It has speeded up the allocation of crimes to investigators since our 2017 effectiveness inspection. Most investigations are handled by appropriately-skilled teams, and the force has enough investigators to deal with its caseload.

The force has recently improved the way crimes can be reported online. Its website reflects a new national approach for digital access to public services.

A new crime bureau handles cases with few lines of investigation and this has eased pressure on other investigators. Staff in the crime bureau provide a good service to victims.

As part of this inspection, we reviewed 60 files from recent investigations. We found the standard was good in 52 of them.

Leicestershire Police is good at pursuing suspects of crime, managing persistent offenders and working with other organisations to deal with foreign national offenders. Its use of police bail has dropped since changes in the law in 2017, but it is taking measures to address this.

The force prioritises the needs of victims. It is introducing a ‘service offering’, which gives victims a clear sense of how it plans to handle their case.

Detailed findings for question 2

Leicestershire Police is good at protecting vulnerable people. It has a strong commitment to helping those most in need.

The force has good relationships with other organisations that work with vulnerable people, including local councils, the voluntary sector and health, education and young people’s services.

It has created a team to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking. This team will investigate cases, develop intelligence about criminal networks and run awareness and prevention campaigns.

This year, more than 2,100 officers and staff have participated in a training programme called ‘protecting vulnerable people’. This long-running initiative has tackled subjects including hidden and under-reported types of crime, the effect of hate crime, and fraud committed against vulnerable people.

The force is currently dealing with more crimes, and receiving more referrals linked to vulnerability, than it ever has before. It has worked hard to improve its processes, organise its workforce better and improve staff skills to cope with demand.

The force makes good use of the domestic violence disclosure scheme, Clare’s Law. It is very active in uploading indecent images discovered through investigations to a national database to help identify victims. There is no backlog in vulnerability referrals.

Detailed findings for question 3

This question was not subject to detailed inspection in 2018/19, and our judgment from the 2016 effectiveness inspection has been carried over.

HMICFRS has previously inspected how well forces provide armed policing. This formed part of our 2016 and 2017 effectiveness inspections. Subsequent terrorist attacks in the UK and Europe have meant that the police service maintains a focus on armed capability in England and Wales.

It is not just terrorist attacks that place operational demands on armed officers. The threat can include the activity of organised crime groups or armed street gangs and all other crime involving guns. The Code of Practice on the Police Use of Firearms and Less Lethal Weapons (PDF document) makes forces responsible for implementing national standards of armed policing. The code stipulates that a chief officer be designated to oversee these standards. This requires the chief officer to set out the firearms threat in an armed policing strategic threat and risk assessment (APSTRA). The chief officer must also set out clear rationales for the number of armed officers (armed capacity) and the level to which they are trained (armed capability).

Detailed findings for question 5