Lincolnshire PEEL 2018

Lincolnshire Police needs to improve how it prevents crime and deals with anti-social behaviour (ASB). We didn’t inspect this area in 2017. But in 2016, we asked the force to improve how it analyses information to better understand crime and ASB. It hasn’t made enough progress in this area yet.

The force has a new approach to neighbourhood policing. But it is too early to tell how good this is. It sometimes moves neighbourhood officers and staff into other policing roles. This makes it harder for them to deal with local problems.

The force plans to improve its training for local teams. The aim is to address inconsistencies across the force.

It works well with other public sector groups to tackle complex problems and support vulnerable people. But the force should consult the public more when deciding its priorities. And it should use this information to help it plan. It should also update the public more about consultation results.

The force uses many local problem-solving approaches. But it doesn’t consistently record these. Local differences can lead to different levels of service. It is hard for the force to understand which approaches work best.

Victims get satisfactory results from Lincolnshire Police’s investigations. But in our 2017 effectiveness report we said it should supervise investigations more closely. This is still inconsistent across the force. Supervisors don’t always make sure enquiries are complete. This may mean that opportunities to get the best result for the victim are missed. The force is training uniformed response officers in crime supervision. So the force is likely to get better at this.

Lincolnshire Police passes some low-level crimes to a desk-based unit. This reduces pressure on frontline officers and the force control room (FCR). The public can now also report crime online.

The force now has more trained detectives. But it still has work to do compared with other forces. Since our last inspection, the number of cases where the suspect is charged or summoned reduced slightly. Although this is still above the national rate. The force needs to understand why this is the case to make sure more victims get a good result.

The way the force catches and manages offenders is appropriate. It oversees suspects released on bail or under investigation appropriately. It has a clear process for finding and arresting wanted suspects, and discusses them daily. It identifies the suspects posing the highest risk to the public and focuses its efforts on them.

Lincolnshire Police is good at protecting vulnerable people. The force is good at identifying vulnerable people when they first make contact. And it has got better at responding to them. The force has good processes that help its officers respond well to people who have mental health issues.

Officers and staff treat vulnerable people well. The force works with other organisations to understand who might be vulnerable. But it should use this information to improve its understanding and make its services better.

In 2017, we identified that the force needed to improve the way it manages missing people. It is now managing these investigations more consistently. The force has worked hard to reduce workloads and improve the training of specialist teams to protect vulnerable victims.

Officers and staff are good at assessing risk at domestic abuse incidents. The force works closely with other organisations to protect vulnerable victims. It makes good use of its protective powers to do this. But it needs to improve its arrest rate for domestic abuse. This will make sure that the most vulnerable people are protected earlier.

The force manages offenders well to reduce the risk they pose to vulnerable people.

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

We have 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).