Norfolk 2018/19

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PEEL: Police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy 2018/19 – Norfolk Constabulary

Zoë Billingham, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary

HMI's observations

I congratulate Norfolk Constabulary on its excellent performance in keeping people safe and reducing crime.

The force understands its communities and tackles anti-social behaviour well. It works closely with partners to ensure it safeguards victims. But it needs to improve the way it investigates crimes through better training and more effective supervision.

I am particularly pleased with the way in which Norfolk Constabulary plans for the future. Leaders are ambitious and want to be at the forefront of innovative practice. The force has a detailed understanding of changing demand and links this to its future financial planning and workforce development.

At the time of our inspection, the force had recently changed its local policing model. I will be keeping the effects of this change under review.

The force continues to uphold an ethical culture and promote standards of professional behaviour well. However, I am concerned that it does not consistently comply with legislation when dealing with detainees in custody. It needs to strengthen governance of its use of force in these facilities. I am assured that the force has clear plans in place to address this.

Overall, I commend Norfolk Constabulary for the progress it has made over the past year. I am confident it is well-equipped for its strong performance to continue.

Norfolk Constabulary is good at preventing crime and tackling anti-social behaviour.

It makes a priority of crime prevention. Its new local policing model should enable designated officers to focus on neighbourhood problems. But it is too early to say how successful this new model will be. The force’s neighbourhood policing strategy aligns with the local police and crime plan.

Norfolk Constabulary needs to improve the way it investigates crime. We reviewed investigation files and found that the force has not effectively supervised all investigations. Specialist departments supervise investigations better than non-specialist departments. Better supervision would ensure that officers and staff work to a consistently good standard. This would help to improve outcomes for victims of crime.

The force is good at protecting vulnerable people. It has a thorough understanding of the ways in which the population it serves is vulnerable. The force seeks out hidden harm and looks for vulnerability from the moment a person contacts the police. It responds promptly to incidents involving vulnerable people.

The force is good at tackling serious and organised crime.

View the five questions for effectiveness

Norfolk Constabulary operates efficiently and is making excellent plans for the future.

The force is outstanding at meeting current demands and using resources.

Norfolk Constabulary is outstanding at planning for the future. The force understands what demands it will have to meet. It constantly works to better understand what the public expects from it. The force balances community expectations with national priorities. It has plans to acquire the capabilities and capacity it considers it will need in future.

View the two questions for efficiency

Norfolk Constabulary is good at treating the public fairly.

The workforce has an ethical culture at all levels. It has a culture of learning not blame. But the force’s counter-corruption unit is limited in its ability to pursue corruption proactively. A new IT monitoring system intended to protect the force’s data may put further pressure on this unit.

Norfolk Constabulary is good at treating the workforce fairly.

View the three questions for legitimacy

In addition to the three core PEEL pillars, HMICFRS carries out inspections of a wide range of policing activity throughout the year. Some of these are conducted alongside the PEEL inspections; others are joint inspections.

Findings from these inspections are published separately to the main PEEL reports, but are taken into account when producing the rounded assessment of each force's performance.

Norfolk and Suffolk – Joint inspection of police custody – published 2 October 2018

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Key facts – 2019/20

Force Area

2,079 square miles

Population

0.914m people

7% local 10 yr change

Workforce

93% frontline police officers

92% national level

3.23 per 1000 population

3.69 national level

3% 10yr change in local workforce

5% 10yr national change

Victim-based crimes

0.05 per person

0.06 national level

21% Local 5 year trend

9% National 5 year trend

Cost

55p per person per day local

59p per person per day national

Norfolk 2018/19

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HMI's observations

Effectiveness

How effectively does the force reduce crime and keep people safe?

Efficiency

How efficiently does the force operate and how sustainable are its services to the public?

Legitimacy

How legitimately does the force treat the public and its workforce?

Other inspections

How well has the force performed in our other inspections?

Other reports