West Midlands 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.

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

West Midlands Police and its workforce have a good understanding of vulnerability in the force’s area.

However, the force needs to improve how it assesses risk and manages the response to vulnerable people when they contact the police. Control room staff need to use risk assessment tools consistently, making sure they complete them with the appropriate level of detail.

The force needs to improve supervisory oversight in the control room to support effective operational work and help manage backlogs of non-emergency incidents. Some parts of the control room are working better than last year. Many control room staff are positive about their work and have a strong desire to provide a better service to the public.

West Midlands Police responds to incidents involving vulnerable people adequately. The force prioritises incidents involving vulnerable people.

Officers attending domestic abuse incidents must complete a DASH risk assessment. These risk assessments are vital for effective short and long-term safeguarding of victims and their families. We found officers are still not completing DASH assessments at every domestic abuse incident and some assessments lack important information.

West Midlands Police is committed to supporting vulnerable victims. In general, officers and staff provide good levels of support, in spite of high workloads. The force has effective joint working arrangements with partner agencies.

Last year, we identified that the force needed to improve the way it manages missing people. The force is now managing these investigations more consistently. But the control room’s initial recording and risk assessment of missing people still needs improvement.

This question was not subject to detailed inspection in 2018/19, and our judgment from the 2017 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).

Some forces in England and Wales have joint arrangements in place to provide armed policing. West Midlands Police is of such a size that it can provide its own armed capability.