Too many crimes going unrecorded by Thames Valley Police
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has today published an assessment on the accuracy of crime recording in Thames Valley Police, which found that the force records around 80 percent of crimes reported to it.
Get the report
Thames Valley Police: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2017
HMICFRS previously inspected the accuracy of crime recording in Thames Valley Police in 2014.
To assess the extent that recorded crime information in Thames Valley can be trusted, HMICFRS asked:
- How effective is the force at recording reported crime?
- How efficiently do the systems and processes in the force support accurate crime recording?
- How well does the force demonstrate the leadership and culture necessary to meet the national standards for crime recording?
Based on these criteria, overall HMICFRS has judged Thames Valley Police as ‘inadequate’.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoë Billingham said:
“I am disappointed with the quality of crime recording in Thames Valley. Although the force has implemented the recommendations from our previous crime recording inspection in 2014, we found that almost 1 in 5 crimes in Thames Valley are not being recorded properly – that equates to approximately 35,200 crimes a year.
“I am satisfied that the force works very hard to ensure that victims of crime, especially vulnerable victims, are safeguarded. It now needs to ensure that it records crimes at the earliest opportunity, and that there is proper supervision of crimerecording decisions.
“Since our inspection in September 2017, I have been in close contact with Thames Valley Police and I am encouraged by the immediate steps that the force has taken in response to our findings. Since our inspection, Thames Valley Police has developed a plan to address our concerns, and have set up a group chaired by the deputy chief constable with strong oversight of progress. HMICFRS will re-visit the force later in 2018 to assess this.”
Get the report
Thames Valley Police: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2017
Notes to editors
- HMICFRS is an independent inspectorate, inspecting policing to promote improvements in policing that make everyone safer, and assesses and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces to tackle crime and terrorism, improve criminal justice and raise confidence.
- On 19 July 2017 HMIC took on responsibility for fire & rescue service inspections and was renamed HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.
- HMICFRS inspects all 43 police forces in England and Wales together with other major policing and law enforcement bodies.
- HMICFRS are unable to make direct comparisons with the 2014 inspection due to a change in the methodology used. In particular, the 2014 inspection was a dip-sample of records in each force which contributed to a statistically robust rate for crime-recording accuracy for England and Wales, whereas this inspection is working to a statistically robust standard within each force.
- Further information on how Thames Valley Police is performing can be found on the HMICFRS online assessment tool.
- For further information, HMICFRS’ press office can be contacted during office hours from 8:30am – 5:00pm Monday – Friday on 0203 513 0600.
- HMICFRS’ out-of-hours press office line for urgent media enquiries is 07836 217729.