South Yorkshire 2014

South Yorkshire’s effectiveness in its efforts to cut crime varies. Over the past four years, recorded crime has reduced. However, over the past 12 months, recorded crime has remained mainly static. Victim satisfaction is broadly in line with other forces.

Throughout the crime inspection, we found that there had been a number of recent force structural changes with an associated increased focus on improving the quality of victim contact. However, officers are not routinely providing updates to victims of crime and standards of crime investigation are not consistent. Partnership working, early intervention, and the management of offenders are strengths for the force, although at district policing levels there is a lack of understanding of the effectiveness of these measures in preventing and reducing crime and, as a consequence, work in these areas is not prioritised.

The force has a clear focus on the management and reduction of anti-social behaviour with both statutory and other partners. The force understands the need to manage those at risk from being subject to anti-social behaviour. However, in relation to identifying at the first point of contact those who are most vulnerable, the force needs to ensure it is more consistent in this area.

Further insights on effectiveness

The domestic abuse inspection found that, although tackling domestic abuse was a clear priority and this was recognised by staff at all levels, there were risks that some victims of domestic abuse may not have been getting the response or the quality of service they needed. The child protection inspection found that South Yorkshire was clearly prioritising child protection, and had made some good progress, particularly in cases where concerns about children have been clearly identified at the outset. However, there was concern that force practice was inconsistent so not all children received the standard of treatment they deserved. The inspection found that more must be done to improve the care of children in custody. There was also concern about the lack of understanding of the risk posed by offenders who target vulnerable children, and shortcomings in the protection of children in care.

The crime inspection found examples of success in relation to the most serious cases of organised crime. An example was Operation Alphabet, which successfully dealt with an organised crime group involved with child sexual exploitation. However, force analysts expressed concern that the management of organised crime groups was not seen as a local priority. This was specifically expressed in relation to locations where individuals connected to organised crime groups resided but did not undertake criminal activity, and so action to disrupt the groups was not given priority.

The previous police and crime commissioner commissioned a child sexual exploitation inspection. Its subsequent revisit found that the evident efforts to improve the force’s response to child sexual exploitation had had mixed success. HMIC considered that the force-level focus and commitment to this were not truly and consistently replicated in all districts. While there were pockets of good and effective practice (most notably in Sheffield), the approach taken to tackling this kind of offending varied significantly across the force’s four districts. Improvements were noted during the revisit but the force acknowledged that there is still work to be done to meet the required standard, particularly for prevention and investigation.