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HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
HM Inspectorate of Prisons
HM Inspectorate of Probation
Criminal Justice Joint Inspection

Warwickshire 2014

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This is the first PEEL Assessment of Warwickshire Police. In making this assessment I have used my professional judgment to consider the evidence available from inspections undertaken in the past 12 months.

The available evidence indicates that:

in terms of its effectiveness, in general, the force is good at reducing crime and preventing offending, is good at investigating offending and good at tackling anti-social behaviour;

the efficiency with which the force carries out its responsibilities is good; and

the force is acting to achieve fairness and legitimacy in a limited number of the practices that were examined this year.

Dru Sharpling, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary

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HMI's observations

 

In making this first PEEL Assessment of Warwickshire Police I have taken into account the challenges to policing the area.

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands. Major motorways run through Warwickshire and provide good access for travelling criminals. In 2011 the force entered into a strategic alliance with West Mercia Police. To facilitate joint working the forces have developed a new shared vision and set of values.

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The innovative and ambitious alliance with West Mercia Police has enabled the force to make efficiency savings while continuing to provide a good service to the people of Warwickshire. The force has developed a strong response to crime prevention and reduction, investing resources to support victims of crime. HMIC found evidence of the commitment of frontline staff to keep victims safe and emphasis on conducting high quality investigations. Safer neighbourhood teams were alert to local anti-social behaviour issues.

The force has developed a structured plan to introduce the Code of Ethics, although more could be done to identify groups or individuals who may be vulnerable to corruption.

I have concerns about the force’s approach to crime-recording, which is not as accurate as it should be.

Our intention is to examine leadership specifically as part of future PEEL Assessments, once criteria have been established. This will allow us to take account of the College of Policing review of leadership that is currently underway.

In common with other forces, there is a need to develop a better understanding of the changing demands for police services.

I am particularly interested to see how the force responds to the areas HMIC has identified for improvement over the next 12 months.

Effectiveness

How well the force tackles crime

Last updated 12/11/2014
Ungraded

Warwickshire Police is good at reducing crime and preventing offending. The force is good at investigating crime. It is good at tackling anti-social behaviour.

Warwickshire Police is in a strategic alliance with West Mercia Police, and across both forces HMIC found a strong response to preventing and reducing crime. Local neighbourhood teams in the force have a good understanding of local priorities and work with partners to prevent crime effectively, manage high-risk offenders and safeguard victims, especially the most vulnerable and victims of anti-social behaviour.

The force has invested resources to support victims and HMIC found frontline staff are committed to keeping them safe. There was generally an emphasis on conducting high-quality investigations. However, in some cases, officers could not maximise evidential opportunities such as photographs of injuries as specialist resources normally allocated to investigate crimes, such as child and/or domestic abuse, was not available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Further insights on effectiveness

The domestic abuse inspection found that Warwickshire provided a good service to victims of domestic abuse. Although the public could have confidence that the force was working well with partners to tackle domestic abuse, there was still some room for improvement.

The crime inspection found that organised crime groups are mapped by the force intelligence team and prioritised according to threat, risk and harm. There were a number of examples of how organised crime group mapping had been used to target child sexual exploitation.

View the six questions for effectiveness

Efficiency

How well the force delivers value for money

Last updated 12/11/2014
Good

HMIC commends Warwickshire Police for making excellent progress in achieving what has been a very challenging savings target. Through the innovative and ambitious alliance with West Mercia Police, the force has made efficiency savings while maintaining and improving policing for the people of Warwickshire.

Warwickshire Police has already achieved the savings required for the spending review ahead of schedule and is now developing plans for the future. There is a clear focus on value for money evidenced throughout the alliance with West Mercia that has demonstrated the potential to achieve further significant savings over a number of years. The force is extremely well placed to face future financial challenges.

The force has made good progress with developing and implementing the alliance; the phased approach to managing this organisational change has been effective and well led. The alliance is providing the force with significant opportunities for cost savings and, importantly, is providing the people of Warwickshire with a better equipped and more effective police service.

The force understands its demand and is ensuring that police time is used to best effect. The shared resources of both forces are deployed in a ‘borderless’ way to ensure that the most appropriate response is provided, regardless of who owns the resource. Despite major changes and the scale of the cuts in spending, recorded crime has continued to fall in Warwickshire, and has fallen at a faster rate over the 12 months to March 2014 than for England and Wales.

View the three questions for efficiency

Legitimacy

Does the force act with integrity and provide a service the public expects?

Last updated 12/11/2014
Ungraded

Warwickshire Police has made limited progress on the area for improvement identified by HMIC in 2012. There is good understanding of the Code of Ethics across the force. Staff feel confident to challenge wrongdoing and the force responds effectively to such reports, although the audit of investigations, including lessons learned, could improve. The force has limited capacity proactively to identify and deal with corruption.

 

Further insights on legitimacy

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (12 months to March 2013) found that the proportion of respondents who think that the force does an excellent/good job was less than the figure across England and Wales. The same survey over the same period also found that the proportion which agrees that the force deals with local concerns was less than the figure for England and Wales. The force’s own victim satisfaction survey (12 months to June 2014) found that the proportion of victims who were satisfied with their experience was broadly in line with the figure across England and Wales.

The crime data integrity inspection found frontline staff, including call-takers, were polite, professional and helpful. The domestic abuse inspection found that staff in the operations and communication centre were trained to question callers about the likely threat, harm and risk to the victim, or anyone else present at the incident. The force provided an enhanced service to the victims of domestic abuse who are assessed as being at the greatest risk of harm. The compliance and quality assurance of the initial attendance and risk assessment process was the subject of robust scrutiny.

As a result of the crime data integrity inspection, HMIC is concerned that a notable proportion of reports of crime are not being recorded, and this means that victims are not receiving the service they should when they first report a crime. HMIC is also concerned with the accuracy of the decisions taken by the force when making no-crime decisions (cancelling a recorded crime) as too many of these are incorrect. The force needs to take action to improve, serve the victims of these crimes and provide the public with confidence in the force’s crime data.

View the four questions for legitimacy

Key facts – 2019/20

Force Area

764 square miles

Population

0.584m people
7% local 10 yr change

Workforce

91% frontline police officers
92% national level
3.14 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
7% Local 5 year trend
9% National 5 year trend

Cost

52p per person per day local
59p per person per day national

Points of context provided by the force

Rural with large towns, Warwickshire includes Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington Spa, Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 major motorways run through the area.

The force has an alliance with West Mercia Police so that they can meet challenges of reduced budgets and continue to protect their communities from harm.

Visit the force's website to find out more about policing this area

Police and crime plan priorities

Warwickshire Police and Crime Objectives:

  1. Reduce crime and disorder
  2. Protect the public from harm
  3. Deliver an efficient and effective police force for Warwickshire
  4. Empower local communities to prevent crime and disorder
  5. Meet the requirements of the Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR)
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To reduce crime and disorder we will primarily tackle alcohol misuse, cyber crime, rural crime, business crime and integrated offender management. To protect the public from harm we will focus on violence against women and girls, safeguarding and support for victims. Delivering an efficient and effective police force is being ensured through the Strategic Alliance with West Mercia, as well as scrutinising police integrity. Local communities are being empowered through our engagement strategy, which ensures a meaningful dialogue between the public and their PCC. We are fulfilling the Strategic Policing Requirement by working with regional partners.

Read the full plan
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