Performance and Measurement

Summary

Dyfed-Powys Police covers more than half the landmass of Wales and, at just over 4,000 square miles, is the largest police force area in England and Wales; the distance from the northernmost point to the southwestern tip is further than that between Cardiff and London. It is bounded to the south and west by the Bristol Channel and the Irish Sea. Largely rural in nature, the area is served mostly by minor roads. The main industries are agriculture and tourism, although there are significant petrochemical activities along the Milford Haven waterway. This area and an associated pipeline carrying liquefied natural gas pose potential policing challenges. Around a quarter of the total population of half a million people are of retirement age, while outward migration is most pronounced in the 16–24 age group. There has been a significant influx recently of migrant workers, primarily from Portugal and Eastern Europe.

Dyfed-Powys performed well in the HMIC inspection of Protecting Vulnerable People. The Chief Constable is the ACPO lead for public protection and has established some very robust audit and review processes, combined with regular checks of service quality and delivery. Although the force is a small one, there is resilience around workload and supervision across all four disciplines within the area of Protecting Vulnerable People.

Neighbourhood Policing, and particularly maintaining a visible and accessible presence, presents a challenge in such a dispersed area; Dyfed-Powys has identified a total of 69 neighbourhoods, which are grouped into sections within the geographical boundaries of the four divisions. Each section, comprising a cluster of neighbourhoods, is headed by inspectors with geographic responsibility. The force has responded positively to reductions in central funding for PCSOs, making matched funding available for divisional commanders to draw down partnership money and engage additional PCSOs. The long-term challenge of PCSO funding remains.

The local policing plan is clearly interlinked with National Intelligence Model processes, and the planning process takes account of the force strategic assessment. This uses a risk-scoring approach to evaluate priorities and provides a rationale that is easily accessible to non-experts. A performance review framework holds officers and staff to account and the force is clearly performance focused.

Already strong performance in relation to volume crime investigation has improved, with the rates of both offences brought to justice and sanction detections rising. Volume crime reduction has remained stable, with little change to the violent crime, life-threatening and gun crime and acquisitive crime rates. User satisfaction has remained stable overall.

The results of consultation and intelligence inputs were presented to the police authority to inform the setting of local priorities for 2007/08. As a result, tackling drug abuse emerged as a priority, with effort channelled into Class A trafficking and drug production. Violent crime was another priority, particularly domestic violence and alcohol-related offending. In addition, the police authority highlighted the importance of addressing anti-social behaviour, especially criminal damage. The authority also set a priority in relation to terrorism and domestic extremism as part of the wider national endeavour in this respect.

The four Welsh forces have been working closely for more than two years to improve protective services. The foundations were already in place through Operation Tarian, a proactive initiative that tackles Level 2 crime across the three South Wales forces and that focuses on Class A drugs. The Home Office is funding two demonstrator sites on collaboration; one will enhance Tarian’s capacity, while the other will harmonise public protection policies.