Performance and Measurement

Summary

Hampshire Constabulary covers the two counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and is the second largest non-metropolitan police force in England and Wales. The population of 1.8 million includes some 135,000 living on the Isle of Wight and approximately 411,000 in the two main cities, Portsmouth and Southampton, which have their own universities and Premiership and Championship football teams. Portsmouth is the home of the Royal Navy and is also a continental ferry port. Southampton is a major commercial port and situated nearby is one of the largest petrochemical refineries in Europe, which brings its own challenges with regard to potential critical incidents and heightened terrorist threats.

HMIC has recently conducted the first phase of a three-year programme of inspection activity, specifically assessing how the force is delivering Neighbourhood Policing, Performance Management and Protecting Vulnerable People. Across all three areas, the force has either maintained or improved on an already satisfactory level of service to the public assessed against inspection criteria that has increased in rigour since last year.

The inspection found significant progress in the introduction of Neighbourhood Policing; some 154 fully staffed Safer Neighbourhood teams have been established across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The inspection found that progress continues to be made in Performance Management and there has been a sustained period of recovery following the downturn in performance during 2005/06. Progress has been made since the 2005/06 baseline assessment in all key areas of Protecting Vulnerable People, most notably in domestic abuse and public protection.

While overall recorded crime increased by 3.2%, performance is in line with that of comparable forces. Domestic burglary rates are low, but levels of violent crime and vehicle crime are above those in similar forces. The sanction detection rate for all crime rose from 20.9% to 21.6%. There were no approved local domain targets.

Throughout 2006/07, the force has focused on implementing Neighbourhood Policing, reducing crime and increasing sanction detections, and improving protective services and professional standards.

The 2005/06 baseline assessment graded professional standards as Poor and volume crime investigation and Performance Management as Fair/Deteriorated. Significant progress has been made in professional standards, with all the recommendations and areas for improvement being addressed. The investigation of volume crime continues to improve; the force invited the Police and Crime Standards Directorate to identify systems and processes that could be made more effective, and this has resulted in a sustained increase in sanction detections. The way in which performance is managed across the force has changed significantly; it is now much more focused and includes specialist departments, and will be expanded later in 2007 to include partnership involvement.

The roll-out of Neighbourhood Policing and the establishment of Safer Neighbourhood teams, along with a substantial increase in sergeant posts to supervise these teams, have been a notable success. Public protection units have been established on each of the six territorial command units and staffing of these units is progressing on an incremental basis. The full implementation of the records management process has not been without its problems, but the force is now reaping the benefits of an integrated IT system.

Both the force and its police authority recognise the financial challenges that lie ahead over the next few years and, in order to meet those challenges, are increasing their focus on improving productivity and providing protective services and Neighbourhood Policing, and in particular on ensuring continued funding for PCSOs.