Performance and Measurement

Summary

Hertfordshire has well over 1 million residents – nearly 20% of the East of England population – while having just 8.6% of its landmass. The county borders five other policing areas, including the Greater London Authority, and contains significant stretches of the M1, M25, M10 and A1(M) motorways. Rail crashes at Watford, Hatfield and Potters Bar in recent years, together with the Buncefield oil depot explosion of 2005, demonstrate the area’s vulnerability to natural, accidental or terrorist incidents due to its concentration of transport infrastructure, dense population and industrial enterprise. Policing services are delivered through three area-based commands, with force headquarters at Welwyn Garden City.

HMIC has recently carried out an inspection within Hertfordshire, assessing how the force delivers Neighbourhood Policing, manages performance and protects vulnerable people. Across all three areas, the force has either maintained or improved on an already satisfactory level of service to the public.

The force has published an annual policing plan for 2006/07 which aligns key national and local themes. Well developed performance structures ensure that the force’s performance is constantly measured against national and locally agreed targets.

Following wide consultation, the Hertfordshire police authority set local performance indicators reflecting community priorities for 2006/07. These encompassed bringing more offenders to justice through increasing sanction detection rates for domestic burglary and vehicle crime, and reassuring communities by increasing the visibility and accessibility of police officers. For 2007/08, priorities include reductions in crime, particularly serious violent crime, and the proactive use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to increase arrests by road traffic officers, and reductions in anti-social behaviour.

A culture of self-improvement operates within Hertfordshire, reinforced through mature performance management structures and underpinned by robust audit and inspection processes. The 2006 HMIC baseline assessment identified no major areas of concern, but graded volume crime investigation as Fair and Deteriorated. In response, chief officers became sponsors for individual police divisions and the force established a specialist interview unit to maximise detection opportunities afforded by prolific offenders. The result has been an increase in the sanction detection rate from 22% to 29%, of which 5.5% is attributable to the new unit.

Key achievements for the force during 2006/07 are significant increases in sanction detection levels, generally good overall performance and the further embedding of Neighbourhood Policing. The completion and operational opening of the new purpose-built command and control centre represents a significant step forward in ensuring excellence in customer accessibility and the physical deployment of staff to meet 21st century policing demands.

The main challenges for the force include the maintenance of, and improvement on, the high standards set by its good performance overall; the delivery of new and improved arrangements to protect vulnerable people; and the implementation of effective collaborative arrangements for major crime with Bedfordshire Police, for which the force has now been awarded demonstrator site status.