Performance and Measurement

Summary

Leicestershire Constabulary is a medium-sized force in the East Midlands with a population of around 1 million people. More than a quarter of the city of Leicester’s population are from minority ethnic communities. In April 2007, the force restructured from four to three areas as well as realigning local policing units with local authorities. Throughout these changes, the force has maintained good performance in volume crime and response policing, as well as successfully undertaking many major investigations. It is working well with regional neighbours to develop collaborative initiatives that are designed to enhance operational performance and secure savings. One priority agreed by the police authority is to answer 90% of all non-emergency telephone calls within 30 seconds.

The inspection conducted by HMIC in 2007 covered Neighbourhood Policing, Performance Management and Protecting Vulnerable People, which includes child abuse, domestic violence, public protection and missing persons. Performance Management has improved markedly, with the APEX system attracting interest from other forces. Significant progress is also evident in the implementation of Neighbourhood Policing, and Leicestershire’s willingness to share good practice is commendable and it is now a leading high-performing force in the country. A total of 110 neighbourhoods have been identified across the county, policed by sergeant-led teams that benefit from the support of over 200 PCSOs.

Performance on Protecting Vulnerable People is mixed: child abuse investigation is underpinned by effective systems and processes, and missing persons enquiries have improved significantly, with strong strategic leadership. The force has a robust domestic violence policing model, operating particularly well in the city of Leicester. An area of weakness revealed by the inspection, which also prompted concern in 2006, is public protection. While some progress has been made in the last year, including a proactive initiative to deal with the backlog of visits to ‘low-risk’ sex offenders, this area still requires a significant commitment by the force to bring all home visits to registered sex offenders up to date.

In terms of volume crime investigation, the rate of offences brought to justice has increased but the sanction detection rate has fallen. The rate of violent crime has dropped but acquisitive crime increased during 2006/07 although is now declining. User satisfaction has shown a good improvement across the five relevant indicators.

In the 2006 HMIC baseline assessment, the force was graded Fair/Deteriorated for improving forensic performance. Areas for improvement included the quality and quantity of forensic recoveries, specifically DNA and fingerprints, which varied between scene of crime officers. Individual performance information is now available to scientific support unit managers, who address issues through regular meetings. All officers now have personal development reviews and performance targets, and a comprehensive performance report is produced quarterly. The force is now delivering an acceptable level of service in this area.

The Police Authority took the decision, when setting the force 2007/08 budget, that it needed to reduce a number of police posts in order to balance the budget. This presents a challenge to the Authority to manage the range of policing demands and maintain good service delivery.