Performance and Measurement

Summary

Northamptonshire Police covers an area of 915 square miles and serves a population of over 650,000. The population is growing and the economy has changed considerably, with traditional manufacturing being replaced by the service sector. The Silverstone racetrack hosts high-profile motor racing, including the British Grand Prix, which requires a significant policing commitment. The force headquarters is just outside Northampton and front-line policing is delivered by two area commands (reduced last year from four).

In the 2005/06 HMIC baseline assessment, the force was graded Poor for managing critical incidents and major crime and for tackling serious and organised criminality, and Fair/Deteriorated for implementing the National Intelligence Model. It responded by establishing a strategic improvement programme board, chaired by the Deputy Chief Constable, to bring these areas up to acceptable levels. The police authority supported the improvement drive by allocating additional resources to strengthen capacity. Critical incident awareness was inadequate, at both operational and strategic levels, but a training plan has been implemented and all staff will have received training by autumn 2007. Additionally, a new policy and standard operating procedures for critical incidents were introduced in April 2007. Procedures for dealing with financial intelligence have been improved, and the force is also developing an IT solution for the management and handling of suspicious activity reports received from banks and other agencies. The force now meets the required standard of service in each of these three areas.

The investigation of volume crime (burglary, vehicle crime and robbery) has improved, with the rates for both offences brought to justice and sanction detections increasing. Volume crime reduction has also improved, with reductions in the rates of violent crime and acquisitive crime. The force received Home Office help to improve performance in reducing and investigating volume crime, but the performance improvements evident in the last year or so led to this arrangement ending in spring 2007. User satisfaction rates have also increased, with the force currently above its peer-group average.

The HMIC Phase 1 inspection in 2007 examined Neighbourhood Policing and Performance Management, graded Poor and Fair respectively in 2006. Performance management has improved and now exceeds the required standard and the force has made notable progress in implementation of Neighbourhood Policing. One inspection check was a telephone survey of 100 residents, chosen at random, to ask questions about their experience and canvass views on how well Neighbourhood Policing is being delivered. Overall, the force fared slightly better than the national average.

The other core element of the 2007 inspection was Protecting Vulnerable People – the investigation of child abuse and domestic violence, missing persons enquiries and public protection – for which the force received an overall grade of Poor in 2006. Of the four components, particularly good progress has been made in public protection (the management of sex and violent offenders in the community), while child abuse and missing persons investigations meet an acceptable standard. The principal focus of concern is domestic violence investigation, notably officer workload, supervisory resilience and the quality of risk assessment. In May 2007, the force formed a domestic abuse project board to set strategic priorities and oversee an action plan with eight key objectives. The police authority has agreed two local targets for 2007/08: to increase the proportion of people who think that the police understand their local issues and to reduce repeat incidents of reported domestic violence.

Key challenges for the future include maintaining crime reductions and increasing detections, so that Northamptonshire bridges the gap with forces in its peer group.