Performance and Measurement

Summary

Nottinghamshire Police serves a medium-sized East Midlands county, with the largest conurbation being the city of Nottingham, which is home to sizeable minority ethnic communities. The number of people arriving in Nottingham city from the ten states which joined the European Union are estimated to be 2,770, or 1% of the city’s population. There is a growing Polish community in the county, especially in Nottingham and Mansfield, and the police authority has launched a number of initiatives, including hosting police officers from Poland, to engage with this community. The area’s traditional mining and manufacturing industries have been replaced by a mixed economy with a significant financial services sector. It is also a regional retailing centre and has a large student population.

The 2006 baseline assessment graded the force Poor for volume crime reduction and forensic performance, reflecting areas of weakness that had led the force to be targeted for Home Office support. Over the last 12 months, the performance of forensic services has improved; most notably, a scientific support strategy now details objectives and performance targets as well as outlining new ways to improve services for victims. To improve forensic recovery rates, a programme of training and the introduction of new techniques such as footwear scanning have been put in place. The force is implementing an overarching strategy that places volume crime at the centre of force-wide effort.

The HMIC Phase 1 inspection in 2007 found strong and sustained progress in delivering Neighbourhood Policing under the Citizen Focus programme, which is central to the new ‘Policing for You’ vision. Neighbourhood Policing has full engagement from partners in both city and county councils; an example of collaboration is work with community groups to identify local priorities as part of a joint approach to move towards neighbourhood management. A telephone survey by HMIC of 100 residents, chosen at random, asked questions about their experience and views on how well Neighbourhood Policing is being delivered. The percentage of positive answers to all questions was at or better than the national average, with a particularly positive response to how well the force had put local teams in place and the effort put into consultation.

In the area of Protecting Vulnerable People, the force has invested in implementing national guidance, paying particular attention to the Children Act 2004, the Laming Report, the Bichard Inquiry and National Centre for Policing Excellence (NCPE) capability assessment work. The force has assisted in the development and introduction of the new NCPE public protection guidance, building on a thorough review of its own resources and structures for managing sex and violent offenders. The force is commendably strong in public protection, domestic violence investigation and missing persons, reflecting a robust and effective corporate lead in these areas.

Volume crime reduction and user satisfaction performance have remained stable. The police authority has set two local priority targets for 2007/08: the first addresses anti-social behaviour, as measured by criminal damage offences, while the second is to improve performance in keeping victims informed of progress.

Key challenges for the future are well reflected in the four priorities agreed by the force and the police authority: ‘Getting Close’ aims to develop citizen-focused policing that enhances user satisfaction; ‘Getting the Volume Down’ will maintain pressure to reduce acquisitive crime, and specifically will manage prolific offenders and problem drug misuse; ‘Getting Serious’ will continue to tackle life-threatening crime and organised criminality; and ‘Getting Safe’ targets violent crime, anti-social behaviour and road casualties.