Performance and Measurement

Summary

South Wales Police covers an area of 812 square miles, consisting of densely populated urban areas, valley communities, coastal areas with popular tourist attractions and rural communities. Though it polices just 10% of the landmass of Wales, it covers 42% of the country’s population (1.25 million) and is the largest Welsh force. The capital city status of Cardiff poses considerable policing demands, notably with international sporting events and concerts. Local policing is delivered through six divisions, five of which are coterminous with its unitary authority, and their community safety partnerships.

The baseline assessment in 2006 identified a Poor level of performance in information management, reflecting a long period of underinvestment in IT. As part of a major change programme designed to improve service quality across the board, the Niche records management system was rolled out in February 2007. Benefits are already being seen, and when fully functional it will address many of the deficiencies noted last year. Intelligence capability has been further enhanced by significant investment during the year to improve the quality of intelligence products in divisions.

A baseline assessment grade of Fair/Deteriorated for criminal justice processes in 2005/06 led to a concerted effort, and this area is now assessed as acceptable. Although still under way, the work to improve customer service and accessibility – which attracted a similar grade – is bearing fruit. The force is one of the pilot sites for the national non-emergency number (101), which is proving to be very successful.

The Phase 1 inspection in 2007 focused on Performance Management (which is assessed as acceptable), Neighbourhood Policing and Protecting Vulnerable People. South Wales took its 340 wards as the starting point for identifying neighbourhoods, then mapped demand and crime levels together with community views. This generated 405 neighbourhoods, which have been clustered together to form sections, each one headed by an inspector with responsibility for a geographic area. The force has met its requirements for Neighbourhood Policing teams, using its full allocation of police officers, PCSOs and special constables.

The force meets acceptable standards in each of the four disciplines covered by Protecting Vulnerable People: child abuse, domestic violence, missing persons and public protection. Domestic violence work benefits from the existence of specialist domestic violence courts, originally in Cardiff as part of a national pilot and now operating across the force area, and a sexual assault referral centre (SARC) in Merthyr. The SARC is a model of good practice in providing aftercare to victims of serious sexual violence, based on excellent partnership working between agencies and the voluntary sector. Currently, there are just 14 SARCs across the country; commendably, South Wales has plans to open further centres in Swansea and Cardiff.

Volume crime investigation has remained stable, despite an improvement in the sanction detection rate, as have volume crime reduction and user satisfaction.

The force employs a range of consultation methods, including postal and telephone surveys, focus groups and a citizen panel, to capture the views of its diverse communities. The police authority determines local priorities, which are informed by both consultation and the force strategic assessment. For example, surveys identified that many respondents could not name their neighbourhood officer, leading to a target being introduced for 2007/08 for the percentage of people knowing their local officers by name. Similarly, roadshows highlighted anti-social behaviour as an issue, and targets have been set to reduce incidents of disorder. Other local priorities include gun crime and burglary.

The force’s key future challenges include its significant contribution to a range of all-Wales collaborative developments and the completion of the comprehensive change programme known as ‘Seren’ (Welsh for ‘star’).