Performance and Measurement

Summary

Warwickshire Police covers an area of 764 square miles, with a population of 534,000 evenly split between the north and south of the county. Until recently, the force was organised into two basic command units (BCUs). As part of a major review of the force entitled 150 Forward, the BCUs have been dismantled, and local policing is now delivered through five districts/boroughs, the borders of which are identical to the district/borough council boundaries. Warwickshire is the first force in the country to adopt this approach. Front-line service delivery is the primary responsibility of the Local Policing Directorate, led by an Assistant Chief Constable. Specialist support to front-line policing is provided through the Protective Services Directorate, led by the other Assistant Chief Constable. Directorate-led services remove duplication and should enhance the quality of policing, providing an affordable, acceptable and sustainable service. The force strategy focuses on protecting people from death, injury, loss and distress, based on a riskassessed review of the services needed to deliver this.

The workforce has been restructured and police staff with specific specialist skills now fill some roles traditionally occupied by police officers. Recommendations for further workforce development apply to uniformed operations and roles such as road safety, collision investigation, helicopter observers and contingency planning.

In November 2006, the force launched over 30 Safer Neighbourhood teams, coterminous with local government districts, as part of the Building Safer Neighbourhoods Together programme. The teams include police officers, PCSOs, special constables and volunteers, and comprehensive neighbourhood profiles and a community engagement toolkit have been developed. Strong relationships with the public and partners have led to long-term problems being tackled successfully.

Volume crime investigation has improved, with a rise in the rate of sanction detections; volume crime has worsened, with violent crime and acquisitive crime both increasing. Local priorities link directly to the force priorities – and the force and authority set challenging targets to reduce harm and to increase sanction detection rates, to reduce vehicle crime and criminal damage, and to identify and charge drug suppliers.

In the 2006 baseline assessment, the force was assessed as Poor in the major crime, serious and organised criminality and forensic performance frameworks. Subsequently, it reviewed its capacity and capability across the broad range of protective services and created 38 additional posts. Management capability in the new Protective Services Directorate has been strengthened and a new performance framework has been developed, which sets out a clear vision for protective services for the force. A re-inspection in March 2007 found that the force had improved and was now delivering an acceptable level of service in all three areas, and work in progress should ensure sufficient capacity and capability to address future risks.

The 2006 baseline assessment also assessed the force as Poor in Protecting Vulnerable People, which led to a major revision of procedures, increased staffing and strengthened supervisory roles. The force is now delivering services that are acceptable in all four disciplines and demonstrates good practice in domestic violence and child abuse investigation. A referrals unit has been established to enable more robust and effective case management, putting supervision at the point of referral and raising staff awareness. The force has made significant progress in this area.

A key achievement for the force was the successful policing of the G6 ministerial conference held in October 2006 at Stratford-upon-Avon, which received positive feedback. In April 2007, two Warwickshire officers received national awards from the British Association for Women in Policing.

Major challenges for the future are to deliver the ambitious 150 Forward programme, while continuing with workforce development and Neighbourhood Policing to protect the communities of Warwickshire.