Performance and Measurement

Summary

Cleveland Police covers the four unitary local authorities of Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough and Stockton; the four operational districts are coterminous with the local authority boundaries. The force area is predominantly urban, with densely populated areas, and closely resembles metropolitan authorities in its socio-economic characteristics and policing needs.

A new force custody facility, built as part of the Middlesbrough district headquarters complex and utilising the private finance initiative (PFI) came in to use during 2007/08, providing the force with increased cell capacity and improved working practices. By outsourcing these custody facilities, the Force has been able to redirect police officers to provide additional capacity to tackle serious crime and the threat to national security. These moves were facilitated and achieved without any negative impact on operational performance.

In January 2008, an inspection of how Cleveland police investigates and prevents major crime identified that the force achieved the necessary national standard. Inspections of ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ and ‘Developing Citizen Focus Policing’ by HMIC also found Cleveland to be ‘meeting the standard’.

Performance has continued to improve during 2007/08, with an overall reduction in recorded crime of 2.6%. Major contributions were the reductions in violent crime (7.6%), vehicle crime (21.7%), house burglary (0.5%) and robbery (13.4%). Improvements in sanction detection rates were also apparent, with the overall detection for all crime categories rising to 33.2%. Notable improvements were the detections of sexual crime, rising to 47.3% and detections of robbery rising to 25.7%.

Performance against local priorities was mixed, with the force achieving the target set by the Police Authority for the sanction detection rate for personal robbery. The sanction detection rate for drug offences also improved and achieved the target. Performance was less positive across the range of qualitative indicators used to assess neighbourhood policing although some improvements on the previous year were noted. The force also failed to achieve the target set for the number of anti social behaviour incidents, recording a small increase in 2007/08 compared to 2006/07.

No poor inspection grades were identified during 2007, however the force is still addressing one inspection area graded as poor in 2006, namely training. The Force has been working closely with specialist staff officers from HMIC in order to address the identified issues and make improvements in this area.

Cleveland police delivered neighbourhood policing across the whole force area during 2007/08, building on the nationally recognised success of the pilot site at Hartlepool. The key challenges for the force are continuing to deliver and develop neighbourhood policing and improved performance while also delivering 9.3% cashable efficiencies over the next three years. The force is launching a volunteer scheme with the aim of recruiting 100 volunteers to support the neighbourhood teams, improve service delivery and release officers for visible patrol in communities.

Work will continue, in partnership with Durham and Cumbria constabularies and Northumbria police, to build on existing arrangements and identify potential future opportunities for collaboration to address organised crime and other protective services. Developing a citizen focus approach is also a key challenge for the future. A programme of activity has been introduced to deliver efficiencies and improvements within force processes to deliver the highest quality of service available.