Performance and Measurement

Summary

Merseyside Police continues to tackle terrorism, is one of 10 Home Office demonstrator sites for tackling serious and organised crime, and has allocated additional officers to tackle gun crime - both through the creation of a force wide capability and the investment of additional officers into those neighbourhoods where gun crime is more prevalent. The force was assessed as Exceeding the Standard for the Major Crime inspection defined as delivering at the appropriate level for the higher risks and challenges faced by the force.

The force has achieved performance of 79.6% against a force target of 73% for satisfaction of victims of racist incidents. Improvements have occurred largely due to the work of the Hate Crime Investigation Units set up in March 2007. A 21% reduction in the violent Crime Rate per 1000 population was achieved, following a similar reduction the previous year. Initiatives include regular Big Wing Operations, co-ordinating resources from across the force to tackle particular crimes. The life threatening and gun crime rate was reduced by 33%. One of the force’s key priorities is to arrest and successfully prosecute offenders involved in the illegal supply, criminal use and possession of firearms.

A number of local priority indicators were identified in conjunction with the Police Authority: criminal damage, anti social behaviour, Black and Minority Ethnic staff recruitment and domestic violence repeat victimisation. The force has exceeded its local stretch target for the first three, but performance deteriorated slightly for domestic violence, which has therefore been carried forward as a local priority.

The force received good gradings for all areas inspected under Phase 1 of the HMIC Inspection Programme (2007), indicating a high level of service delivery with no significant areas for improvement. The Citizen Focus team within Merseyside Police has undertaken a review of Neighbourhood Policing during 2007, to ensure adapted neighbourhood structures support the Chief Constable’s Total Policing philosophy, and have met HMIC’s requirements. The force was awarded an overall poor grading during the 2007 audit of detections data quality, largely due to Formal Warnings for Cannabis. Since then, significant development work has been undertaken by the force, reflected in an improved grading of ‘fair’ for the 2008 re-inspection of data quality.

The force continues to stress the importance of improving Black and Minority Ethnic Satisfaction, and seeks to provide a standard service to every victim, whilst also meeting individual victim needs. Awareness of the elements of service delivery is being raised among frontline officers, which matter most to ethnic minority victims. In the last two years, crime reduction in Merseyside has been one of the best for any force in the UK. An 11% reduction in overall crime in 2006/07 was followed by an 18% reduction in 2007/08, which has been achieved with a low number of complaints. The Force’s citizen focus team won the National Customer Service Award, Team of the Year (Public Services and Education), recognising excellence in the provision of customer services.

The policing of high profile events associated with Liverpool’s status as 2008 European Capital of Culture, attracting millions of visitors, whilst addressing gun crime, anti social behaviour and other local policing priorities present significant challenges. The Force is seeking to build on a 30% reduction in overall crime in the past two years, whilst improving the quality of service provision.