Performance and Measurement

Summary

The arrival of a new Chief Constable for Staffordshire in September 2007 brought about a new corporate strategy to improve the trust and confidence people have in the force. Underpinning the strategy is a pledge to free up more time for officers to be deployed on front line duties, by reducing the amount of time lost to unnecessary bureaucracy.

Staffordshire Police were graded as meeting the standard by HMIC for the managing major crime, neighbourhood policing and citizen focus inspections. The force continues to perform strongly in all three areas and demonstrates significant innovation in its trust and confidence strategy. It is acknowledged by HMIC as a learning organisation.

There has been an increase in satisfaction with action taken for victims of crime and road traffic collisions (User Satisfaction with the actions taken was 83.0% in 2007/08 compared to 80.1% in 2006/07). Comparative satisfaction between black and minority ethnic victims of crime and white victims has continued to narrow from 19% in 2006/7 to 8% in 2007/8. In relation to stop searches, the gap between Black and minority ethnic and white people has narrowed from 1.7% in 2006/7 to 0.6% in 2007/8. There have been significant improvements in the reduction of acquisitive and violent crimes in 2007/8. Serious Acquisitive Crime offences fell from 16,434 in 2006/07 to 14,540 in 2007/08, a reduction of 12%. Violent Crime offences fell from 26,681 in 2006/07 to 21,494 in 2007/08, a reduction of 19%. A significant increase has been made in the value of assets recovered which stands at £3.5m in 2007/8. The force has continued in its drive to recruit officers from minority ethnic groups, and during 2007/8, 9.5% of recruits were from minority ethnic backgrounds. Victims of anti-social behaviour have shown a 5 percentage point increase in satisfaction in terms of being kept informed of progress, compared to 2006/07. Domestic violence re-victimisation has decreased from 36.3% in 2006/07 to 17% in 2007/08.

The force plans robust action based on the recommendations from HMIC and other inspection activity. All areas for improvement identified during 2007 have been progressed and signed off following internal and external scrutiny. The introduction of a new slim-line crime report for certain categories of crime is estimated to save more than 41,000 hours a year of officer time. The domestic investigation log, which is completed more than 7,000 times a year, has been reduced from 26 pages to just seven and a 16-page traffic collisions report, filled out at least 10,000 times a year has been reduced by half to just eight pages. Operation Nemesis, the force’s campaign to defeat drug dealers, has been rolled out across the Basic Command Units during the last year. Several arrest days involving up to 350 officers have been staged resulting in the arrests of dozens of people and the seizure of hundreds of thousands of pounds of drugs and cash.

A major challenge for the future is the launch of phase 2 of the Trust and Confidence Strategy, including a range of activities that should further reduce bureaucracy and enhance the quality of service provided by the force. It is underpinned by the greater use of discretion and professional judgement of officers and staff. This should ensure that Staffordshire Police builds on its strong performance to date to put the citizen at the heart of everything it does so that it can be the force that inspires the greatest levels of trust and confidence amongst the communities it serves.