Performance and Measurement

Summary

Surrey remains one of the safest counties in England, with falling crime and good levels of public confidence in the policing service. British Crime Survey results for 2007/08 reveal that public confidence is improving and currently Surrey is one of the highest forces for public confidence in the police across England and Wales. However, Surrey Police is seeing an increasing proportion of crimes - including almost half of all burglary, vehicle crime and robbery - committed by people not living in the county. The nature of the terrorist threat has also changed and the force is having to invest significantly in counter-terrorism resources to address this.

In July 2008, HMIC revealed that Surrey met the required standard for dealing with major crime. The report noted: “For each identified risk for major crime, there are current and effective action plans which are robustly monitored and controlled.” In the findings of the HMIC’s thematic report “Leading From the Frontline”, the field team observed that there was pride in Surrey Police and in the role of a frontline officer, and the report states that "there was a real buzz among frontline officers in Surrey."

The force has recently been inspected on Neighbourhood Policing and Citizen Focus and has been graded as ‘meets the standard’ for both. Neighbourhood Policing is embedded, with Neighbourhood Policing Teams engaging with communities and actively solving problems with them. The force is developing Citizen Focus at an adequate pace and is building on already good performance.

Surrey met eight out of twelve targets for crime and community confidence, including achieving an overall sanction detection rate of 26.8%. In addition, the force achieved 49.5% of victims of anti-social behaviour being very or completely satisfied with the service received from the police, compared to a target of 45%; and 35.7% of people being aware of their neighbourhood officer or team, compared to a target of 30%.

In 2007/08, Surrey set four local priorities following consultation with local people. In relation to local awareness of neighbourhood officers and tackling anti-social behaviour, the local stretch targets were exceeded. However the target for confiscation and recovery of criminal assets, which was reliant on other partners, was not met. The final target around local public confidence was not met, however Surrey’s performance in a national context is good.

The force achieved a year on year reduction in crime of 7.1% and British Crime Survey results for 2007/08 reveal that public confidence is improving and currently Surrey is one of the highest for public confidence in the police across England and Wales. Neighbourhood Policing continues to be at the heart of Surrey’s approach to policing. Results for the fourth quarter of 2007/08 showed a continued improvement throughout the year, with 40.1% of those surveyed being aware of their local neighbourhood officer or team, compared with 29.6% during 2006/07. With an end of year result of 35.7%, compared to a target of 30%, the target of the force’s priorities for that year was achieved.

Having made £50million efficiency savings over the past nine years, the force continues to look for more. A robust budget-setting process has helped to identify where savings can be made while maintaining high standards of policing. The force has reduced its number of numerical targets to just nine key areas. This underpins the shift of emphasis from compliance to putting the public first, emphasising that their relationship with the public is key, particularly in respect of satisfaction and confidence.