Police forces previously in Engage

Cleveland Police

Moved out of Engage

September 2023

Reasons

Cleveland Police improved in several areas, including:

  • improving the co-ordination of prevention activity with the aim of reducing crime and anti-social behaviour;
  • making better use of problem-solving techniques to make communities safer and reduce the force’s demand;
  • better understanding of demand through comprehensive demand analysis; and
  • fully coordinating financial and workforce plans to make sure resources are aligned to force priorities.

Entered Engage

2019

Reasons

  • The force doesn’t appropriately prioritise crime prevention. There is a lack of strategic direction, and the force doesn’t allocate enough resources to prevention work. Staff who carry out prevention work lack an understanding of the priorities they should be tackling.
  • Cleveland Police is failing to respond appropriately to vulnerable people, including children. It is missing opportunities to safeguard them and is exposing them to risk.
  • Cleveland Police doesn’t adequately understand the demand it faces. A thorough understanding of demand is required to underpin all strategic planning. This failure means it doesn’t have coherent workforce and financial plans to meet demand and deliver the necessary outcomes.
  • Cleveland Police doesn’t adequately engage with local communities. This lack of engagement means that public expectations don’t sufficiently influence force priorities and changes to the services it provides. The public also has a limited role in scrutinising the force and helping it to improve.
  • Many senior leaders (superintending and chief officer ranks, and senior police staff managers) aren’t consistently demonstrating ethical behaviour. The inappropriate behaviour of these leaders within Cleveland Police is so profound that it is affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of the force.
  • Cleveland Police doesn’t consistently treat its workforce with fairness and respect. It doesn’t effectively communicate with or engage its workforce, its processes aren’t perceived to be fair and it doesn’t understand its workforce well enough to support them.

Related news and publications

Gloucestershire Constabulary

Moved out of Engage

September 2023

Reasons

Gloucestershire Constabulary was removed from Engage because it made several improvements, including:

  • significantly improving the identification and risk assessment of vulnerability;
  • improving the quality of investigations and consistently updating victims;
  • improving the planning and processes around finance and the management of resources; and
  • more accurately recording crime.

Entered Engage

2021

Reasons

  • The need to review and monitor its call-taking capacity, capability and processes to help it better manage demand.
  • The inconsistent application of an effective THRIVE (threat, harm, risk, investigation, vulnerability and engagement) risk assessment by call handlers, accompanied by the absence of victim needs assessments and the limited extent to which repeat victims are identified and recorded, potentially leaves victims at risk.
  • Gloucestershire Constabulary is failing to record domestic abuse, behavioural crimes, and crimes linked to anti-social behaviour.
  • The force needs to make sure that crimes are investigated effectively.

Related news and publications

Greater Manchester Police

Moved out of Engage

October 2022

Reasons

Greater Manchester Police was removed from Engage because it made several improvements, including:

  • responding appropriately to the public and vulnerable people, including answering calls more quickly;
  • better understanding its performance and the capability and capacity of its workforce, and providing better support for officers and staff;
  • halving the number of open investigations, giving officers more time to focus on bringing offenders to justice; and
  • more accurately recording crime.

Entered Engage

2020

Reason

  • Greater Manchester Police was failing to respond appropriately to some people who are vulnerable and at risk. This meant that it was missing some opportunities to safeguard victims and secure evidence at the scene. This service failure gave cause for concern about public safety in Greater Manchester.

Related news and publications

Metropolitan Police Service

Moved out of Engage

January 2025

Reasons

HMICFRS removed the Metropolitan Police Service from Engage because it made improvements, including:

  • responding appropriately to the public and vulnerable people, including answering calls more quickly and how it identifies vulnerability at the first point of contact;
  • assessing and investigating missing children and crimes involving exploited children;
  • putting an audit process in place to identify victim-blaming language;
  • introducing new crime management units, helping crimes to be assessed based on risk and harm and allocated to officers with the right skills;
  • prioritising the improvement of investigations and recognising the importance of offender management within the investigations process; and
  • in its professional standards and property management.

The Metropolitan Police Service also made progress against its Milestone Plan, which was introduced to support improvements in its performance and governance.

Entered Engage

June 2022

Reasons

  1. In our report An inspection of the Metropolitan Police Service’s counter-corruption arrangements and other matters related to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel we found five causes of concern:
    1. The MPS’s arrangements for managing exhibits and other property.
    2. The MPS’s lack of any concerted effort to establish relationships between the directorate of professional standards and organisations supporting vulnerable people.
    3. The MPS’s lack of proactive work to gather counter-corruption intelligence.
    4. The MPS’s lack of monitoring and oversight of declarable associations, business interests and gifts and hospitality.
    5. The current professional standards operating model within the MPS.

    2. These causes of concern were closed during 2024.

  2. Concerns identified in PEEL 2020/21 inspection:
    1. The force needs to improve how it answers 101 calls for service and how it identifies vulnerability at the first point of contact. This cause of concern was closed on 13 November 2024.
  3. Concerns in relation to systematic failings in both performance and governance as identified in inspection reports in recent years.
  4. In September and October 2023, we issued three causes of concern because the force’s approach to child protection was putting vulnerable children at risk:
    1. The force needs to improve how it identifies and assesses risks, and how it responds, when children are reported missing.
    2. The force should improve its investigations when children are at risk of, or harmed by, criminal or sexual exploitation.
    3. The force needs to make sure its officers and staff, at all ranks and grades, understand what victim blaming is and how it affects the service they provide.

    5. These causes of concern were closed in January 2025.

Related reports

Staffordshire Police

Moved out of Engage

May 2024

Reasons

Staffordshire Police was removed from Engage because it made several improvements, including:

  • improving how it identifies vulnerable people at the first point of contact; and
  • improving the standards of investigation and the service it provides to victims of crime.

Entered Engage

June 2022

Reasons

  1. The force needs to improve how it identifies and assesses vulnerability at first point of contact.
  2. The force needs to make sure that it carries out effective investigations and that it gives victims the support they need.

Related reports

West Midlands Police

Moved out of Engage

September 2024

Reasons

West Midlands Police was removed from Engage because it has made several improvements, including improving how it: 

  • manages the risk posed to the public by registered sex offenders and online child abuse offenders; 
  • manages its multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARAC) to keep vulnerable people safe; and 
  • carries out effective investigations which lead to satisfactory results for victims. 

Entered Engage

November 2023

Reasons

  1. West Midlands Police is not carrying out effective investigations which lead to satisfactory results for victims. This cause of concern remains open. The force has addressed three out of the five recommendations we made.
  2. The force is not making sure multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) – meetings where statutory and voluntary agency representatives share information about people at high risk of domestic abuse – work effectively to keep vulnerable people safe. This cause of concern was closed on 23 July 2024.  
  3. The force is not effectively managing the risk posed to the public by registered sex offenders. This cause of concern was closed on 23 July 2024.  
  4. It isn’t managing the risk posed by online child abuse offenders effectively. This cause of concern was closed on 23 July 2024.  

Related reports

Wiltshire Police

Moved out of Engage

May 2024

Reasons

Wiltshire Police was removed from Engage because it made several improvements, including:

  • improving the effectiveness of its strategic plans;
  • improving how effectively vulnerable people are protected; and
  • improving how it identifies vulnerable people at the first point of contact.

Entered Engage

June 2022

Reasons

  1. The force is failing to understand and promptly identify vulnerability at first point of contact.
  2. The force does not adequately protect those who are vulnerable from harm to an acceptable standard.
  3. Wiltshire Police does not have adequate strategic plans in place.

Related reports

Police forces currently in Engage

Note: HMICFRS began publicising when forces went into and out of Engage in June 2022. Forces which came out of Engage before June 2022 will not appear on this page.

Last updated: 23 January 2025