Derbyshire Constabulary crime recording standards exceptionally poor
Derbyshire Constabulary needs to make significant and immediate improvements in its approach to recording crime, according to a report released today by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
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Derbyshire Constabulary: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2018
Currently, the force only records 65.3 percent of crimes reported to it, meaning it fails to record an estimated 30,000 crimes each year. Violent crime is of particular concern, with almost half of all reported incidents going unrecorded, including many involving domestic abuse. The force has only recently developed and started to implement a crime-recording improvement plan to address recommendations made by HMICFRS in 2014, and against which the force has made limited progress.
HM Inspector Zoë Billingham said:
“I am deeply troubled and disappointed that Derbyshire Constabulary is failing to put over a third of crimes reported to it on the record.
“It is crucial that every police force is able to accurately record crime. Not only does it allow forces to understand demand on their services, but it enables them to direct and prioritise their resources in a targeted, cost-effective way. Most importantly though, in many cases, when a reported crime is not recorded, victims are denied an effective police response and ultimately they are denied justice.
“We last inspected Derbyshire Constabulary’s crime recording approach in 2014. We revealed a number of deficiencies in the force’s processes and, as a result, we made a number of recommendations aimed at improvement. Unfortunately, the report released today shows that much of what we recommended has not been progressed.
“Despite these very poor findings, it is important to note that there is a real commitment on the part of the force to improve. I look forward to seeing the recommendations in our report being implemented over the coming months and the accuracy of crime recording improving quickly and significantly.”
According to the report, there is a general lack of training and knowledge development amongst officers and staff on how to properly record crime. Other problems include the removal of a force-wide policy on crime recording.
HMICFRS’s report sets out a comprehensive action plan for improvement, listing a range of recommendations for completion over a 12 month period.
HMICFRS will continue to monitor Derbyshire Constabulary and will carry out a further inspection in due course.
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Derbyshire Constabulary: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2018
Notes to editors
- HMICFRS is an independent inspectorate, inspecting policing and fire and rescue services in the public interest. It assesses and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces and fire and rescue services.
- HMICFRS inspects all 43 police forces in England and Wales together with other major policing and law enforcement bodies. It also inspects all 45 fire and rescue services in England.
- HMICFRS is unable to make direct comparisons with the 2014 inspection due to a change in the methodology used. In particular, the 2014 inspection was a dip-sample of records in each force which contributed to a statistically robust rate for crime-recording accuracy for England and Wales, whereas this inspection is working to a statistically robust standard within each force.
- Further information on how Derbyshire Constabulary is performing can be found on the HMICFRS online assessment tool.
- For further information, HMICFRS’s press office can be contacted during office hours from 9:00am – 5:00pm Monday – Friday on 020 3513 0600.
- HMICFRS’s out-of-hours press office line for urgent media enquiries is 07836 217729.