Staffordshire Police has made improvements, but further changes are needed
Staffordshire Police has made some progress since its previous inspection, but further improvements are needed, the police inspectorate has said.
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PEEL 2023–2025: An inspection of Staffordshire Police
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has graded Staffordshire Police’s performance across eight areas. It found the service was ‘good’ in one area, ‘adequate’ in four areas and ‘requires improvement’ in three areas.
HMICFRS said that the force uses data more effectively, which has improved its understanding of demand, and of its capacity and capability to meet it. By having better access to data, this has helped the service better monitor the standard of investigations, how it responds to the public, and how it manages the risk posed by offenders.
However, the inspectorate said that the force still has challenges in these areas. For example, inspectors said the force needs to reduce the number of non-emergency 101 calls that are abandoned by callers.
Inspectors also said that the force must also make sure that victims of domestic abuse receive an effective service. At the time of inspection, a large number of victims (38%) were turning down the opportunity to complete a Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment (DASH) risk assessment. Officers are also not always wearing body-worn video when attending incidents.
Staffordshire Police was moved into Engage, an enhanced level of monitoring, in June 2022. Following several improvements made, Staffordshire Police was moved out of Engage in May 2024 and returned to routine monitoring.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said:
“I am pleased with some aspects of the performance of Staffordshire Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service, but there are areas in which it needs to improve.
“The progress we observed in our inspection was supported by a much more effective use of data. We found that better access to data helped staff understand the force’s performance and the service provided to victims. This helps the force more effectively monitor key areas such as how it manages the risk posed by offenders.
“But the service still has more to do in how it investigates crime and responds to the public. The force is also aware that there is an issue with how it responds to incidents of domestic abuse; it must make sure that victims receive an effective service.
“While I am pleased with how the force has responded to the concerns identified in the last inspection, challenges remain in some areas and I will continue to monitor progress closely.”
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PEEL 2023–2025: An inspection of Staffordshire Police
Notes
- For further information, please contact the HMICFRS Press Office on 0300 071 6781 or HMICPressOffice@hmicfrs.gov.uk.
- In 2014, we introduced our police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections, which assess the performance of all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Since then, we have been continuously adapting our approach.
- We have continued our intelligence-led, continual assessment approach, rather than the annual PEEL inspections we used in previous years.
- We have also changed our approach to graded judgments. We now assess forces against the characteristics of good performance, and we more clearly link our judgments to causes of concern and areas for improvement.
- It isn’t possible to make direct comparisons between the grades awarded in this PEEL inspection and those from the previous cycle of PEEL inspections. This is because we have increased our focus on making sure forces are achieving appropriate outcomes for the public, and in some cases, we have changed the aspects of policing we inspect.
- Read more information about the PEEL assessment framework 2023-2025.