Wiltshire Police has made efforts to improve, but some concerns remain

Wiltshire Police has made progress in some areas, but concerns remain in how it is investigating crime and protecting the vulnerable, the police inspectorate has said.

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PEEL 2023–2025: An inspection of Wiltshire Police

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded Wiltshire Police’s performance across nine areas of policing. It found that the constabulary was good in two areas, adequate in three areas and requires improvement in four areas.

Inspectors found Wiltshire Police had made considerable efforts to improve its performance, particularly in force leadership and management, which were supported by clear strategic priorities, plans, and effective governance.

The force had also improved the way it manages offenders and suspects, having a robust and risk-based approach in place to pursuing those that it needs to arrest.

While improvements have been made to the control room, call handling remains a significant issue for the force. Emergency calls are not being answered quickly enough and the number of non-emergency calls abandoned by the public remain high.

Inspectors also found the force was not adequately investigating crime and there remains not enough supervisory oversight over investigations. The force doesn’t routinely identify victims’ needs, which means they don’t receive the level of care they require. They must ensure they achieve better outcomes for victims.

Wiltshire Police was moved into Engage, an enhanced level of monitoring, in June 2022. Following several improvements made, Wiltshire Police was moved out of Engage in May 2024 and returned to routine monitoring.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke said:

“I am pleased with the progress Wiltshire Police has been continuing to make to improve areas we previously highlighted as concerns, particularly the improvements seen in preventing crime and managing offenders and suspects.

“I particularly welcomed the improvements made to handling of the control room, new development opportunities for personnel, and how the force deals with domestic abuse and child safeguarding as part of the multi-agency safeguarding hubs.

“But there are some areas where they must do more. The force is still not adequately investigating crime, not answering calls quickly enough, and they need to create effective processes for monitoring orders that protect people. Currently there are limits to how effectively they can safeguard the vulnerable.

“I am reassured with how the force has responded to our concerns so far and its efforts to continue to make improvements. I look forward to continuing to work together.”

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PEEL 2023–2025: An inspection of Wiltshire 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.