Warwickshire PEEL 2014

HMIC found that Warwickshire Police has structures and processes in place to understand its demand and put the right resources in place to tackle this. It had an effective range of partnerships to tackle short-term and long-term problems in its communities.

The force uses a range of tactics to divert and disrupt offenders, and to manage those who are assessed as higher risk.

Partnership working is underpinned by an innovative approach to sharing information through an electronic database to manage anti-social behaviour incidents.

The force has a victim-centred approach and a strong focus on ensuring that the most vulnerable victims receive a service that is bespoke to the individuals needs and, where appropriate, they receive a joined-up service from other agencies.

HMIC found good levels of scrutiny and supervision across risk assessment, victim contact and crime investigation. There was an emphasis on conducting high quality investigations, and commitment to ensure sufficient specialist resources.

HMIC has concerns about the lack of access to specialist skills to investigate child protection cases over the weekend, and the fact that force policy on not taking photographs at certain crime scenes meant evidential opportunities could be lost.

The identification and response to anti-social behaviour is evident among safer neighbourhood teams.

There is a clear understanding of the benefits of working with partners to find suitable solutions to both short and longer-term problems.

Across the alliance, there is evidence of the use of restorative justice and community resolutions as appropriate outcomes.

The domestic abuse inspection found that Warwickshire Police provided a good service to victims of domestic abuse. The inspection found that although the public could have confidence that the force was working well with partners to tackle domestic abuse and keep victims safe, there was still some room for improvement.

The crime inspection found evidence that Warwickshire had strong relationships with local domestic abuse support groups and Independent Domestic Violence Advisers. The inspection also reviewed Warwickshire and West Mercia’s joint domestic abuse action plan and found the action plan submitted only covered the HMIC force recommendations. However, there appeared to be no action plan for either force in response to national priorities. This template requires forces to outline activity which was in line with the agreed national priorities for them to improve their response to domestic abuse.

The crime inspection found that organised crime groups are mapped by the force intelligence team and prioritised according to threat, risk and harm. Depending on the risk posed they are allocated to lead responsible officers to manage. These can include local policing teams, where appropriate.

There were a number of examples of how organised crime group mapping had been used to target child sexual exploitation. Following specific operations to tackle child sexual exploitation, a review of intelligence gaps had resulted in increased coverage in this area.

The value for money inspection found that Warwickshire Police’s alliance with West Mercia had provided greater resilience in specialist roles, particularly in combating firearms, serious, organised and major crimes.

There was no Strategic Policing Requirement inspection for this force.