Thames Valley PEEL 2015

Thames Valley Police is good at preventing crime, anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe. This is consistent with HMIC’s assessment in 2014 when the force was also judged to be good in this area.

It has continued to reduce both crime and anti-social behaviour, and is increasingly using evidence-based practice in its planning processes.

Preventing crime and anti-social behaviour is clearly important for Thames Valley Police. It features as a priority in the police and crime plan and senior police leaders work with other organisations, to develop a joint approach to tackle crime, anti-social behaviour and community concerns. HMIC is encouraged to see that Thames Valley Police is prioritising further reductions, making the link between reduction in crime and overall demand reduction.

The force has allocated dedicated staff to local police areas whose primary responsibilities include preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. HMIC found good evidence of staff using a wide range of tactics to effectively prevent crime and reduce anti-social behaviour. The force is improving how it evaluates what works, and shares learning and good practice.

However there is still more it can do to ensure that operational activity is consistently based on an evidence-based approach and systematically reviewed.

Thames Valley Police’s approach to investigating crime and managing offenders is good. This is consistent with HMIC’s 2014 crime inspection, in which the force was judged as good at investigating offending.

Processes for the initial investigation and allocation of complex and non-complex crime are well-understood and generally work well. The quality of subsequent investigations is good; there are clear standards in place, appropriate supervision and compliance with the code of practice for victims of crime.

The force has a wide range of accredited specialists to support more complex investigations and processes in place to learn from organisational performance.

Forensic and digital specialists are used effectively to support investigations, and the force is working to improve the timeliness of computer examinations.

The force has some provision in place to identify and divert vulnerable offenders. Its processes for working with partner organisations to identify, monitor and work with repeat and dangerous offenders to stop them re-offending, generally work well.

Thames Valley Police provides a good service in identifying vulnerable people and generally responds well to them. The force has made good progress since last year and has improved how it tackles domestic abuse. It is working hard to set up multi-agency safeguarding hubs covering the whole force area to provide more effective joined-up services with partner organisations to better safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

We found a strong commitment in Thames Valley to improving its services to protect vulnerable people and police officers and staff understand and share this commitment. The force has invested extra resource in its specialist services that identify and support those who are vulnerable and keep them safe. However we found some lack of capacity in the child abuse investigation team which means that the force may not be able to continue to provide the quality of service it aspires to for this very vulnerable group of victims.

The force has made a good start in ensuring that it is well-prepared to tackle child sexual exploitation and is building on this initial approach with its partners.

Thames Valley Police is good at identifying and tackling serious and organised crime groups (OCGs) in its area. This is the first year HMIC has graded forces on their effectiveness at tackling serious and organised crime, including a force’s arrangements for ensuring it can fulfil its national policing responsibilities, so no year-on-year comparison is possible.

The force has a clear process for the identification and mapping OCGs which has been enhanced by the creation of a dedicated OCG manager post. It can demonstrate consistent activity in the disruption of OCGs and of work with partners. There is clear ownership of OCGs along with appropriate chief officer oversight.

Thames Valley Police has sufficient resource within the force to pursue OCGs, but less activity is dedicated to preventative measures, results analysis and to raising public awareness of the threat from serious and organised crime. It needs to address these in order to be more effective and efficient in how it tackles serious and organised crime.

The force has robust arrangements and chief officer oversight to provide its national policing responsibilities, and satisfactory arrangements to test its response are in place.