Wiltshire PEEL 2015

Wiltshire Police is good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe. This is consistent with HMIC’s crime inspection in 2014 when the force was judged to be good at reducing crime and preventing offending and good at tackling anti-social behaviour.

The force priorities demonstrate a strong commitment to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, protect the vulnerable and reduce offending. This is well-understood by staff at all levels but in particular by those involved in neighbourhood policing.

The force is committed to neighbourhood policing and neighbourhood teams work effectively with partner agencies to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour in local communities. The force is currently piloting a new community policing model to further consolidate this. Staff are trained appropriately and use a range of powers and tactics to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and keep people safe.

Evaluation of what works is conducted well at a strategic level. There is room for improvement in the way that the force understands and shares information about effective problem solving methods at a local level.

Wiltshire Police is good at investigating crime and managing offenders. This is consistent with HMIC’s inspection of crime in 2014, which assessed the force as good at investigating crime.
The force effectively allocates and investigates crime. Officers understand the importance of making early arrests and tackling repeat offenders. The quality of investigations is good and investigators are trained and equipped to conduct investigations appropriate to their role, although improvements can be made in the supervision and use of investigation plans for non-complex crimes.

The force uses forensic evidence well to support investigations, but better arrangements are needed to retrieve digital evidence from smartphones, tablets and other devices. This is causing delays to some investigations.

Good partnership arrangements are in place to focus activity on those offenders causing the most crime and anti-social behaviour in neighbourhoods. Effective partnership working is also integral to the success of the Switch integrated offender management programme. Generally, local officers have a good awareness of and involvement in the management of prolific offenders. Extending the remit beyond the current focus on perpetrators of acquisitive crime would increase the effectiveness of the programme.

Management of offenders under multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) is good with close and effective working between police and partners to reduce risks to the public.

Wiltshire Police has committed significant effort and resource to offer a high-quality service to the public. It strives to prioritise resources on the basis of threat, risk and harm. Force policies and processes show an emphasis on identifying those who are vulnerable and assessing levels of risk correctly. The force meeting structure assists with the prioritisation of resources to areas of risk and vulnerable people.

The force has made the response to child sexual exploitation a priority and has invested resources into a dedicated child sexual exploitation team. The force’s establishment of dedicated co-ordinators for domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation, together with the introduction of information sharing meetings for both demonstrates its prioritisation of vulnerable people.

We found evidence of good processes and behaviours in the force control room in identifying and responding to vulnerable victims. Vulnerable callers to police buildings are also readily identified.

Partnership working is effective, including within the multi-agency safeguarding hub. High-risk domestic abuse cases are typically managed by specialist staff. We were reassured that specialist staff have manageable workloads and that they are well-supported by supervisors.

HMIC is concerned, however, about the inappropriate grading of risk for some missing and absent children. We also have a concern about the priority given to the investigation and safeguarding of missing and absent children.

Wiltshire Police is good at identifying and tackling serious and organised crime groups.

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 that it can fulfil its national policing responsibilities, so no year-on-year comparison is possible.

The force has a well-developed understanding of the threat posed by serious and organised crime. It has produced an initial serious and organised crime local profile and is working with partners to enhance this further and to ensure that a full range of interventions are available to tackle serious and organised crime. The force is developing its intelligence gathering arrangements with government and other partners but this could be further improved.

Organised crimes groups are identified at a local and force level and regularly scored to identify and prioritise those groups posing the greatest threat to the communities of Wiltshire. Good systems are in place to tackle organised crime groups using a wide range of policing options. The force is developing strategies and initiatives to deter individuals from becoming involved in serious and organised crime.

The force is meeting its responsibilities under the Strategic Policing Requirement. The force regularly tests its capabilities and has sufficient resources to deal with most public order contingencies.