Cleveland PEEL 2016

Cleveland Police was able to demonstrate that it uses a variety of methods to communicate and engage with the public. There were some examples of the force seeking feedback. Victim surveys are conducted and independent custody visitors speak to detainees in custody. However, apart from these standard processes, we did not see any evidence of the force regularly seeking challenge and feedback from those with less trust and confidence in the police. The ‘everyone matters’ project team has started some work in relation to making contact with those members of the community who are less likely to use traditional means to give feedback.

Cleveland Police needs to improve the steps it takes to ensure its workforce behaves ethically and lawfully. The workforce is aware of the standards of behaviour expected of them and all the staff we spoke to had received some briefing or training regarding the Code of Ethics. The counter-corruption unit investigates reports of potential corruption but has limited resources to conduct any proactive intelligence gathering, and the recording and the force’s assessment of intelligence is not comprehensive. The force publishes misconduct outcomes and provides information to its workforce about lessons from misconduct investigations. The force vets all new recruits, including volunteers and contractors. It is currently recruiting new staff and the retrospective vetting of existing staff is on hold.

In our 2016 national overview of police legitimacy, we recommended that all forces should have started to implement a plan to achieve the capability and capacity required to seek intelligence on potential abuse of position for sexual gain. In 2017, we reviewed of the plans put in place by all forces to in response to this recommendation.

Abuse of position assessment – Cleveland Police

Cleveland Police has sought the views of the workforce in relation to their perception of fair and respectful treatment but it could do more to tell the workforce it has taken action to address issues raised. We found examples of initial steps taken to improve the workplace, such as the ‘Everyone Matters’ project. This project is in its infancy and its effectiveness is yet to be established.

The force has recognised the importance of wellbeing, particularly psychological wellbeing. It is just beginning a self-assessment process to gain national accreditation for its wellbeing provision. Supervisors have received training from the mental health charity MIND to identify areas of concern among their staff.

The workforce performance assessment process has recently changed as a result of a poor completion rate across the force. There is no formal oversight of the process and the force cannot be sure that assessments are fair and effective.