Gloucestershire PEEL 2017

Gloucestershire Constabulary requires improvement at preventing crime, tackling anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe, although it has made progress in this area since 2016.

The force:

• understands the changes needed in the current resourcing structure to improve its approach;
• has a good understanding of its communities and effectively assesses threats using community intelligence; and
• uses a good range of methods to engage with the public, and provides opportunities for them to influence policing priorities locally.

However, the force should evaluate and share effective practice routinely, both internally and with partner agencies, to continually improve its approach to the prevention of crime and anti-social behaviour. The force also has a considerably higher rate of anti-social behaviour incidents per 1,000 population than the England and Wales average.

Gloucestershire Constabulary requires improvement at investigating crime and reducing re-offending.

The force:

• attends incidents promptly, and makes informed decisions based on risk to victims;
• is generally good at assessing reports of fraud; and
• has achieved good investigative outcomes since 2015 in comparison with other forces.

The force is also good at reducing re-offending, and is improving its ability to identify and manage arrested foreign nationals.

However, the force should take steps to understand why victims do not support police action in a high proportion of crimes it investigates.

The force should also ensure that it:

• appropriately trains and supports all those carrying out investigations;
• promptly allocates crimes to investigators with the appropriate skills, accreditation and support to investigate them well;
• records information more consistently in investigation plans; and
• regularly supervises investigations to improve quality and progress.

Gloucestershire Constabulary is good at protecting vulnerable people and supporting victims. The force is good at:

• identifying vulnerable people when they contact the police;
• responding initially to incidents involving vulnerable people, particularly domestic abuse victims and those with mental health problems; and
• investigating crimes involving vulnerable people.

The force also:

• understands the needs of people with mental health problems;
• has effective, well-developed relationships with partner organisations which enable it to support vulnerable people and address the needs of victims;
• is introducing body-worn video cameras for frontline officers.

The force has the highest rate of individuals detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act of all forces, but is making changes to reduce the number of detentions.

The force needs to improve how it manages dangerous offenders, and reduce the backlog of visits for high and medium-risk registered sex offenders. It should also ensure that it:

• makes better use of analysis to understand patterns in offending against vulnerable people;
• manages effectively the risks posed by registered sex offenders; and
• strengthens its process for obtaining feedback from victims of domestic abuse includes those victims who do not support police action.

Gloucestershire Constabulary requires improvement at tackling serious and organised crime, although it has made progress in this area since 2016.

Since our 2016 inspection, the force has improved:

• its understanding of serious and organised crime;
• its ability to tackle dangerous drug networks effectively; and
• processes for identifying those who may be vulnerable to being drawn into serious and organised crime or gang activity.

However, the force should:

• make better use of existing intelligence assets and community teams to proactively understand threats;
• be more systematic in its approach to prioritising activity aimed at tackling organised crime, to target its resources more effectively;
• make more use of regional organised crime unit capabilities, minimising their duplication at force level; and
• improve its understanding of the impact of its activity on serious and organised crime.

National threats often require forces to work together, across force boundaries. These threats include terrorism, large-scale disorder and civil emergencies. We examined the capabilities in place to respond to these threats, in particular a firearms attack.

The force:

• works constructively with other organisations in response to national threats;
• has developed tried and tested procedures to support flood victims;
• tests its skills in training exercises; and
• has developed a good understanding of the threat to the public from an armed attack.