Hertfordshire PEEL 2017

Hertfordshire Constabulary is good at treating the people it serves with fairness and respect. Leaders communicate the force’s values to the workforce and ensure officers and staff understand the importance of treating people fairly and with respect. The force provides training and guidance on effective communication skills and on the appropriate use of coercive powers, and is conducting more training on how to recognise and overcome unconscious bias. The workforce understands how to use coercive powers fairly and respectfully as well as what constitutes reasonable grounds for carrying out a search.

The force is improving its internal scrutiny of use of force and receives challenge and feedback from external scrutiny groups with a diverse membership that includes young people. Scrutiny of stop and search could be improved by reviewing body-worn video camera footage and by including more young people in the community stop and search panel. Examining data on differences between the ethnicity of the officer conducting the stop and search and the person being searched would improve the force’s understanding of potential disproportionality.

Hertfordshire Constabulary is good at ensuring its workforce behaves ethically and lawfully. Ethics and values are well established throughout the force. Leaders act as positive role models and have an ethical approach to decision-making. The force’s ethics, equality and inclusion board and ethics committee review ethical issues and provide support and guidance to the workforce. Officers and staff we spoke with are confident about raising ethical concerns.

The force does not yet comply with the national vetting standards and is taking a risk-based approach, meaning that vetting for high-risk posts and new recruits is prioritised. However, it has an achievable plan to comply with the standards.

Hertfordshire Constabulary makes it easy for members of the public to make a complaint using its website, which includes options for information in other languages and support for people who have hearing or speech impairments. Printed information and posters about making a complaint are on display in police reception and front counter areas. Most complaints are investigated well and complainants are usually updated on the progress of the investigation in a timely way.

The force is good at identifying potential discrimination. Most investigations of allegations of discrimination are satisfactory, but not all are conducted in a timely way. The force needs to ensure it refers all serious cases to the IPCC if they are aggravated because discrimination is alleged to be a reason for the behaviour.

Hertfordshire Constabulary is good at treating its workforce with fairness and respect. Leaders have a good understanding of the workforce’s views through regular meetings and consultations, as well as from the results of a staff survey. Officers and staff feel able to provide feedback and challenge. The force is proactive in the way that it identifies and resolves workforce concerns. It is working to increase equality and diversity in its workforce so that it is more representative of the communities it serves.

The force has a comprehensive and accessible wellbeing programme and has put in place preventative measures to improve workforce wellbeing. Supervisors are trained to spot the early signs and symptoms of mental ill health and stress. The officers and staff we spoke with felt that their wellbeing is a priority for the force.

In the three forces in the alliance, processes for managing individual performance, development and promotion opportunities are being aligned to make them consistent and fair. Work is in progress at the alliance level to identify how to make the personal development review process more meaningful.