Sussex PEEL 2017

Sussex Police and its workforce understand the importance of treating people fairly and with respect. The force promotes an ethical culture based on the Code of Ethics and the National Decision Model. The workforce have a good understanding of unconscious bias and how to use their coercive powers fairly and respectfully. Most officers and staff we spoke with understood the importance of effective communication skills, although some had not received communications training for many years.

Sussex Police could do more to scrutinise data on its use of force and stop and search to identify trends and improve how it treats people. A new joint legitimacy board with Surrey Police has been established which will provide more comprehensive scrutiny. Officers have a reasonable understanding of stop and search powers, but in our review of records we found that some officers and supervisors still do not understand what constitutes reasonable grounds for stop and search.

The force has strong links with independent advisory groups that have a diverse membership and it also provides clear channels through which the public can give feedback. However, external scrutiny of stop and search could be improved.

Sussex Police is good at ensuring that its workforce behaves ethically and lawfully. There is a good understanding of the Code of Ethics throughout the force and the force promotes an ethical culture. Regular briefings for managers set out the force’s leadership expectations. The force does not have an ethics committee to monitor ethical decision making. However, ethical dilemmas have been included recently as an agenda item for the new joint legitimacy board with Surrey Police. The professional standards department raises the workforce’s awareness of ethical issues it identifies in public complaints and cases of officer and staff misconduct. Members of the workforce we spoke with felt that force-wide training on ethical dilemmas would help them.

The force provides clear, useful and accessible information about how to make a complaint on its website. However, we found few posters and leaflets in police stations and other public places on how to make a complaint and they were not available in different languages. The force should ensure when it first records a complaint that it provides complainants with a copy of the complaint record. In general, it deals with complaints well and keeps complainants updated, although it could improve the service it provides to those involved in internal misconduct investigations. The force is good at identifying potential discrimination but needs to improve how it identifies those cases that should be referred to the IPCC.

Sussex Police requires improvement in treating its workforce with fairness and respect. Although the force has methods and processes for the workforce to provide feedback and challenge, some of the workforce are unaware of them or do not feel comfortable expressing their views openly. Other members of the workforce told us they rarely saw any feedback from the force in response to concerns raised. The force has an effective and widely understood grievance procedure. However, the workforce feel their wider concerns about working practices and demand are not so easy to resolve and they feel disconnected from the senior leadership team.

The force has made real progress in addressing disproportionality in recruitment and retention of officers and staff, which we commend.

However, we found the force is not giving the wellbeing of its workforce the same level of priority as we saw last year. We found limited evidence of new wellbeing initiatives or preventative and early action to improve workforce wellbeing such as training for members of the workforce to help them spot early warning signs of stress and anxiety. The workforce report that they are very concerned about managing increased demand for services with fewer resources and are feeling stretched. It is difficult for some to take annual leave and time off in lieu because of the reduction in workforce numbers. The force is aware of these risks and threats to workforce wellbeing, but at the time of our inspection had no specific plans in place to address them. This is a cause of concern.

Sussex Police still needs to improve how it assesses and develops the individual performance of its workforce. It is considering the recommendations of a report by the Institute of Employment Studies, which it commissioned jointly with Surrey Police to review performance management. Although it has made changes to the talent management programme, its approach is still inconsistent. It has no process to identify suitable candidates for temporary promotion or development, which the workforce sees as unfair.