Hampshire PEEL 2018

This question was not subject to detailed inspection in 2018/19, and our judgment from the 2016 effectiveness inspection has been carried over.

This question was not subject to detailed inspection in 2018/19, and our judgment from the 2017 effectiveness inspection has been carried over.

However, there are two areas for improvement identified from this inspection:

• The force should take steps to ensure that all available evidence is recorded at the scenes of crimes.
• The force should ensure that volume crime investigations receive consistent, regular, and active supervision, and that it maintains meaningful contact with victims to further improve investigation quality and progress.

During our fieldwork for this year’s inspection we checked what progress the force had made in these areas. We found that the force has made good progress.

Action taken by officers when they first respond to reports of crime is good. They are also good at gathering evidence at this early stage of the investigation.

We also found that the quality of supervision of frequently committed crimes had improved. But we still found some instances where it could have been done to a higher and more consistent standard.

Hampshire Constabulary understands vulnerability well and works effectively with partner agencies to protect and support vulnerable victims.

The force has worked hard to address the areas for improvement identified in our 2017 effectiveness inspection. 

Contact management staff generally identify when someone is vulnerable and give the correct initial response. It will become easier for them to identify vulnerable people and record risks to them when the force installs its new contact management system. Calls to the emergency 999 line are answered more promptly than calls to the non-emergency 101 line. We found that around 25 percent of 101 calls are abandoned before the call is answered. The force can’t identify the nature of abandoned calls or whether callers use another route, such as 999 or online, to get in touch.

The force responds well to domestic abuse. It uses arrests, prosecution and ancillary orders such as DVPNs to protect vulnerable victims. It is now better at getting feedback from victims of abuse and more consistently records the effect on children in households affected by domestic abuse.

Awareness of vulnerability caused by mental health problems is good. Staff can get clinical advice 24 hours a day from mental health nurses to help provide the right support to people with mental health problems. There is a dedicated ambulance provider for people with mental health problems in a public place. This works well in most cases, but we heard of instances of people having to wait a long time with police officers for the ambulance to arrive.

The force manages dangerous offenders, including sex offenders, well. But it needs to make sure that it proactively identifies online sex offenders.

This question was not subject to detailed inspection in 2018/19, and our judgment from the 2016 effectiveness inspection has been carried over.

We have previously inspected how well forces provide armed policing. This formed part of our 2016 and 2017 effectiveness inspections. Subsequent terrorist attacks in the UK and Europe have meant that the police service maintains a focus on armed capability in England and Wales.

It is not just terrorist attacks that place operational demands on armed officers. The threat can include the activity of organised crime groups or armed street gangs and all other crime involving guns. The Code of Practice on the Police Use of Firearms and Less Lethal Weapons (PDF document) makes forces responsible for implementing national standards of armed policing. The code stipulates that a chief officer be designated to oversee these standards. This requires the chief officer to set out the firearms threat in an armed policing strategic threat and risk assessment (APSTRA). The chief officer must also set out clear rationales for the number of armed officers (armed capacity) and the level to which they are trained (armed capability).