North Wales 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.

North Wales Police and the people who work for it are good at protecting people who are vulnerable.

Officers and staff recognise the signs and causes of vulnerability. They put into practice the training they have been given to protect vulnerable people. This begins with the first contact when vulnerable victims of crime contact the control room. Daily meetings for making decisions about policing have vulnerability as a priority. In particular, officers attach importance to dealing with cases involving domestic abuse. When cases reach the courts, the force makes regular use of the legal powers and orders available to protect victims of domestic abuse.

The force generally responds well to incidents involving vulnerable people. Officers on the front line make appropriate decisions that protect people and record the action they have taken. In the control room the ability to respond to vulnerable victims should improve later this year when mental health professionals start working regularly alongside police officers and staff.

We found that both generalist and specialist police teams are mostly giving good support to vulnerable victims of crime. There are some areas, however, where more support is needed for teams with high workloads. Improvements are also needed in the way the force manages sex offenders.

Joint working with partner agencies to protect vulnerable people is in place, but there is no MASH to co-ordinate the protection of vulnerable people by different agencies. In the absence of a MASH, the force has created effective joint working arrangements. The introduction of a MASH would improve services to the public.

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 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).