Staffordshire 2018/19

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PEEL: Police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy 2018/19 – Staffordshire Police

Wendy Williams, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary

HMI's observations

I am pleased with the performance of Staffordshire Police in keeping people safe and reducing crime.

The force is good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. It investigates crime well and continues to improve the quality and supervision of investigations. The force has improved how it assesses and responds to people at risk. It works closely with other agencies to make sure vulnerable victims are protected.

Staffordshire Police understands the current and future demand for its services much better than it has done previously. It has used this information to develop strong financial and workforce plans for the future.

Senior leaders ensure that the workforce understands the importance of treating the public and each other with fairness and respect. The force continues to uphold an ethical culture and promote the standards of professional behaviour it expects.

Overall, I commend Staffordshire Police for the progress it has made over the past year. I am confident that it is well equipped for this to continue.

Staffordshire Police is good at reducing crime and keeping people safe. The force focuses on preventing crime, rather than just reacting to it.

Police officers and police and community support officers (PCSOs) work closely with different organisations and communities to tackle problems.

The force is good at investigating crime. However, it needs to improve its overall management and understanding of those suspected of criminal offences.

The force has effective processes to protect vulnerable adults and children. It has developed relationships with outside partner organisations to support vulnerable people and meet victims’ needs.

The force is good at managing registered sex offenders and violent offenders.

View the five questions for effectiveness

Staffordshire Police operates efficiently, and its services are sustainable.

The force is good at working out what demand for its services might be in the future and uses both police and partner agency data for this.

It has enough skilled and experienced people and the financial resources to meet current and future demand.

The force has invested in the skills and equipment it needs to protect the public from cyber crime. It has invested in IT.

Frontline officers and staff use mobile working. Officers and staff like the technology and say that it is efficient.

The force’s medium-term financial plan has a good balance between savings and investment in important areas such as neighbourhood policing, public protection, estates and new technology.

It has identified savings which will balance the 2018-19 budget without using its reserves.

The force’s future plans are realistic. It understands how increased demand can affect an organisation.

View the two questions for efficiency

Staffordshire Police’s leaders are positive ethical role models. Officers and staff understand the force’s values. Leaders use these values when they make decisions.

Leaders promote a no-blame culture where the force tries not to blame people for mistakes, but instead learns from what went wrong. Officers and staff feel that the force supports them if they make mistakes.

The force needs to improve how people refer ethical concerns for discussion. This includes giving regular feedback about the decisions the force makes.

The force has vetted all officers and staff. Only a small number of the workforce need their vetting refreshed.

The force has effective ways of telling all officers and staff about the standards of behaviour it expects. It manages and identifies any risks of corruption.

Officers and staff understand the harm caused by abuse of authority for a sexual purpose. The force has trained supervisors to recognise the warning signs of this type of serious corruption.

View the three questions for legitimacy

In addition to the three core PEEL pillars, HMICFRS carries out inspections of a wide range of policing activity throughout the year. Some of these are conducted alongside the PEEL inspections; others are joint inspections.

Findings from these inspections are published separately to the main PEEL reports, but are taken into account when producing the rounded assessment of each force's performance.

We have not published any other reports about staffordshire in this PEEL cycle.

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Key facts – 2019/20

Force Area

1,049 square miles

Population

1.14m people

4% local 10 yr change

Workforce

95% frontline police officers

92% national level

2.88 per 1000 population

3.69 national level

9% 10yr change in local workforce

5% 10yr national change

Victim-based crimes

0.05 per person

0.06 national level

3% Local 5 year trend

9% National 5 year trend

Cost

49p per person per day local

59p per person per day national

Staffordshire 2018/19

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HMI's observations

Effectiveness

How effectively does the force reduce crime and keep people safe?

Efficiency

How efficiently does the force operate and how sustainable are its services to the public?

Legitimacy

How legitimately does the force treat the public and its workforce?

Other inspections

How well has the force performed in our other inspections?

Other reports