How we inspect PEEL
In 2014, we introduced our police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections, which assess the performance of all 43 police forces in England and Wales. We continuously adapt our approach and we publish a framework for each cycle of inspections.
Read the current PEEL Assessment Framework 2023–2025.
The aim of the inspection programme
The inspection programme is designed to promote improvements across police forces in England and Wales to help make communities safer.
We publish an assessment on the performance of every police force in each cycle.
Our inspection framework for PEEL
We gather information to inform our assessments using a range of methods that include:
- analysis of documents and data;
- a review of force management statements;
- case file audits;
- reviews of operational incidents;
- surveys of police officers and staff;
- interviews;
- focus groups; and
- observations of police force practice.
Police forces are assessed against the characteristics of good performance set out in the assessment framework.
Graded judgments
Police forces are assessed and given graded judgments.
The categories of graded judgment are:
- Outstanding – The force has substantially exceeded the characteristics of good performance
- Good – The force has demonstrated substantially all the characteristics of good performance
- Adequate – The force has demonstrated some of the characteristics of good performance, but we have identified areas where the force should make improvements
- Requires improvement – The force has demonstrated few, if any, of the characteristics of good performance and we have identified a substantial number of areas where the force needs to make improvements
- Inadequate – We have causes for concern and have made recommendations to the force to address them
Areas for improvement, causes of concern and recommendations
During our inspections, we will identify:
- areas for improvement;
- causes of concern – with an accompanying recommendation;
- positive practice; and
- innovative practice.
Areas for improvement
In our inspections, if we consider that an aspect of a force’s or service’s practice, policy or performance falls short of the expected standard, we will report this as an area for improvement.
Areas for improvement are not accompanied by a recommendation.
Causes of concern
In our inspections, if we identify a serious, critical or systemic shortcoming in a police force’s practice, policy or performance, we will report it as a cause of concern. A cause of concern will always be accompanied by one or more recommendations. When we identify a cause of concern during our inspections, we provide details in the published police force report.
Accelerated causes of concern
In some cases, when we discover significant service failures or risks to public safety, we report our concerns and recommendations earlier. This is called an accelerated cause of concern. We publish accelerated causes of concern as soon as possible on our website. The full evidence base and background to the cause of concern is then covered in the police force’s next report.
Closing causes of concern and accelerated causes of concern
When we started our PEEL inspections for the 2023/2025 cycle, when we closed a cause of concern we updated the web page for the relevant report to show that the cause of concern had been closed. Our approach changed in September 2024. Whenever we close a cause of concern, we write a letter to the force and we publish those letters on our website.
Monitoring
Monitoring is an important part of our work to help promote improvements. This involves engaging with police forces to make sure they are taking the necessary action where we have identified problems. The process applies to every police force in England and Wales. Our monitoring activity is primarily focused on police forces which have a cause(s) of concern. Read more about our approach to monitoring police forces.
Police forces’ progress against recommendations
Every six months we publish an updated table which shows the progress police forces have made against recommendations made to them in the 2018/19 Integrated PEEL Assessments, PEEL Assessments 2021/22 and PEEL assessments 2023-25.