In 2023–2025, we carried out a PEEL inspection of Derbyshire Constabulary. PEEL stands for police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy.
We inspected how well the force performed in several areas of policing. Most of these areas were then graded as outstanding, good, adequate, requires improvement or inadequate.
Find out more about Derbyshire Constabulary
More information about the PEEL assessments
Our inspection assessed how good Derbyshire Constabulary is in nine areas of policing. We make graded judgments in eight of these nine as follows:
We also inspected how effective a service Derbyshire Constabulary gives to victims of crime. We don’t make a graded judgment for this area.
We set out our detailed findings about things the constabulary is doing well and where the constabulary should improve in the rest of this report.
We also assess the constabulary’s performance in a range of other areas and we report on these separately. We make graded judgments for some of these areas.
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. Since then, we have been continuously adapting our approach.
We have moved to a more intelligence-led, continual assessment approach, rather than the annual PEEL inspections we used in previous years. Forces are assessed against the characteristics of good performance, set out in the PEEL Assessment Framework 2023–2025, and we more clearly link our judgments to causes of concern and areas for improvement.
It isn’t possible to make direct comparisons between the grades awarded in this PEEL inspection and those from the previous cycle of PEEL inspections. This is because we have increased our focus on making sure forces are achieving appropriate outcomes for the public, and in some cases we have changed the aspects of policing we inspect.
Our reports contain references to, among other things, ‘national’ definitions, priorities, policies, systems, responsibilities and processes.
In some instances, ‘national’ means applying to England or Wales, or England and Wales. In others, it means applying to England, Wales and Scotland, or the whole of the United Kingdom.
I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Derbyshire Constabulary in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service. But there are areas in which the constabulary needs to improve.
We last inspected Derbyshire Constabulary in July 2022 and published our PEEL assessment in November 2022. I had some concerns with aspects of the constabulary’s performance.
We scheduled a shorter time frame between our PEEL 2021/22 inspection and PEEL 2023–25 inspection for Derbyshire Constabulary. We did this to check the constabulary’s progress against the improvements it needed to make to keep people safe and reduce crime.
I am pleased with how the constabulary responded. It has addressed many of the areas for improvement in our previous report. I also recognise that the scale of change needed means that some improvements will need more time to achieve.
While the constabulary has shown that it can make improvements, it needs to continue to do so, as this report highlights.
Derbyshire Constabulary’s level of funding per person is around the average for England and Wales. Its incident demand is in line with the national average. It receives an average number of 999 calls but a relatively high number of 101 calls.
But the constabulary isn’t yet providing a good service for the public in some key areas, such as responding to the public, investigating crimes and protecting vulnerable people.
The constabulary needs to make sure its investigations are effective and properly supervised. It needs to improve outcomes for victims of crime. And it needs to make sure that victims are receiving the level of service they are entitled to.
The constabulary is doing a good job of communicating with its workforce about most of the changes it is making, but some important changes aren’t being communicated well enough. If the workforce doesn’t understand changes or the reasons for them, there is a risk that they will fail.
It is good to see that leaders in the constabulary value neighbourhood policing. They have addressed the areas for improvement about this in our previous report. Prevention and evidence-based policing is prioritised and used effectively, including outside neighbourhood policing.
Since our last inspection, the chief constable has recruited a new chief officer team. The new stable leadership team is focusing on making improvements and changing the culture of the constabulary. I accept that it will take time for these more challenging improvements to be fully implemented.
I am pleased with the way the team has responded to my concerns, and I will be monitoring progress closely.
HM Inspector of Constabulary
Using the College of Policing leadership expectations as a framework, in this section we set out the most important findings relating to the constabulary’s leadership at all levels.
The constabulary is benefiting from a more stable chief officer team. The chief constable has appointed three new chief officers since our last inspection.
The chief officer team is focusing the constabulary on responding to the areas for improvement identified in our 2021/22 PEEL assessment, which was published on 25 November 2022. The constabulary had achieved 14 of 22 of these as of 18 December 2023.
The senior leadership team is more cohesive and works with chief officers to make improvements. The scale of change has been significant. But some change isn’t communicated well enough by leaders, which means the workforce can’t then effectively support it.
Senior leaders have clear, established areas of responsibility, and the constabulary’s governance processes have been improved to provide better support to leaders. But the structure of governance meetings could still be refined.
The chief officer team is starting to develop a performance-focused culture. Leaders now have access to visualised, consistent performance data and feel supported by these improvements in technology.
But some leaders aren’t scrutinising the performance level of their teams. Nor are they proactive enough at speaking to the workforce to discuss the challenges they face. This means they aren’t identifying issues that negatively affect performance and so aren’t always able to provide strategic oversight.
Chief officers promote an inclusive and supportive culture. Training and policies on standards of behaviour provide clear expectations to the workforce. But some people from under-represented groups lack confidence in some leaders to be inclusive and support their development.
The constabulary develops sergeants through a five-day training programme. This aligns with the College of Policing first line leader programme and improves their skills, capability and confidence. New recruits told us that their supervisors create an environment of trust and confidence.
More detail on Derbyshire Constabulary’s leadership is included in the main body of the report.
The reducing crime assessment sets out what Derbyshire Constabulary is doing to reduce crime and how effective this action is. This assessment doesn’t include police recorded crime figures. This is because they can be affected by variations and changes in recording policy and practice, making it difficult to make comparisons over time.
Derbyshire Constabulary needs to make sure it answers emergency calls quickly enough. The constabulary also needs to respond to incidents within published timescales. By not always doing this, it is missing opportunities to safeguard the public and reduce crime.
The constabulary is good at identifying vulnerability through use of risk assessments, which helps it safeguard vulnerable people. It is good at identifying vulnerable and repeat callers at the first point of contact. Call handlers consistently provide crime prevention advice, which helps prevent further abuse, risk, harm or imminent threat.
The constabulary prioritises the prevention of crime, antisocial behaviour and vulnerability. It prioritises problem-solving, especially in neighbourhood policing. It uses a broad range of crime prevention techniques to reduce crime.
Most recorded grounds for stop and search are reasonable. But officers lack confidence in using it as an investigative tactic. Some don’t use it as often as they could due to competing demands on their time. This means that the constabulary is missing opportunities to reduce crime.
The constabulary needs to improve the quality of its investigations. Better supervision is required and more needs to be done to achieve appropriate outcomes for victims. This will help reduce crime in future.
More detail on what Derbyshire Constabulary is doing to reduce crime is included in the main body of the report.
This section describes our assessment of the service Derbyshire Constabulary provides to victims. This is from the point of reporting a crime and throughout the investigation. As part of this assessment, we reviewed 100 case files.
When the police close a case of a reported crime, they assign it an ‘outcome type’. This describes the reason for closing it.
We selected 100 cases to review, including at least 20 that the constabulary had closed with the following outcome:
Diversionary, educational or intervention activity has been undertaken and it isn’t in the public interest to take any further action.
Although our victim service assessment is ungraded, it influences graded judgments in the other areas we have inspected.
The constabulary needs to improve the time it takes to answer emergency calls and to reduce the number of non-emergency calls where the caller hangs up because they aren’t answered. Call handlers use a structured process that considers threat, harm, risk and vulnerability (THRIVE). They identify repeat and vulnerable victims, meaning that the constabulary is fully aware of the victim’s circumstances when considering how to respond. Call handlers are polite and give victims advice on crime prevention, and sometimes on how to preserve evidence.
Derbyshire Constabulary doesn’t always respond to calls for service within the set timescales. Nor does it always inform victims about delays, meaning that their expectations aren’t always met. This may cause them to lose confidence and disengage from the process.
In most of the cases we reviewed, the constabulary carried out investigations in a timely way. But it didn’t always complete relevant and proportionate lines of enquiry, and not all investigations were supervised well enough. A thorough investigation increases the likelihood of perpetrators being identified and arrested, providing a positive result for the victim.
In most cases, personal statements were taken from the victim, giving them the opportunity to describe how the crime has affected their lives. Investigators did regularly update victims, which makes them more likely to have confidence in the investigation.
When victims withdrew support for an investigation, the constabulary considered progressing the case without the victim’s support. This can be an important method of safeguarding the victim and preventing further offences from being committed. In all relevant cases, the constabulary recorded whether it considered using orders designed to protect victims, such as a Domestic Violence Protection Notice or Domestic Violence Protection Order.
The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime requires forces to carry out an assessment early on in an investigation of whether victims need additional support. We found that often this assessment hadn’t been carried out, and requests for additional support weren’t always recorded.
The constabulary doesn’t always close crimes with the appropriate outcome type. It records a clear rationale for using a certain outcome, but this isn’t effectively supervised. An auditable record of the victim’s wishes wasn’t always obtained when it should have been. However, it does seek victims’ views when deciding which outcome type to assign to a closed investigation, and always informs victims of the decision.
Derbyshire Constabulary is adequate at using police powers and treating people fairly and respectfully.
Many officers we spoke to lack confidence in carrying out stop and search, and don’t feel supported enough to use it as an investigative tactic. In some cases, we also found officers deprioritised the use of stop and search owing to competing demands for their time. Supervisors we spoke to agree with these views.
We found that the constabulary had already identified this issue through feedback from its frontline officers.
In the year ending 31 March 2022, the constabulary carried out 1,735 stop and searches. This is 1.6 stop and searches per 1,000 population, which is significantly lower than the 8.4 per 1,000 population across England and Wales.
Figure 1: Stop and searches per 1,000 population by forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2022
Source: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics from the Home Office
More recent data shows that the number of stop and searches increased by 17.8 percent in the year to March 2023. But the constabulary continued to have the lowest rate of stop and searches among forces in England and Wales.
Officers should be confident and skilled in knowing when stop and search is appropriate as an investigative tactic. If they aren’t, this can undermine the constabulary’s ability to prevent and detect crime, which is essential for keeping communities safe.
The constabulary requires its officers to record any use of force on a form. We found a clear policy explaining this rule.
But we found inconsistent understanding of this policy when speaking with officers. Some aren’t recording use of force when handcuffs have been used on members of the public, contrary to constabulary policy and national guidance.
The constabulary has a system for identifying officers who don’t complete use of force forms. But we found that this wasn’t used consistently and sometimes identified the incorrect officer.
If officers don’t record the use of force correctly, this means the constabulary’s performance data is less reliable. Reliable data for use of force helps the constabulary understand whether it treats the public fairly, appropriately and respectfully. Good quality data should underpin decision-making and the identification of disproportionality.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to police powers and treating people fairly and respectfully.
Despite our finding that officers lack confidence in using stop and search, we found they do understand how to use it fairly and respectfully.
During our inspection, we reviewed a sample of 159 stop and search records from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. Based on this sample, we estimate that 88.7 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 4.9 percent) of all stop and searches by the constabulary during this period had reasonable grounds recorded. This is broadly unchanged compared with the findings from our previous review in 2021. During that review we found 85.5 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 5.4 percent) of stop and searches had reasonable grounds recorded.
Of the records we reviewed for stop and searches on people from ethnic minorities, 31 of 32 had reasonable grounds recorded.
In the year ending 31 March 2022, Derbyshire Constabulary carried out 1,735 stop and searches, which equates to 1.6 per 1,000 population. This was a 21.6 percent decrease from the previous year. This is lower than expected compared to other forces across England and Wales.
In the year ending 31 March 2022, Derbyshire Constabulary officers found the item they were looking for in 24.9 percent of all stop and searches. This is higher than the 22.2 percent find rate across England and Wales.
We also reviewed a sample of ten stop and search interactions recorded on body‑worn video. In all ten interactions, the officers treated members of the public with dignity and respect.
A senior officer chairs a monitoring meeting every two months for stop and search, and another for use of force. The meeting about stop and search looks at data on find rates, powers used and body-worn video compliance. It also identifies disproportionality by race, age and gender.
The data available for the use of force monitoring meeting is more limited. It includes tactics used, impact factors and outcomes, and identifies disproportionality by race.
When disproportionality was identified in either meeting, we saw that the constabulary was effective in looking for reasons for this. When the cause wasn’t evident, senior officers took action to improve their understanding of the data, including reviews of the use of police powers in particular geographic areas. We observed that these results were fed back to the meeting. This provided leaders with confidence that police powers are being used legitimately.
In the year ending 31 March 2022, Black people were 3.8 times more likely to be stopped and searched by Derbyshire Constabulary than White people. This calculation is based on population data from the 2021 Census. In the same period, Black people were 4.8 times more likely to be stopped and searched across England and Wales (compared to White people).
We found that supervisors carry out quality assurance reviews of every stop and search. There are also monthly reviews by ‘champions’, who are officers identified as consistently adhering to best practice. These reviews provide officers with feedback to improve the quality of their stop and searches.
The constabulary holds external scrutiny panels for stop and search every two months. An independent advisory group chairs and forms a panel for the meetings. A police representative helps with administration.
The police representative chooses a random selection of stop and search incidents for the panel. Officers’ written records and body-worn video are then scrutinised, and the panel provides a judgement on the legitimacy of the actions of the officers involved.
The police representative sends feedback to each of the officers involved and their supervisor, and the minutes of the meeting are published on the constabulary website. The monitoring meetings use themes from the feedback to make improvements.
Conflict management training is part of the constabulary’s personal safety training for officers and some staff. This helps them understand how to manage physical and non‑physical conflict. The constabulary told us that 85 percent of its police officers are up to date with this training.
The constabulary is adopting the new College of Policing public and personal safety training. It has set itself a target of providing this to all staff by April 2024. It is important for the constabulary to keep high numbers of staff trained, so they can protect the public and themselves from harm.
Officers must not use their powers in an unfair or discriminatory way. The constabulary provides training on unconscious bias to all new recruits. This teaches awareness of how bias affects their decision-making. At the time of our inspection, this training had started for the rest of the constabulary’s officers. The constabulary should continue providing this type of training to its officers.
Derbyshire Constabulary is good at prevention and deterrence.
The constabulary used the scanning, analysis, response and assessment (SARA) method to review how it manages missing persons.
The scanning phase identified some poor practice in investigations. The constabulary used the results to restructure the teams that investigate missing people. It developed a new process for these investigations and introduced new bespoke training to improve their quality.
Children that repeatedly go missing are now managed using problem-solving methods. This change is intended to reduce the number of times they go missing and the risks they face.
The constabulary provided us with data on missing children. In the year ending 31 March 2022, before the constabulary applied its problem-solving approach, 277 children were reported missing from foster care in Derbyshire. In the year ending March 2023, after these changes had been made, 206 children were reported missing from foster care. This is a 25 percent decrease.
The constabulary invited external academic scrutiny of its approach. This review confirmed the improvements were due to the new problem-solving methods.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to prevention and deterrence.
The definition of serious acquisitive crime is robbery, theft from a person, theft of and from a motor vehicle, and domestic burglary. In the year ending 30 June 2023, Derbyshire Constabulary recorded 8,347 offences of serious acquisitive crime. This is an increase of 8.8 percent compared to the year ending 30 June 2022, when it recorded 7,669 offences of serious acquisitive crime.
The constabulary considers crime and outcome rates at a monthly performance assurance meeting, chaired by the deputy chief constable. The meeting compares the constabulary’s performance to similar police forces. It looks at specific data, such as the attendance of police officers and scenes of crime officers at burglaries. We saw how this data was used to increase positive outcomes.
Serious acquisitive crime is also reviewed at a neighbourhood policing meeting every two months, chaired by the superintendent lead for neighbourhood policing. Data and actions from the performance assurance meeting are shared. Neighbourhood policing managers then review prevention techniques to reduce crime rates.
The constabulary has a comprehensive crime prevention strategy. This is aligned with the National Police Chiefs’ Council national policing prevention strategy. We saw how this this is used in governance meetings to provide focused oversight.
The constabulary has an online crime prevention hub, with information on prevention types, toolkits and prevention initiatives proven to reduce crime. But we found that not all officers and staff are aware of it.
The constabulary provides online crime prevention training to neighbourhood teams. Police community support officers receive accredited training, which results in a prevention qualification.
Staff who have first contact with the public are focused on crime prevention. Our victim service assessment found that call handlers consistently check to identify repeat victims of crime. They also gave appropriate advice on crime prevention in 55 of 58 relevant cases.
The constabulary uses a range of prevention techniques. We saw successful use of the clear, hold, build approach to target organised crime groups, leading to numerous arrests and criminal charges. Some vulnerable adults were safeguarded from exploitation. Another prevention technique is the constabulary’s early intervention education course for young people at risk of gang involvement.
The constabulary used a problem-solving approach with 28 repeat offenders. These offenders were scored using a national risk model, management of risk in law enforcement (MoRILE), at the start and end of the scheme. The constabulary told us that this led to a reduction in risk for 20 of the 28 offenders.
The constabulary also has an initiative to contact all vulnerable victims of fraud. This involves a face-to-face visit to provide crime prevention advice. A video campaign called ‘Claude the Fraud’ has been successful at stopping vulnerable people falling victim to crime. Potentially vulnerable victims saw the campaign and used the advice to rebuff fraud attempts. These victims are now working with the constabulary and will appear in further videos.
We also saw good examples of prevention related to antisocial behaviour.
Senior leaders use data effectively to understand patterns and trends in antisocial behaviour, and hold neighbourhood policing managers to account for their performance. This translates into action at operational levels.
Neighbourhood policing teams undergo training in how to access data through IT systems. They meet with partner agencies fortnightly to work on joint problem-solving related to antisocial behaviour.
During our inspection we found that effective use is being made of a broad range of police powers, often as part of a problem-solving approach. In cases we reviewed, we found that antisocial behaviour had reduced.
A policing operation named Operation Snowflake is one such example. Neighbourhood teams in Derby work with the local authority to prevent violent crime and antisocial behaviour. The operation aims to disrupt criminals by using intelligence‑led patrols. This has led to the use of police dispersal powers, Criminal Behaviour Orders and arrests.
We also found that the constabulary uses ‘hot spots policing’. It identifies areas with high levels of antisocial behaviour, and patrols attend those areas at specific times. The constabulary showed us how antisocial behaviour had reduced due to this evidence-based approach.
Derbyshire does have a higher-than-expected rate of 24.9 recorded antisocial behaviour incidents per 1,000 population for the year ending 31 March 2023. This is above the England and Wales average of 18.1, but it is reducing year on year. There were 33.9 incidents per 1,000 population in the year ending 31 March 2022 and 47.5 incidents per 1,000 population in the year ending 31 March 2021.
Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that in the year ending 30 September 2022, 47 percent of people aged 16 and over experienced or witnessed antisocial behaviour in the local area. In the same survey for the year ending 30 June 2023, this had reduced to 42.6 percent.
The constabulary has a neighbourhood policing strategy, which sets out how it should communicate with the public. The delivery plans that support this are monitored by the neighbourhood policing board.
A document sets out minimum standards for how often and in what ways neighbourhood policing teams should work with the community. This includes guidance on setting neighbourhood priorities, social media communication and working with schools. Officers we spoke to had good awareness of these standards.
New officers and staff receive engagement training during an annual induction day. The constabulary told us that 93 percent of neighbourhood officers had completed the online engagement training as of 1 December 2023.
We found that the constabulary carries out a range of activities to work with its communities. These include ‘street briefings’ with communities, online surveys, door‑to-door visits and police events.
The constabulary also uses an online communication portal between neighbourhood teams and the public, called Derbyshire Alert. This is used to send details of community events, carry out online surveys and exchange messages with the public.
We were impressed by the constabulary’s ‘mini-police’ scheme. This has been carried out across 20 schools within Derbyshire, involving an estimated 1,200 children aged between 9 and 11. They are educated on crime prevention and community safety, and go into their local community to help educate the public and make their communities safer – for example, by assisting in road speed checks. The children are then given a reward for their help, including school visits by specialist police teams, such as dog handlers, drone pilots and roads policing officers.
The school, children and parents are debriefed. The feedback we saw from each group was positive. Parents provided testimonials saying that the programme positively changed their child’s perceptions of police.
We found the constabulary prioritises working with people who may traditionally interact less often with police, or have lower levels of trust and confidence in policing. Neighbourhood officers are aware of this focus and carry out engagement activity tailored to these groups.
Local policing areas have engagement plans specific to their communities. These are supported by census data. However, a small number of teams aren’t referring to these often enough.
In our last inspection in 2022, we said the constabulary wasn’t effective at maintaining up-to-date knowledge of the communities it serves. During this inspection we found that it has made improvements. We found officers and staff to be knowledgeable about the communities they serve.
The constabulary has also improved its scrutiny of its engagement activities. It has created a computer application called ‘the engagement app’ which is available on neighbourhood officers’ mobile devices. It is used to log engagement activity, including the type of activity, location and the communities engaged with. This data is used to scrutinise officers’ performance, and the neighbourhood policing board use it to oversee the constabulary’s overall performance.
In our last PEEL inspection in 2022, we said the constabulary needed to appropriately staff its neighbourhood policing model to meet demand. We also said that it needed to provide structured training for officers and staff, so that they have the right skills for their role.
The constabulary told us that it had 88 percent (143 of 161) of neighbourhood police officer posts filled as of 30 November 2023. This is an improvement on the 75 percent (120 of 161) we saw in our last inspection.
It also told us that 88 percent (177 of 200) police community support officer posts were filled. This was an improvement on the 58 percent (116 of 200) from our last inspection.
The constabulary has a new policy that has been effective at reducing how often neighbourhood officers and staff are removed to cover the work of other policing teams. These removals are called ‘abstractions’. A senior officer must authorise any abstraction and can only do so if it meets certain criteria. Abstractions are recorded on a computer application. This data is monitored by the neighbourhood policing board. When abstractions are increasing, leaders act to understand why. If needed, they challenge teams that aren’t complying with the policy.
Although not all abstractions were recorded, we found that the policy has helped to protect neighbourhood officers and staff from inappropriate abstraction.
The reduction in vacancies and the improvement in the way abstractions are managed have had a positive effect. Neighbourhood officers and staff are freer to carry out other activities, including working with their communities.
Neighbourhood officers told us that IT training has improved. They now know how to access data for themselves rather than having to request it. They consider Microsoft Power BI, the system used for data, a positive addition to digital capability.
The constabulary holds face-to-face training on neighbourhood policing. This involves annual conferences and team training, for example in problem-solving. And the neighbourhood policing online learning hub provides training on procedural justice, community engagement, crime prevention, problem-solving, partnerships and antisocial behaviour. This training is important in making sure that staff knowledge remains refreshed and up to date.
Senior leaders encourage, support and resource an evidence-based policing approach to problem-solving.
Officers attempting to problem-solve draw up a problem management plan. This is reviewed by a team of problem-solving tactical advisers at the outset, who give advice and signpost the officer to useful resources.
Problem management plans are reviewed by advisers at regular intervals and scored when they are finished, so that the constabulary can determine what works.
Representatives from across the constabulary attend a force-wide problem-solving review meeting chaired by a superintendent. Attendees discuss trends in problem‑solving and review key problem management plans. They also review what approaches are working best and share these with officers and staff. An independent academic supports the meeting.
The constabulary’s evidence-based policing approach is reviewed by an academic each year. The constabulary uses this independent review to confirm its own understanding of performance. It also uses it to make improvements to problem management plans.
We found that neighbourhood policing teams use problem-solving techniques. We also found problem-solving used more broadly, for example to reduce missing persons incidents and inappropriate calls to the force control room. We found reductions in demand in all cases we reviewed.
Neighbourhood officers understand how to apply problem-solving methodology. We found that every neighbourhood policing team had problem management plans. We reviewed these as part of this inspection.
We found officers used a problem-solving model called scanning, analysis, response and assessment (SARA) and it was generally used to good effect. However, we found that the last part of this model (assessment) wasn’t always carried out effectively. In some cases where it was clear that a problem management plan reduced crime, there was a lack of detailed assessment. Reductions in crime should be reviewed against the objectives set at the start of the plan. Better line management supervision of problem management plans may improve this.
While the constabulary’s communication with its communities is effective, we found that it doesn’t always use it to help set its community priorities.
Some local policing areas don’t consistently use their interactions with the public to inform community priorities. In these areas, feedback from the public on their concerns and priorities isn’t always considered. Priorities for these neighbourhood teams are set according to crime trends only.
In other areas, we found that priority-setting is carried out appropriately. Neighbourhood teams provide the public with crime trends and information. The public are then asked to nominate their priorities. Neighbourhood teams then review all nominations from these interactions. They adopt the biggest concerns as a priority, and provide reasons for not selecting the other nominations.
The constabulary should use information from its work with communities to help identify local priorities and inform problem-solving. It should then provide feedback and be accountable to communities on its progress against priorities.
Derbyshire Constabulary requires improvement at responding to the public.
In the year ending 30 June 2023, Derbyshire Constabulary received 167 emergency calls (999) per 1,000 population. This was in line with other forces in England and Wales.
For the same period, Derbyshire Constabulary answered 66.4 percent of its 999 calls within 10 seconds. This is lower than the standard expected of forces in England and Wales, which is to answer 90 percent of 999 calls within 10 seconds.
Figure 2: Proportion of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds by forces in England and Wales in the year ending 30 June 2023
Source: 999 call answering times from BT
Note: Call answering time is the time taken for a call to be transferred from BT to a force, and the time taken by that force to answer the call.
During our inspection, we found that the constabulary is taking action to improve. It has increased the number of staff in its control room, and changed its call handling processes. The constabulary’s data for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 November 2023 shows month-on-month improvements in 999 answer times.
The constabulary must sustain these improvements. If calls for service aren’t promptly answered, police officers may not attend incidents quickly enough to protect victims. Failure to answer calls promptly can also lead to investigative opportunities being missed and a loss of public confidence.
The constabulary doesn’t always respond to calls for service within its target timescales. Our victim service assessment found that attendance was within the required attendance time in 31 of the 71 cases we reviewed. The constabulary updated callers of delays in attendance in 17 of 38 cases. And deployments received effective supervision in 25 of 52 cases we reviewed.
If the constabulary isn’t attending incidents within its target times and isn’t informing victims of delays, victims could lose confidence and disengage from the process.
It needs to improve the effectiveness of its supervision of deployments. This will better support staff to provide timely updates when delays occur.
Since our victim service assessment, the constabulary has introduced a new incident grading policy. We saw how this allows staff to better prioritise incidents. Early data given to us by the constabulary shows that attendance times at incidents are improving. But they still remain short of their target times.
We found that many front-line officers we spoke to lack the knowledge and ability to follow golden hour principles.
Supervisors told us that they regularly see early opportunities to gather evidence being missed. Some officers are overlooking or not properly recovering evidence when they first arrive at an incident. Handovers are of a poor quality and often ignore golden hour actions. This reduces the quality of an investigation from the outset.
The early investigative actions taken at an incident are important. They can result in securing significant evidence that would otherwise be lost. Two issues in the constabulary are making this worse: the initial caller not being given advice on preserving evidence, and slow attendance at incidents. This further reduces the chances of positive outcomes for victims of crime.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary responds to the public.
The constabulary told us that 17.3 percent of calls to its non-emergency 101 number were abandoned before they were answered in the year ending 31 October 2023. This is an improvement from the year ending 31 October 2022, when 23 percent of calls were abandoned. But the abandonment rate remains higher than the 2020 national contact management strategy principles and guidance that forces with a switchboard should aim to have an abandonment rate lower than 5 percent.
In the year ending 31 March 2023 in Derbyshire Constabulary, 380 calls were made to the 101 number per 1,000 population. This is significantly higher than the average for forces across England and Wales.
Figure 3: Proportion of 101 calls received per 1,000 population by forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2023
Source: Data collection and analysis from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
Since our last inspection in 2022, we found the constabulary has improved its understanding of when callers hang up. It also has a better understanding of when callers choose an alternative contact option. But its understanding is still limited, and constabulary data isn’t yet accurate enough to identify why callers hang up.
High abandonment rates for non-emergencies may mean that callers go on to make inappropriate calls to the 999 system. It also means the constabulary has a measure of unknown risk that isn’t being addressed.
Our victim service assessment found that in 22 of the 32 cases we reviewed, call handlers didn’t give appropriate advice on preserving evidence.
Control room staff often ask their supervisors for advice, which helps fill gaps in their knowledge. But some staff felt that they didn’t have enough training to help them provide this advice. The constabulary provides training to new recruits, but we heard mixed views on whether refresher training is provided often enough.
Providing advice about preserving evidence is important. It means that officers have a greater chance of securing the evidence when they attend an incident. This can lead to more positive outcomes for victims.
The control room was undergoing significant changes to its processes at the time of our inspection. It now has an effective management structure. The department has a monthly performance meeting chaired by the department head. Leaders use data in this meeting to track performance against targets and support decision-making.
The constabulary’s chief officers actively support the control room. The assistant chief constable chairs a fortnightly scrutiny meeting, and the deputy chief constable chairs a gold group. This means senior level support is available, and issues raised by the head of the control room are prioritised.
The constabulary’s public contact improvement programme supports longer-term improvement. The focus on continuous improvement is supported by business development and change staff, and the assistant chief constable reviews progress at a monthly improvement programme meeting. The programme is progressing work effectively to replace outdated technology.
During this inspection we found that some of the changes the constabulary is making, such as its new incident grading policy, were having a positive effect on incident management. Leaders are overseeing and supporting change through good governance.
This is an improvement from our last inspection in 2022, when we found that performance and change weren’t being supported effectively.
In our last inspection in 2022, we found that the constabulary was poor at carrying out and recording risk assessments. We identified this as an area requiring improvement.
During this inspection, we found that the constabulary’s control room staff use a risk‑assessment process called THRIVE. The constabulary now scrutinises how frequently and effectively this process is used.
In our victim service assessment, we found that call handlers used THRIVE to assess risk and consider the needs of the caller in 66 of 67 cases we reviewed. The THRIVE record was an accurate and meaningful reflection of the circumstances in 64 of the 66 times it was used.
Repeat and vulnerable victims of crime can be at the most risk of harm. This means that early identification is important. We found evidence of a check to identify repeat victims in 72 of 73 cases, and checks to identify vulnerable people in all of those 72 cases.
We also found that the call handler’s initial grading of a reported incident was appropriate in 88 of 96 cases.
This is an improvement from the findings of our previous PEEL inspection. The constabulary now understands the risks involved in a call, so it can better safeguard victims and reduce repeat victimisation.
Our victim service assessment found that call handlers acted politely, appropriately and ethically. It also found they used clear, unambiguous language without apparent bias. This was found in all 91 cases reviewed.
Staff treating the public fairly increases public confidence in policing and promotes an ethical, inclusive culture.
Derbyshire Constabulary requires improvement at investigating crime.
The constabulary isn’t always achieving acceptable outcomes for victims of crime. The number of crimes that are solved following investigations is low. The constabulary needs to understand why this is, and work to achieve better outcomes for victims.
Figure 4: Percentage of victim-based crime recorded by Derbyshire Constabulary and all forces in England and Wales by selected outcome types in the year ending 30 June 2023
| Outcome types | Derbyshire Constabulary outcome rate | England and Wales outcome rate |
| 1 – Charged/summonsed | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| 2 & 3 – Caution – youths & adults | 0.8% | 0.7% |
| 8 – Community resolutions | 2.8% | 1.5% |
| 9 – Prosecution not in the public interest (Crown Prosecution Service decision) | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 10 & 21 – Prosecution not in the public interest (police decision) | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| 14 – Evidential difficulties (suspect not identified but the victim declines or is unable to support) | 3.6% | 5.9% |
| 15 – Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim supports police action) | 15.7% | 13.3% |
| 16 – Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim does not support or withdraws support) | 22.9% | 22.3% |
| 17 – Prosecution time limit expired | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| 18 – Investigation complete – no suspect identified | 35.4% | 43.0% |
| 20 – Action undertaken by another body/agency | 0.7% | 1.4% |
| 22 – Diversionary, educational or intervention activity | 0.0% | 0.4% |
Source: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables from the Home Office
Note: Presented data comes from the latest release available before the start of our inspection and may have been revised since. British Transport Police and City of London data are excluded from the England and Wales rate. Total police-recorded crime includes all crime (except fraud). For a full commentary and explanation of crime and outcome types please see the Home Office statistics.
In the year ending 30 June 2023, Derbyshire Constabulary recorded 72,614 victim-based crimes.
Of these crimes, 10.3 percent were assigned an ‘offences brought to justice’ outcome. This was within the typical range compared to other forces in England and Wales. But it was a reduction from 11.2 percent in the year ending 30 June 2022.
Figure 5: Proportion of victim-based crimes assigned a ‘charged/summonsed’ (outcome 1) by Derbyshire Constabulary between the year ending 31 March 2015 and the year ending 30 June 2023
Source: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables from the Home Office
Note: Presented data comes from the latest release available before the start of our inspection and may have been revised since. Victim-based crimes are defined as all police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, such as an individual, an organisation or corporate body.
Between the year ending 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned outcome 14: evidential difficulties (suspect not identified; victim doesn’t support further action) by Derbyshire Constabulary decreased from 4.6 percent to 3.6 percent. This value was within the typical range compared to other forces in England and Wales.
Between the year ending 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned outcome 15: evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim supports further action) by Derbyshire Constabulary decreased from 17.1 percent to 15.7 percent. This value was within the typical range compared to other forces in England and Wales.
Between the year ending 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned outcome 16: evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim doesn’t support further action) by Derbyshire Constabulary decreased from 27.0 percent to 22.9 percent. This value was within the typical range compared to other forces in England and Wales.
Our victim service assessment found the constabulary doesn’t always close crimes with the appropriate outcome type. Outcomes aren’t always correct or effectively supervised. When we spoke to supervisors, they weren’t always aware of the constabulary policy on reviewing crime outcomes.
Our victim service assessment found evidence of effective supervision in 73 of 92 cases, and 78 of 100 investigations were judged to be effective.
It also found that all appropriate and proportionate investigative opportunities were taken throughout the investigation in 79 of 98 cases.
During our inspection, we spoke to investigators and reviewed their investigations. We found that supervisory reviews of investigations were inconsistent. While some teams had timely reviews and oversight, others had very little.
The constabulary has clear standards for the supervision of investigations. But these aren’t always adhered to.
Appropriate supervision is an important factor in how well forces carry out investigations. When supervision is absent or not good enough, investigations become compromised and the service to victims declines.
We did find that the constabulary has recently introduced an assurance framework, known as quality assurance thematic testing. This assesses the quality of investigations and provides performance data. We saw this being used by senior leaders to hold underperforming team leaders to account. The constabulary’s data shows improvement in the timeliness and quality of supervisory reviews for the period between 1 April 2023 and 31 October 2023. These early improvements need to be sustained.
We found the constabulary is failing to follow some requirements of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, also known as the Victims’ Code.
The Victims’ Code requires forces to carry out a needs assessment at an early stage to determine whether victims need additional support.
We found that the constabulary seldom carried out this assessment. And it didn’t always record the request for additional support. Our victim service assessment found that appropriate victim needs assessments were clearly recorded in only 22 of 69 relevant cases. Where a victim was entitled to an enhanced service, this was recorded in 35 of 49 relevant cases.
This means the constabulary isn’t always identifying the support victims are entitled to. It should be providing enhanced support for victims who are vulnerable or intimidated, persistently targeted, or victims of the most serious crimes.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary investigates crime.
Our victim service assessment found appropriate investigation plans, in line with the College of Policing authorised professional practice guidance, in 78 of 86 cases. Where investigation plans were present, they were followed and updated in 73 of 78 cases.
Without appropriate investigation plans, the constabulary is missing investigative opportunities. This could contribute to reduced positive outcomes for victims.
The constabulary should make sure officers and staff create investigation plans in line with authorised professional practice where applicable. It should also make sure they have effective supervisory oversight.
In January 2023, the constabulary introduced a crime directorate. This moved investigative resources from local commanders into a dedicated investigation function.
This has led to improvements, such as more consistency in how crime is allocated across the constabulary. This means victims of crime should receive the same level of service regardless of where they live in Derbyshire. This wasn’t the case in our previous inspection in 2022.
But the constabulary hasn’t been able to fully staff the crime directorate since it was introduced. It told us that it had filled 484 of 527 police officer posts as of December 2023 – a shortfall of 43. The constabulary recognises this as a force-wide risk.
It is minimising the impact of the lack of detectives through an improved daily management process. As detectives now work in one department, it is easy for senior managers to access support.
In the daily management meeting, team leaders provide updates on resourcing and investigative capacity. A senior detective identifies priority cases and investigations. They then move investigative resources from areas of lower demand to support those with high demand.
While this process is an improvement, investigators told us that it is sometimes disruptive to their plans to progress their own investigations.
The constabulary has a detailed detective resilience strategy. Our review shows that progress is being made on actions to achieve this strategy. But the constabulary will need make sure it continues to attract new detectives to its crime directorate. It needs to fill more vacancies to meet the numbers of detectives it told us it needs to meet its crime demand.
The fighting crime board, chaired by an assistant chief constable, provides good oversight of issues that affect crime investigations, including:
The constabulary is using data to support effective performance monitoring. When concerning trends are identified, action is taken. The matter is then escalated to the force performance assurance board, which is chaired by the deputy chief constable.
An improving investigations meeting, chaired by a senior detective, tracks the progress of the improving investigations action plan. This monitoring is supported by quality assurance thematic testing data, and is used to scrutinise:
We saw how targeted action was being taken to improve performance. For example, a process has been introduced to better record the reasons that victims withdraw support for investigations.
We also saw data being used to identify poor supervision of investigations. This was used to improve training in supervision. The constabulary’s data shows an increase in the quality of supervisory reviews as a result.
In our 2022 PEEL inspection, we noted that victim personal statements weren’t considered often enough. These give victims the opportunity to say, in their own words, how a crime has affected them. If the suspect of a crime is found guilty at court, the victim personal statement can be considered when deciding sentencing. It can also help support agencies consider what additional support a victim may require.
During our victim service assessment, we found that improvements had been made. A victim personal statement was considered in 31 of 34 relevant cases we reviewed.
We also found the constabulary has introduced a prompt within its IT system for all investigators making first contact with victims. This requires investigators to ask victims if they would like to make a victim personal statement.
Police investigators must discuss and agree with the victim how often they want to be updated. They should also ask how victims would like to receive this information.
Our victim service assessment found that the agreed victim contract was adhered to in 85 of 90 relevant cases.
By speaking with victims and letting them decide how and when they want updates, victims feel included. When officers adhere to this contract, they are providing better support to victims. This should improve victims’ confidence in the constabulary.
Derbyshire Constabulary requires improvement at protecting vulnerable people.
When officers attend a report of domestic abuse, they complete a risk assessment with the victim. This constabulary uses the Domestic Abuse, Stalking, Harassment and Honour-Based Violence model. This is used to grade the level of risk to the victim as standard, medium or high.
The domestic abuse referral team reviews the initial assessment made by officers. This secondary risk assessment should correct errors and can regrade the level of risk if appropriate.
If the grading is high, any criminal investigation is allocated to the constabulary’s high-risk domestic abuse team. This team has specially trained investigators, most of whom are qualified to professionalising investigations programme (PIP) level 2. A high-risk grading also means victims are considered for increased levels of support.
Any other grading means the investigation is likely to be allocated to local policing units. These units are responsible for responding to incidents and investigating less serious or complex crimes.
During our inspection, we reviewed domestic abuse related incidents downgraded from high to medium risk. We identified inappropriate downgrading of risk.
In cases we reviewed, we identified assessments that didn’t consider:
In a small number of cases, secondary reviews minimised the concerns of victims.
This meant the constabulary wasn’t always referring victims who should have been graded as high risk for the enhanced support they needed. It also meant some investigations were being investigated by less skilled or experienced officers and staff.
When the constabulary downgraded investigations and allocated them to local policing unit officers, we did find that immediate safeguarding measures were put in place. The constabulary’s priority in pursuing outstanding suspects of domestic abuse is reducing risk.
We also found that domestic abuse support services in Derbyshire were identifying inappropriately downgraded risk in some cases, and raising them at a multi-agency risk assessment conference. Those present at the conference were then applying safeguarding as if the cases were high risk.
We immediately shared our findings with the constabulary. It promptly provided plans to improve processes, training and oversight within the domestic abuse referral team. It also told us that it was increasing staffing in the high-risk domestic abuse team in anticipation of increased demand due to more investigations being categorised as high risk.
It also took immediate action to review and correct downgraded risk assessments. This included reallocating crime investigations to specialist resources where needed. Refresher training was provided to officers in the domestic abuse referral team.
We found the constabulary’s plans and the steps it has taken since our inspection encouraging.
However, the constabulary must continue to address these issues and monitor progress. It needs to make sure that it is accurately measuring the level of risk faced by victims of domestic abuse. This will make sure it puts in place the right level of safeguarding and support to protect victims.
The constabulary carries out victim telephone surveys. We found that it reviews the responses, but only to understand how satisfied victims were. We didn’t see evidence of the force using other ways of getting feedback from vulnerable victims, or of feedback being used to improve services.
The constabulary told us that it was already taking action to improve. To help with this, it has arranged for a charity to hold focus groups and feedback sessions with vulnerable victims. These were due to start after our inspection.
It is important that the constabulary has a way of hearing the views of vulnerable victims and survivors of abuse. The constabulary should then use this feedback to inform its improvement plans and provide better services for victims.
Our victim service assessment found that in all 14 of the cases we reviewed, officers considered using ancillary orders, such as Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs), Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) and Stalking Protection Orders. When we spoke with investigators, they showed good awareness of these.
When superintendents and magistrates grant DVPNs and DVPOs, the constabulary creates a record. It assigns this record to the officer who made the application for monitoring.
But we found the constabulary hasn’t been communicating the process effectively to frontline officers. Some of those we spoke to weren’t aware of the constabulary’s expectations when assigning DVPNs or DVPOs.
Due to this lack of clarity, we found that officers responsible for DVPNs and DVPOs aren’t proactively monitoring for breaches and compliance. This means the onus remains on the victim to report breaches.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary protects vulnerable people.
The constabulary has established processes for the multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC). The meetings are attended by a good range of partner organisations, including local authority teams. They help to reduce harm, protect high‑risk victims and children, and manage perpetrator behaviour.
But the constabulary lacks an effective forum with key partners, such as a steering group, that would assist in evaluating the effectiveness of the MARAC. The multi-agency group could then make joint decisions to improve the service provided to victims.
For example, there are two MARACs covering different areas of Derbyshire. These alternate on a weekly basis. But cases must be referred two weeks prior to meeting. This means there can sometimes be a four-week gap between referral and partners hearing the case at the MARAC.
Independent domestic violence advisers are made aware of the MARAC referral and do make early contact with victims. The safeguarding co-ordination hub makes referrals in a timely manner to statutory and commissioned partners. We also found Domestic Violence Protection Orders and bail conditions being used to provide extra safeguarding support.
Our sampling of cases shows that investigators are putting safeguarding plans into place. But they aren’t always recorded in a consistent place and don’t always provide enough detail about the safeguarding actions taken.
Despite the way the constabulary is managing the risk, it recognises the four-week period is too long for some cases. This is an example of an issue that should be reviewed jointly by partners in a steering group.
The constabulary was in the process of establishing a steering group during our inspection. It needs to make sure that this is integrated throughout its work with other organisations so that these partners are represented and heard.
The constabulary works with child and adult social care teams from different local authorities.
We found that a jointly agreed flowchart is available for officers and staff that aids their judgment on making referrals. We also found that some officers and staff work on a rotating basis in partner agency buildings to help improve collaboration.
The referral process is supported by a daily virtual ‘pit stop’ meeting between the police and both local authorities. It helps police seek feedback and offer reassurance about their decision-making on referrals. Local authority staff can highlight cases that they feel shouldn’t be referred. This means that a joint understanding of performance develops. With this, police and local authorities make joint improvements to the referral process.
The constabulary also sends its safeguarding teams on joint training with social care staff. We were told these improved relationships and led to the creation of jointly agreed working practices.
The constabulary’s vulnerability strategy considers all of the College of Policing strands of vulnerability. It explains how the constabulary will achieve a set of clear objectives. Action plans and strategies are in place to support this, led by senior officers. The constabulary also has joint plans with partners, such as the multi‑agency Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
The constabulary has processes in place to oversee and improve its approach to vulnerability. An assistant chief constable chairs a regular vulnerability meeting. During this meeting, vulnerability leads scrutinise performance and data about demand. This data covers a range of vulnerability-related matters, including domestic abuse, child sexual exploitation and abuse, and violence against women and girls and vulnerable adults. This is used to support discussions on performance and inform decision-making.
Derbyshire Constabulary is adequate at managing offenders and suspects.
We found there was no force-wide monitoring and scrutiny of how the constabulary is using pre-charge bail and released under investigation. The constabulary was unable to identify where pre-charge bail and released under investigation is used well (or not so well), and what might be preventing its effective use.
In October 2022, bail legislation was changed to make pre-charge bail the default, rather than released under investigation.
In the year ending 30 September 2022, the constabulary used pre-charge bail 752 times per 1,000 arrests. In the year ending 31 March 2023, this decreased to 671 uses per 1,000 arrests.
Given the change in legislation, we would have expected the use of pre-charge bail to rise, not to fall. This is a good example of an issue that should be scrutinised at a constabulary-wide level.
Performance isn’t monitored well enough, and there isn’t enough consistent data available to understand it. The constabulary can’t assure itself that risks are effectively managed. Nor is it able to identify issues and make improvements.
Positively, the constabulary has dedicated officers called ‘charge managers’ who review bail appropriateness at a local level, and intervene to make sure the use of bail safeguards victims. And new data analytics have been made available to managers, although these weren’t consistently being used by the time our inspection ended.
Without wider monitoring and support by the constabulary, the workforce attempts to fill the gap by using disparate methods to track bail use locally.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary manages offenders and suspects.
In our previous PEEL inspection in 2022, we found that different areas of the constabulary were managing outstanding suspects in different ways. And leaders had no effective force-wide information about teams’ performance in this field.
During this inspection we found that improvements have been put in place. The constabulary now prioritises and monitors outstanding suspects. It has accurate data about how many outstanding suspects or wanted persons are currently at large. This data is accessible to all leaders. It informs the risk grading process, which identifies the highest-harm perpetrators and informs decisions about prioritisation.
We found that targeted interventions and arrests are happening promptly. Our victim service assessment also found that an arrest was made within an appropriate time frame and at the earliest opportunity in 36 of 37 cases reviewed.
The constabulary prioritises outstanding suspects of domestic abuse for arrest. A daily force management meeting discusses these and gives responsibility for the arrests to local officers. High-risk cases are allocated to dedicated arrest teams.
There is a process for adding suspects to the Police National Computer. When suspects have been added, those investigations are allocated to inspectors who carry out reviews guided by constabulary policy. This proactive approach reduces the risk of further offending.
The constabulary has systems in place to identify backlogs of work within the management of sexual and violent offenders (MOSOVO) team and protecting children online team (PCOT).
Senior leaders scrutinise this data at monthly performance meetings, where they make informed decisions to reduce the risk of backlogs. We found that data was used to inform decisions to increase staffing, provide additional funding or increase overtime.
The constabulary told us that workloads in the PCOT are high. We confirmed this, but we found that it hadn’t made a detrimental impact on investigations in the ten cases we reviewed.
The constabulary has increased staffing to prevent officers and staff from becoming overworked. Despite high workloads, the well-being of the PCOT is managed well. But the constabulary needs to continue supporting the team and monitoring their well‑being.
We found that a small number of PCOT cases were taking too long to progress. The constabulary identified these using digital technology and flagged them to a supervisor to carry out reviews and further risk assessment.
The constabulary has well-established processes for liaising with social services. Officers in the PCOT understand the importance of completing a referral to social services as quickly as possible when they believe a suspect has access to children. This allows the two services to start sharing information, and helps them build an accurate picture of the risk the suspect poses.
In some cases, information held by partner agencies may lead to police making arrests sooner, to protect children. Making referrals and sharing information allows for children to be safeguarded at the earliest opportunity.
We found that PCOT policy and guidance focuses on the protection of children as a priority. Officers and staff explained this well when we spoke with them.
We also found that the constabulary policy on suicide prevention for suspects was in accordance with national guidelines. Healthcare professionals carry out risk assessments of suspects at specific points during an investigation. This should mean that assessments are better informed compared to those completed by officers and staff.
We found that the constabulary has a good process for identifying cases suitable for a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
When the constabulary charges a suspect with any sexual offence, MOSOVO administrators are automatically notified. They research the suspect and make a recommendation to a MOSOVO supervisor. This can include recommending specific Sexual Harm Prevention Order conditions if the suspect is convicted. The MOSOVO supervisor reviews the recommendation and prepares an application for the court.
This proactive approach has led to an increase in the constabulary’s use of Sexual Harm Prevention Orders. In the year ending 31 March 2021, it issued 81 of these orders. In the year ending 31 March 2023, it issued 143 – a 76.5 percent increase.
We found that breaches of orders are correctly being recorded as crimes and investigated.
By proactively considering Sexual Harm Prevention Orders when suspects are charged, the constabulary is better protecting the public from people who pose a risk of sexual harm.
The constabulary was unable to show how it monitors and scrutinises the use of voluntary attendance. Dedicated officers do review individual cases of voluntary attendance to make sure that it is being used appropriately. But there is no quality assurance or oversight at a force-wide level.
The constabulary needs to understand whether voluntary attendance is being used appropriately. The lack of oversight within governance and limited data use means this isn’t occurring.
Prior to the completion of our inspection, the constabulary showed us that it is now collecting data on voluntary attendance. While this is important, it needs to make effective use of this data in its governance processes. This will help it to identify issues and make improvements.
The constabulary isn’t consistently using the nationally recognised peer-to-peer file‑sharing system to identify illegal file-sharing of indecent images of children. We found no clear policy on how frequently officers and staff should be checking this software.
We reviewed 30 cases on this system. In 17 of 30 cases we reviewed, we found that the constabulary hadn’t initiated a review of the case. This meant that the constabulary didn’t know the level of risk involved and wasn’t making decisions about prioritisation.
The constabulary should proactively manage the data stored on this software and initiate cases identified within the system in a timely manner. This will help children who are at risk to be identified and protected. It will also help to identify offenders who pose a risk to children.
Because of our feedback, the constabulary has now changed its policy so that officers and staff carry out daily reviews of the peer-to-peer software. At the end of our inspection, we found officers and staff were working to this policy and cases were being reviewed. The constabulary now needs to make sure this continues in a consistent manner.
The constabulary uses the active risk management system (ARMS) to assess the risk of registered sex offenders.
ARMS assessments need to be recorded in a specific place on the violent and sex offender register. This is a national multi-agency database used to manage sex offenders.
We found the constabulary does carry out ARMS assessments with offenders. But when officers and staff find no change since the last assessment, they don’t record the assessment properly within the violent and sex offender register.
We raised this with the constabulary. It agreed this didn’t comply with the national guidance, and has changed its policy and working practices. It has also started a process of review and correction for records where there was no change.
By the end of our inspection, we found that officers and staff were working to this policy and recording ARMS assessments in line with the guidance.
Derbyshire Constabulary is adequate at building, supporting and protecting the workforce.
The constabulary has an equality, diversity and inclusion team. But we found it had vacant roles, which limited its capacity. It couldn’t always effectively make progress on actions to improve inclusion and support under-represented groups.
We found that officers and staff from under-represented groups don’t always feel supported to take up opportunities to develop and progress their careers. Some we spoke to said that diversity and cultural competence is improving. But there is a perception that some leaders in the workforce lack understanding of diversity.
This meant that officers and staff weren’t confident in approaching some leaders to address issues of inequality caused by diversity.
Between 3 July 2023 to 12 August 2023, we carried out a workforce survey in Derbyshire Constabulary. We received 1,219 responses, which is estimated to be 31.4 percent of the total workforce. In our survey, we found that in the last 12 months, 11.6 percent of respondents (140 of 1,203 respondents) had felt discriminated against at work. Of those who felt discriminated against, 55.7 percent (73 of 131 respondents) hadn’t reported it.
Those who had experienced discrimination and hadn’t reported it were asked their reason for not reporting; 47 of 83 gave their reason as “nothing will happen”.
In some cases, officers and staff believe the constabulary’s chief officers are more understanding than some senior officers, and seek to raise issues with them directly.
Officers and staff from ethnic minority backgrounds also believe that some senior leaders lack understanding of diversity. They also felt some leaders were unsupportive. They felt that this was compounded by a lack of ethnic minority representation in leadership roles.
They were also concerned about the lack of sustained progress on the constabulary race action plan. The constabulary is now making progress on this. Its positive action team are contacting all Black officers and other people from under-represented groups early in their careers. They offer development opportunities and try to understand what issues might cause people from these groups to leave.
The constabulary has also set up a Black heritage oversight group. Two Black officers from this group are mentoring the chief officer team to build awareness of the barriers they face.
However, we found the workforce often didn’t understand the purpose of the race action plan.
Staff networks and senior leaders agree that the constabulary needs to improve its cultural competence. They understand that without improvement, people from under-represented groups aren’t well supported.
The constabulary needs to develop its approach to support people from under‑represented groups to attract and retain talented officers and staff.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to how well the constabulary builds, supports and protects the workforce.
The constabulary has a good governance structure in place to support the well-being of its officers and staff, led by a chief officer. It has a well-being strategy, and departmental well-being plans linked to a force-wide plan. We found clear co‑ordination and progress of the actions in these plans. Leaders tailor the departmental well-being plans to meet the needs of their teams.
The constabulary gathers information on the well-being needs of its workforce from a range of sources. These include focus groups with officers and staff, regular surveys, chief officer roadshows and workforce data. We saw examples where workforce feedback is being used to improve well-being. This led to improvements in the working environment and the provision of additional equipment.
In our last PEEL inspection in 2022, we said the constabulary should improve its provision of preventative well-being measures for its officers and staff. In this inspection we found that improvements have been made. We found a range of preventative and supportive measures for officers and staff.
One example of this is the training in trauma impact preventative techniques that the constabulary gives all frontline officers and staff. This helps them process trauma after attending traumatic incidents. The constabulary also has workload reduction initiatives, where experienced investigators assist inexperienced officers and staff in managing their workloads.
‘Blue light champions’ raise awareness of mental health issues. Officers and staff told us they value the support these provide to the workforce. There is also funding for specialist private post-natal examinations for mothers returning from maternity leave.
The constabulary uses trauma risk incident management process that identifies officers and staff who attend traumatic incidents. This process alerts supervisors, providing them with guidance on holding a well-being conversation. But we did find a lack of clarity on who was responsible for flagging incidents.
It uses private facilitators and counsellors to carry out debriefs for officers and staff subjected to trauma at a single incident. A group debrief is held, followed by one‑on-one debriefing. Catering is provided for all officers and staff during the day.
The constabulary also provides bespoke well-being strategies for significant policing operations and incidents that may affect officer and staff well-being. Occupational health and well-being leaders attend the incident’s gold command group, and support the creation of specific well-being strategies for those involved. An HR adviser is appointed to progress the strategy in the longer term.
The constabulary identifies departments and roles that carry a high risk to officer and staff well-being. Most members of the workforce in high-risk roles told us they felt well supported. This support includes regular one-to-ones to discuss well-being and offers of trauma training, psychological screening and counselling. However, we found that some officers and staff are reluctant to take up these opportunities. The constabulary should find out why this is the case.
The constabulary has developed and introduced a sergeant course. This is mandatory for all sergeants, including temporary sergeants. It aligns to modules of the College of Policing’s first line leader programme.
The course is opened by a member of the constabulary’s executive, and covers topics such as:
Some of these topics, such as investigative standards and supervision, are designed to address current areas of poor performance identified by the constabulary’s quality assurance framework. Trainers also use case studies of poor performance to illustrate the importance of good standards.
The constabulary told us that other topics, such as student officers, were included because of feedback from the workforce.
Sergeants who attended the course told us it improved their supervision skills and has filled previous gaps in their training. We found these sergeants had greater awareness of the challenges new recruits face.
Our survey of the workforce found that 84.6 percent of new recruits (236 of 279 respondents) agreed that their line manager nurtures an environment of trust and confidence.
Most of the new recruits we spoke to said that their supervisors were supportive and set good standards.
The constabulary has a strategy and action plan for retaining new recruits. We found this was detailed and up to date.
The actions taken to support new recruits include an online ‘student hub’, which introduces the constabulary and gives pre-joiners insights on what to expect as a police officer. This remains a good resource for student officers throughout their early career.
There are also surveys of new recruits at important checkpoints in their first two years. These assess their well-being and help identify those at risk of leaving. The constabulary also uses this feedback to inform its retention plans and compare progress across intakes.
HR staff, assessment teams and new recruits are based together both at university and at the constabulary headquarters. This means recruits are better supported, and those at risk of leaving are more likely to be identified.
A ‘transfer panel’ allows for new recruits to move between entry routes. Where the constabulary identifies recruits at risk of leaving, it offers them a chance to transfer.
While the constabulary does take action to retain recruits at risk of leaving, it needs to improve how it identifies these individuals once they leave training.
On 3 April 2023, the constabulary fully established its own occupational health unit (OHU). Previously, it was part of an OHU collaboration with other police forces.
We found that staff and officers value the new service. They told us they could access it quickly, and most had positive experiences.
Officers and staff benefit from improved access to specialist services. When OHU staff refer people for psychotherapy, it is no longer necessary to submit a business case. The constabulary has also negotiated changes to its arrangements with police treatment centres. It can now refer officers and staff without them having to visit their own general practitioner first.
As a result, constabulary data shows good improvements to referral and appointment waiting times.
Despite this progress, the constabulary has yet to achieve the national standards for OHUs. But we recognise the short period of time between establishing the OHU and our inspection. The constabulary is continuing to work with the national police well-being service to meet the required standards.
During our inspection we spoke to inspectors within investigative teams. We found that many weren’t being effectively supported by their managers.
Middle managers told us that they don’t see their line managers often enough and don’t have regular one-to-one meetings. This means that the constabulary is missing issues that affect their well-being.
We raised specific examples with the constabulary due to our concerns.
The constabulary needs to improve the level of support these managers receive. Otherwise, this group of managers are likely to suffer a decline in well-being. This could lead to increased sickness absence or the loss of skilled and experienced detectives.
The constabulary is currently transitioning between two professional development review (PDR) systems.
When speaking with the workforce, we found that some PDRs aren’t held in a timely manner. We found that those who had migrated to the new PDR system had received a recent development review with a manager, and spoke positively of the process.
But those remaining on the old system hadn’t had timely discussions about their development with a supervisor for some time, and didn’t value the PDR process.
Our workforce survey found that 74.4 percent (469 of 631 respondents) agreed that they value the process of these reviews.
The workforce should have formal PDRs with their line managers at least once every 12 months. These should include a plan and then a review of their professional development. These should be seen as effective and valued by the workforce.
Derbyshire Constabulary’s leadership and management requires improvement.
In our last inspection of Derbyshire Constabulary, we said that it lacked an effective governance and performance structure. Since that inspection, the constabulary has made considerable changes to its governance structure, implementing clear areas of responsibility.
But we found areas of underperformance that were known about locally in the constabulary and weren’t being highlighted to senior managers who could make improvements.
The constabulary should make sure that when problems are identified, staff and officers are confident in raising issues to senior managers who can bring about the changes needed to improve performance.
Derbyshire Constabulary is making many changes to improve its performance. Much of this change has been well managed. But for some important changes, we found little or no scrutiny of whether they were achieving their intended effect, and of how messages about them were received by officers and staff.
The constabulary should make sure that it monitors all changes so that it is aware of how they are being received by staff and officers, to make sure staff and officers are working with the constabulary to achieve the changes, and that they lead to improvements in policing.
Chief officers in the constabulary are committed to attending all its police stations on a regular basis. But in our inspection, we found that many staff and officers didn’t regularly see their local managers, especially those operating in the remoter parts of the constabulary. We also found that some specialist officers were less available in these parts.
The constabulary should make sure that staff and officers have access to managers. This will help it to improve and change, and will assist in uncovering locally known areas of underperformance.
In this section we set out our main findings that relate to leadership and management.
The constabulary shows effective financial management. It makes the best use of the finance it has available, and its financial plans are well thought out and sustainable.
For the financial year 2023/24, Derbyshire Constabulary received £218.9m in funding. Around 40 percent of its total funding (£88.6m) comes from the council tax precept. The police and crime commissioner increased the precept for the year 2023/24 by £15 per band D property.
In the year ending 31 March 2023, 7.5 percent of Derbyshire Constabulary’s officers were in support roles. This was in line with expectations compared to other forces in England and Wales.
There is a clear link between the constabulary’s financial plans and its other plans and priorities. This is reflected in the police and crime commissioner’s plans. The medium-term capital plan shows that the constabulary invests in its services to achieve improvements in performance. The financial forecasts in the medium-term financial plan are based on realistic assumptions about future funding and expenditure.
Over the course of the current medium-term financial plan, Derbyshire Constabulary will need to decide whether to continue with an existing private finance initiative arrangement relating to one of its police station buildings. This puts an unknown financial burden on the constabulary. It will need to either acquire the building and manage the refurbishment costs or build new premises. The constabulary is working with the Home Office to understand how it can best navigate this. We will continue to monitor whether and how this affects policing in Derbyshire.
The constabulary has improved its access to data since our last inspection. HR data is now available on a single computer system. It is updated more regularly and is more reliable. This informs how the constabulary uses its staffing resources. The constabulary uses Microsoft Power BI software to visualise performance information, and uses this to support its new governance structure.
While the constabulary has better data to inform its decision-making, it still needs to improve how it interrogates the data, ensuring that performance issues are highlighted to appropriate decision-makers.
The constabulary introduced a crime directorate, moving investigative resources from local commanders into a dedicated investigation function. While this change has led to some improvements, the department hasn’t been fully staffed since it was created, so its success can’t yet be properly evaluated.
The constabulary has improved its daily management process, allowing it to move resources around the constabulary to reflect changing demand. It annually reviews its policing model to make sure it remains fit for purpose.
Data in this report comes from a range of sources, including:
For any charts and tables included in this report, we have listed the data source underneath.
We collect data from police forces twice a year. We agreed the design and schedule of this data collection with forces and other interested parties, including the Home Office.
Our analysts check and evaluate the collected data. We contact the force if we have any initial queries. Following this, we carry out an in-depth data review and make further contact with the force if needed. This process gives forces several opportunities to quality assure and validate the information they shared to make sure it is accurate.
We then share our analysis with the force by uploading the data to online dashboards. As they can review own and other forces’ data in context, forces can identify any notable differences or other inconsistencies.
This report presents the results from a PEEL inspection of one of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. British Transport Police is outside the scope of this report.
Any aggregated totals for England and Wales exclude data from the British Transport Police, which means that the totals will differ from those published by the Home Office. If any other police forces didn’t supply data and aren’t included in the total figures, we will mention this.
We use data that has been collected outside our PEEL inspection to support our fieldwork.
This report contains the latest data available before the start of our inspection and the data that the force gave us during our inspection. If more recent data becomes available after our inspection fieldwork and shows that the force’s performance has changed, we will comment on this.
In this report, we sometimes present information as rates per 1,000 population in each police force area. This allows our data to be comparable across all forces. Where population data is used in our calculations, we use the latest mid-year population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
In this report, we have included bar charts with dotted red lines to show where a force is significantly different from the average for forces in England and Wales.
The dotted lines on the bar charts show one standard deviation above and below the unweighted average of all forces. Standard deviation summarises the difference between each individual value and the average and can be used to identify extreme or rare values.
Forces that are more than one standard deviation above or below the average are considered significantly different. These forces are outside the red dotted lines on our bar charts and we have highlighted them in either a dark blue (forces above average) or light blue (forces below average) colour. Typically, 32 percent of forces will be above or below these lines for any given measure.
We survey the police workforce throughout England and Wales to understand their experiences at work. The survey is an opportunity for the whole workforce to share their views with us. It is a valuable source of information as it isn’t possible to speak to everyone in a force during our inspection.
However, the responses we receive come from a non-statistical, voluntary sample within the workforce. The number of responses also varies between forces. This means that the results may be not representative of the workforce population.
We treat the results with caution and don’t use them to assess police forces. Instead, we use the results to establish themes that should be explored further during our inspection fieldwork. The results can also be used to give more evidence and validate information from other sources.
We carry out a victim service assessment for all forces as part of our inspection programme.
We assess the service that a force provides to victims. This is from the point of reporting a crime and throughout an investigation.
We also evaluate how forces record crimes. We assess every force on its crime recording practices at least once every three years.
Details of the technical methodology for the victim service assessment.
We carry out a stop and search audit for all forces as part of our inspection programme.
Our stop and search audits allow us to evaluate how well forces use their stop and search powers. We review how many stop and searches a force carried out under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. We analyse:
Derbyshire PEEL assessment 2023–2025
You can find more about Derbyshire Constabulary on our dedicated force page.
Derbyshire embraces diversity and recognises that the proportion of BME communities and languages used varies vastly between the city of Derby and the rural areas; emerging communities also present a range of challenges.
Derbyshire has a two-tier council system with a county council and eight district councils as well as the unitary City of Derby. The force engages in Community Safety Partnerships with each council, whilst strategic and safeguarding partnerships are maintained with both the city and county councils. The vast majority of the Peak District National Park Authority is within Derbyshire attracting more than 13 million visitors each year.
Find out more about HMICFRS’s work and other inspection areas.
Find out how well other forces have performed during their PEEL assessment.
You can view the recommendations for all forces made by HMICFRS on our Progress against recommendations page. This shows how much progress has been made on these recommendations.
