North Wales Police: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2017

Published on: 7 September 2017

Publication types: Crime recording

Police Forces: Heddlu Gogledd Cymru and North Wales

Please note: This inspection was carried out before 19 July 2017, when HMIC also took on responsibility for fire & rescue service inspections and was renamed HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. The methodology underpinning our inspection findings is unaffected by this change.

References to HMICFRS in this report may relate to an event that happened before 19 July 2017 when HMICFRS was HMIC.

Overall judgment

graded requires improvement

North Wales Police has made concerted efforts to improve the accuracy of its crime recording since HMICFRS’ 2014 Crime Data Integrity inspection report. Importantly, the majority of officers and staff have made progress in placing the victim at the forefront of their crime-recording decisions. We found that the force:

  • achieves high levels of recording accuracy for reported sexual offences;
  • has made good progress in its procedures in respect of the cancellation of recorded crimes;
  • has worked hard in bringing about improvements in the knowledge and understanding of the crime-recording requirements for modern day slavery crimes among officers and staff;
  • has implemented all of the recommendations set out in our 2014 report; and
  • has made good progress against a national action plan developed to improve crime recording by police forces.

Work remains to be done, however. Despite advances, based on the findings of our examination of crime reports for the period 1 September 2016 to 28 February 2017, we estimate that the force fails to record over 5,300 reported crimes each year. This represents a recording rate of 88.3 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 1.82 percent). The 11.7 percent of reported crimes that go unrecorded include serious crimes such as violence offences and domestic abuse. The recording rate for violent crime is a particular cause of concern at only 82.9 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 3.12 percent). This means that, on too many occasions, the force is failing victims of crime.

In particular, we consider that there are too many failures to make the correct crime-recording decision at the first opportunity and that staff and officers have an insufficient understanding of the crime-recording requirements for more complex crimes, such as harassment and malicious communications. These failings are compounded by inconsistencies in the force’s processes for the recording of reports of crime.

Summary of inspection findings

The force has improved its crime-recording processes since our 2014 report. In particular, we found that the force has:

  • improved and expanded its investigation support team (IST), which is the force’s crime-recording team;
  • implemented all of the recommendations set out in our 2014 report; and
  • made good progress against the action plan, developed by the national policing lead on crime statistics following the 2014 report, and which all forces have been asked to implement. These include improvements to the force’s use of out-of-court disposals and to the level of its audit of crime-recording decisions.

We also found that the force crime registrar (FCR) – responsible for oversight of crime-recording arrangements – has completed a national College of Policing course for FCRs and is now fully accredited for the role. His work is supported by an accredited deputy FCR.

Despite these advances, the force’s performance in respect of crime recording could be better in the following areas:

  • The force is currently under-recording violent crimes and must improve the accuracy of its recording of such reports.
  • The process for identifying violent incidents as crimes within the communication centre does not support accurate crime recording.
  • The time taken to record reports of crime is too often in excess of the 24 hours permitted by the Home Office Counting Rules (HOCR), and in turn this leads to delays in the referral of victims to the Victim Help Centre, letting down those victims who need the early support that this centre can provide.
  • The force must improve the extent to which it collects information regarding the effect of criminality on identifiable groups within communities.

Those failings are a consequence of officers and staff not always understanding their responsibilities for crime recording, compounded by deficiencies in the processes for crime recording within the force and limited supervision of crime-recording decisions.

Cause of concern

In North Wales Police there is a failure of officers and staff to make correct crime-recording decisions at the first opportunity when dealing with reports of violent crime, particularly in domestic abuse incidents. This is due to deficiencies in the force’s crime-recording processes, insufficient understanding of crime-recording requirements, and limited supervision to correct the decisions of officers and staff and improve standards from the outset. This means that the force is letting down many victims of crime.

Recommendations

  • Within three months, the force should take steps to identify and address gaps in its systems and processes within its communications centre for identifying and recording all reports of crime. This work should include:
    • a review of the incident types used in ICAD – the force’s incident management system – to make it clearer that the call involves the commission of a crime;
    • a review of the capacity of communication centre supervisors to provide adequate quality assurance of crime-recording decisions when closing incident logs; and
    • a review of the capacity of the IST to record all crimes within the timescales of the HOCR.
  • Within three months, the force should put in place arrangements to ensure that:
    • at the point of report, greater emphasis is placed on the initial account of victims;
    • where more than one crime is disclosed within an incident record, or is identified as part of other recorded crime investigations, these are recorded.
  • Within six months, the force should design and provide training for all relevant staff. This should include training in regard to:
    • the importance of believing the first account of the victim, particularly with regard to domestic abuse incidents;
    • offences involving malicious communications, harassment and public order;
    • recording as full an account as possible from callers within the incident record; and
    • fully communicating all available information to officers deployed to incidents.

Areas for improvement

  • The force should immediately improve how it collects diversity information from victims of crime and how it uses this to inform its compliance with its equality duty.

How effective is the force at recording reported crime?

graded requires improvement

Overall crime-recording rate

88.3% of reported crimes 
were recorded

Over 5,300 reports of crime a year 
are not recorded

The force has further work to do in order to ensure it records all reports of crime in accordance with the Home Office Counting Rules (HOCR). We examined reports of crime which the force received, and for which an auditable record was created. The force informed HMICFRS that 94.3 percent of crime that is recorded (excluding fraud) came through an auditable crime reporting route.

We found that the force recorded 88.3 percent of these crimes (with a confidence interval of +/- 1.82 percent). We estimate that this means the force is not recording over 5,300 reports of crime each year. Those failings are depriving many victims of the services to which they are entitled.

Of a total of 1,150 reports of crime that we audited, we found 318 that we assessed to be crimes related to domestic abuse. Of these 318 crimes, the force had recorded 255. The 63 offences not recorded included 52 violent crimes and 11 other crimes.

We found that many of these reports involved the reporting of a crime at the first point of contact with the force, but these crime reports went unrecorded with little rationale to explain why. As domestic abuse often involves victims who are particularly vulnerable to further offences being committed against them, the importance of recording reported crimes of domestic abuse cannot be overstated.

We found that safeguarding requirements had been considered in around three quarters of these reports. The reports where evidence of safeguarding was not found included cases involving threats to kill, stalking and coercive behaviour. We also found that the absence of a crime record resulted in only around half of these reports of crime being investigated, thereby increasing the potential risk of harm to the victim.

The under-recording of crimes related to domestic incidents, and the failure to provide safeguarding and a satisfactory service to these victims, are causes of concern. This is because domestic abuse often involves victims who are particularly vulnerable to further offences being committed against them.

The force has recently introduced a managed response unit (MRU). The role of this team is to improve the force response to those incidents suitable for resolution over the telephone. All MRU staff have undergone HOCR training and are developing expertise in this area. Although new, the force reported that the introduction of this unit had had a positive impact on the service it provides to victims of crime.

Factors contributing to the force’s under-recording of crime reports are its crime-recording processes, the crime-recording knowledge of its workforce and supervision in the communications centre.

  • Deficiencies in the crime-recording processes need to be addressed. In particular, we found that:
    • following a deployment officers and staff do not always record a good or valid explanation for why a crime should not be recorded;
    • call handlers do not always record on the incident log full details of the conversation they have had with the person reporting a crime and where they do record this information it is not always passed on to officers attending the crime. This means the attending officer does not always have the full information on which to base a crime-recording decision;
    • limitations on the type of incident codes available on ICAD means crime-related reports are not always coded in such a way as to link to the force’s crime-recording system (Niche). This means that these incidents are not reviewed by the IST for a crime-recording decision to be taken, resulting in many of these reports not being recorded; and
    • when further offences come to light after the initial deployment or during subsequent investigation, the force does not always record reported crimes.
  • We found that communications officers, frontline officers and staff in the IST are not always sure of crime-recording requirements. In particular:
    • basic crime-recording principles and knowledge of the crime-recording rules relating to harassment, malicious communications and public order are not always understood; and
    • there is a lack of experience and knowledge of the crime-recording rules among some recently-recruited staff in call-handling and in IST.
  • A further problem relates to the force’s supervision of its crime-recording decisions. We found that supervision of its crime-recording decisions requires improvement. In particular, communication centre supervisors do not have the capacity to scrutinise adequately all crime-related incidents to satisfy themselves that crime-recording decisions are correct.

Violence against the person

82.9% of reported violent crimes 
were recorded

Over 2,800 reports of violent crime a year 
are not recorded

We found that 82.9 percent of violent crimes reported to the force are recorded (with a confidence interval of +/- 3.12 percent). This is lower than the overall crime-recording rate noted above. By our estimate, this means the force fails to record over 2,800 violent crimes that are reported to it each year. As violent crime can be particularly distressing for the victim, this is an area in which the need for improvement is particularly acute and therefore a cause of concern.

In the majority of cases, where violent crimes were not recorded, we found the principal causes to be:

  • the processes currently in place for the recording of a reported crime (described earlier);
  • officers and staff not understanding adequately the crime-recording rules, particularly around the complexities of some violence offences such as harassment, malicious communications and public order. This results in the failure to record many such reports of crime; and
  • an absence of adequate supervision of crime-recording decisions in the communications centre.

Victims of violent crime and, in particular, victims of more serious violence, often require substantial support. This support should come not only from the reporting and investigating officers, but from other appropriate agencies, such as the Victim Help Centre. Under those circumstances, crime recording takes on a heightened importance. Failing to record properly a violent crime can result in the Victim Help Centre receiving no notification that a person has become a victim of violent crime. That in turn, deprives victims of the support they may need and deserve.

Sexual offences

96.9% of reported sex offences 
were recorded

Over 50 reports of sex offences a year 
are not recorded

We found that the force records 96.9 percent of sexual offence crimes (including rape) that are reported to it (with a confidence interval of +/- 1.84 percent). We estimate that this means the force fails to record over 50 reported sexual offence crimes each year.

This recording rate is very good and is indicative of the effort made by the force to improve crime recording since our 2014 report. This is particularly important in respect of sexual offence crimes, many of which are very serious in nature and cause significant harm to their victims. However, we note that the force failed to record a small number of reported offences including exposure and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity over social media.

We found that the force has effective processes and good oversight which helps to ensure reports of sexual offences that are received directly into the communications centre are recorded as crimes. This is because only one of two incident codes can be applied in the case of reports of sexual offences, both of which automatically interface with the crime-recording system (Niche). Additionally, the IST has a dedicated assessor for all reported sexual offences, IST supervisors are rigorous in their quality assurance of such incidents and the FCR and his deputy carry out daily checks of recorded sexual crimes and reported incidents.

Rape

70 of 72 audited rape reports were accurately recorded

Rape is one of the most serious sexual offence crimes a victim can experience. Therefore, the accurate recording of such reports is especially important. It helps to ensure the victim receives the service they have a right to expect and deserve, and it allows the police to identify the nature and extent of sexual violence in their local area. In turn, this enables the police to operate with the highest practicable levels of efficiency to identify and deal effectively with perpetrators.

We found 72 reports of rape that should have been recorded, and that 70 of these had been recorded. These include reports that originated on the force incident system, reports received directly by the IST from third party professionals, and from a review of N100 records (see below).

Of the two rapes that were not recorded, one was recorded as a different sexual offence and was fully investigated with safeguarding considered. The second was a historic report that was disclosed to healthcare professionals who informed North Wales Police. The victim has been fully safeguarded. The report dates back some thirty years and the force is to begin an investigation when the victims’ health allows.

Again, the rigour of the force processes and the effectiveness of the oversight given to reports of sexual offences means that the force performance in respect of its recording of reports of rape was found to be good.

The force also made very good use of the Home Office classification N100. Introduced in April 2015, the N100 is a record created to explain why reported incidents of rape or attempted rapes, whether from victims, witnesses or third parties, have not been immediately recorded as a confirmed crime. This can include instances where additional information confirms the rape did not occur, or where the rape occurred in another force area and was therefore transferred to the relevant force to record and investigate.

We found 13 incident reports for which the force should have applied an N100 classification. It was applied on all of these occasions.

Separately, we also reviewed 20 sample records where an N100 classification had been used. Among these, we found five reports which the force had subsequently correctly recorded as crimes of rape and three which should not have been recorded at all. All the others were correctly classified.

As with other sexual offences, the recording of a report of rape is important. Victims generally require significant support from the outset and any delay in providing support can be detrimental to both the recovery of the victim and to any investigation. This, in turn, can negatively influence future judicial proceedings. It is therefore to the credit of the force that its crime-recording arrangements for these offences are effective.

How efficiently do the systems and processes in the force support accurate crime recording?

graded good

Crime reports held on other systems

25 of 29 vulnerable victim crimes were recorded

In order to be confident that vulnerable victims always receive the support they need, it is important that crimes reported directly to the force’s public protection teams are always recorded. We were pleased to find that the force works hard to ensure that this is the case.

We examined 50 vulnerable victim records. Of these, we found that 29 crimes should have been recorded, of which 25 had been. The missing four crimes were of sexual assault on children, all from one incident. The first victim’s initial report was fully investigated. The investigating officer later identified the additional victims and recorded them within the investigation record. We found that all victims and the young suspect have been fully safeguarded.

We found that the force has a good process for managing referrals from partner organisations. All such referrals, usually received by email, are sent to the central referral unit for investigation and for safeguarding to be provided. Importantly, they are also sent to the IST, which is responsible for recording the crimes. This is a good process.

Modern slavery

Offences relating to modern slavery are an important and recent addition to the crimes that forces must record and investigate. We therefore reviewed the recording of reports of modern slavery offences. We also examined the force’s understanding of the origin of such reports.

We found that the force has good crime-recording arrangements in respect of modern slavery crime. Our audit showed that all 18 modern slavery crimes reported, had been recorded. The force had also correctly recorded five additional rape crimes and two assaults, but had not recorded one crime of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

We also examined three modern slavery referrals received from other agencies. From these the force had recorded all three modern slavery crimes along with three additional rapes.

The force has an identified lead for modern slavery who works at force, regional, national and international levels with other forces, partner organisations and overseas police organisations. Modern slavery is understood by officers at a local level. We were provided with details of effective operations which the force had conducted.

Additionally, the force has recently recruited a police community support officer to work in a modern slavery prevention role and is recruiting a victim co-ordinator who will be responsible for providing support to victims of modern slavery. This is good practice.

Timeliness

The HOCR require that reports of crime are recorded within 24 hours of the receipt of the report. We found that, of the reports of crime that had been recorded by North Wales Police, only 210 out of 432 reports of violent crime, 65 out of 130 sexual offences (excluding rape) and 227 out of 393 other offences had been recorded within 24 hours of the receipt of the report.

While some victims may be referred to support agencies by other means, the delay in recording a reported crime also delays the referral of the victim to the Victim Help Centre. As some victims would benefit from the early support this team can provide, these delays are unacceptable.

We found that these delays can be attributed to:

  • backlogs in the IST for the recording of reports of crime; and
  • not always recording all crimes reported as part of a single incident.

Cancelled crimes

Where additional verifiable information (AVI) is obtained to show that a recorded crime did not occur, the crime record can be cancelled.

The force operates a system whereby only the FCR and one of his staff can cancel recorded crimes. We found these arrangements to be effective.

We reviewed a sample of cancelled recorded crimes of rape, other sexual offences, violence and robbery. We found that the FCR and his staff had authorised correctly the cancellation of 20 out of 20 offences of rape, 19 out of 20 sexual offences, 18 out of 20 violence offences and two out of three robbery offences.

The force has identified that not all frontline staff have a good knowledge of what amounts to AVI for the purpose of cancelling a recorded crime. Consequently, it has introduced a process whereby all cancellation requests must be routed through a fully trained sergeant in each local policing area. This ensures inappropriate cancellation requests are not submitted to the FCR and his team, and also helps to educate those officers who may make requests with insufficient AVI. This is good practice.

Where a crime has been cancelled a victim should always know the status of his or her reported crime. In the case of a decision to cancel a recorded crime, the very least the victim should expect is an explanation of the reason for this decision. We found that the force had informed victims of this decision on all but one occasion. This is good and demonstrates appropriate consideration of victims’ needs.

Code of Practice for Victims of Crime

The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Document) provides clear guidance to police forces regarding the service that should be provided to the victims of crime. We have concluded that the force is aware of its responsibilities under this code. In particular, we found that the force, after it records a crime, sends victims a standard letter which provides them with information about the offence to which they have been subject.

The force has a Victim Help Centre which is funded by the police and crime commissioner. While some victims can refer themselves to the team the majority of referrals come when a crime is recorded on the force’s crime system. An initial victim needs assessment is conducted by the attending officer and this is provided to the Victim Help Centre. A second detailed victim needs assessment is conducted by staff within the team, and those who require more support receive this. We found this to be a good process which considers victim needs effectively.

We also found that staff are aware of their responsibilities under the code.

Equality

HMICFRS found that the force must improve in its collection of information regarding crimes affecting identifiable groups within communities.

Protected characteristics, such as gender, sexuality, disability, ethnicity, religion and age do not necessarily increase the vulnerability of an individual to the risk of crime. However, it is important that the force records information regarding the characteristics of victims of crime in order to identify any patterns which may exist between different community groups and their vulnerability to (or their relative likelihood to report) different types of crime.

Importantly, so long as the force fails to record such information, it will be unable to understand clearly whether its crime-recording decisions are consistent across different community groups. This is, therefore, an area for improvement.

Officer and staff survey

We conducted a survey of officers and staff in North Wales Police of their experience in respect of crime recording. Some 267 respondents completed the survey. We were pleased to find that the vast majority of respondents believe that doing the right thing for the victim is the aim of the force and this has been reinforced by senior managers. They also reported that the force’s approach to crime recording had improved or significantly improved since our 2014 inspection. Furthermore, staff were clear that they no longer felt under any pressure to minimise the number of crimes recorded on the basis of performance targets.

How well does the force demonstrate the leadership and culture necessary to meet the national standards for crime recording?

graded outstanding

The culture and leadership with regard to crime recording in the force is outstanding.

Senior officers demonstrate strong leadership with regard to crime-recording expectations. Without exception, we found an approach among officers and staff which places the victim at the forefront of their crime-recording decisions.

We also found evidence of strong governance in respect of crime recording. The FCR regularly attends dedicated crime-recording force performance meetings, one of which the deputy chief constable chairs.

The force has made good progress with implementing changes recommended in our 2014 report, and as a result all of these recommendations have been completed.

The force has also made good progress against the national action plan, developed by the national lead on crime statistics following our 2014 report and which all forces have been asked to implement. The development of the IST and the introduction of the MRU are good examples of how the force is maintaining the drive to ensure it has good crime-recording standards.

Conclusion

North Wales Police has made progress in its crime-recording processes since 2014. However, improvements must continue to be made.

The strong leadership and positive approach among officers and staff toward victims of crime is welcome, and some of the systems and processes used to ensure good crime-recording decisions are taken are to be commended. However, more needs to be done if the gaps in the force’s crime-recording arrangements identified in this inspection are to be overcome.

What next?

HMICFRS expects the force to make progress implementing recommendations we make in this report.

The cause of concern found during this inspection is such that HMICFRS may re-visit the force in 2018 to assess progress.