West Yorkshire Police welcomes her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s annual assessment which recognises the significant work being carried out by the Force and partners to reduce crime and tackle anti-social behaviour.
The first annual Force by Force assessment of Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL assessment) shows that West Yorkshire Police is rated as ‘good’ in the majority of categories.
In relation to effectiveness, the inspection considered three areas: preventing and reducing crime (good), tackling anti-social behaviour (good) and investigating crime (requires improvement).
Temporary Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, Dee Collins, said: “Crime has fallen in West Yorkshire by 19 per cent over the last four years and the proactive work we have been doing, including using predictive policing methods to identify areas at risk, has seen a particular reduction in dwelling burglaries.
“We note the Inspectorate’s comments that the sustained focus on preventing and reducing burglaries should not be at the detriment of other crime priorities. In line with the Police and Crime Plan, we are increasing prioritisation in other areas, including the recruitment of additional investigators to tackle safeguarding and child sexual exploitation investigations following the allocation of funding by the Police and Crime Commissioner.
“We aim to take a victim-centred approach to our investigations and it is encouraging that our victim satisfaction rate is higher than the national average. We have recently introduced a new deployment protocol which better assesses the vulnerability, risk and needs of callers and victim contracts which are unique to each victim and sets out the nature and frequency of contact that the victim wishes to have. We hope that once these are embedded they will further ensure that services to victims are tailored to their individual needs.
“Reducing anti-social behaviour remains a Force priority and the problem solving approach we are taking with partners in the council-run anti-social behaviour hubs appears to be working with reported incidents falling and incidents by population lower than the national average.”
In relation to efficiency, West Yorkshire Police was rated as good for providing value for money in the context of the current spending restraints.
Temporary Chief Constable Collins said: “The Programme of Change is fundamentally altering the way we do business and this assessment endorses that we are on the right track. The challenge remains significant and we still have a long way to go. Although we have realised huge savings, the further major savings needed are going to become increasingly difficult to find.
“I want to reassure people that we remain fully committed to providing quality services via our front line resources within our neighbourhoods and communities, whilst also recognising the changing demands such as child sexual exploitation, safeguarding and human trafficking which are now impacting upon our most vulnerable members of the public.”
In relation to legitimacy, the inspection recognises the progress the Force has made following a previous inspection in 2012.
Detective Chief Superintendent Clive Wain, of West Yorkshire Police’s Professional Standards Department, said: “The inspection acknowledges the significant work ongoing within the Force in relation to our developing counter corruption capability and educating all employees across the organisation in enhancing their personal and professional standards.
“We have introduced an improved structure to manage business interests and there is ongoing work around collating gifts and hospitality records and raising awareness among staff and officers of their responsibilities.
“As a Force we are currently rolling out an extensive programme to incorporate the national Code of Ethics and we acknowledge that much of the work that is currently being carried out to enhance and continually improve professional standards will be carried out in conjunction with the Code of Ethics programme.”