Coming out of ‘special measures’ is the evidence I’ve been waiting for, says PCC

• Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson has welcomed today’s announcement that Gloucestershire Constabulary is no longer subject to ‘special monitoring’ by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Services (HMICFRS)
• it comes after measures put in place by Chief Constable Rod Hansen and the PCC led to a vast improvement in crime recording, swifter call handling and a better service for victims
• Gloucestershire Constabulary entered the inspectorate’s ‘engage’ phase in December 2021, after inspectors identified causes of concern. Since then, the Inspectorate says it has made significant progress
• Mr. Nelson said “I am starting to feel like the Constabulary is developing into a high-performance organisation”.

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson has congratulated Gloucestershire Constabulary on today’s (Wednesday) announcement that it is no longer subject to ‘special monitoring’ by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Services (HMICFRS).

It comes after measures put in place by Chief Constable Rod Hansen and Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson led to a vast improvement in crime recording, more effective investigations, more accurate identification of vulnerable people and a better service for victims.

The latest Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) Inspection by the watchdog is currently ongoing, but early results have led HMICFRS to conclude that the Constabulary no longer needs enhanced checks.

In its judgement, HMICFRS said the progress made by the Force had been impressive, particularly with improvements in its crime recording accuracy, which were outstanding.

It means the Constabulary now leaves what the inspectorate calls its engage phase, sometimes referred to as ‘special measures’, in record time.

Mr. Nelson said, “I have regularly patrolled with our officers, and I never cease to be impressed with their professionalism when tackling serious problems. I am starting to feel like the Constabulary is making real progress developing into a high-performance organisation”.

Gloucestershire Constabulary formally entered the ‘engage’ phase in December 2021, after HMICFRS identified causes of concern earlier that year, based on force performance in 2020. These included that the Constabulary did “not understand” or “manage its demand”, was “failing to respond appropriately to some vulnerable people” and was “missing some opportunities to safeguard victims”.

Inspectors also found that some investigations were not consistently supervised to a good standard and sometimes victims weren’t updated.

Steps including an increase in staff to the Force Control Room, improved ICT systems and the introduction of a Crime Standards Bureau to ensure crimes are recorded accurately, and in a timely manner, have had a significant impact, said the HMICFRS.

Amongst the most impressive results:

• Crime recording accuracy has risen to 97.65%, 20% better than in 2019, with almost 90% of crimes now recorded within 24 hours – one of the best overall results across all 43 forces
• 999 call response times have halved over the last year, with last month at 7.8 seconds, its best in recent years, even though call demand is much higher
• Where a vulnerable person was identified, this was recorded 100% of the time, according to a key HMICFRS audit
• The Constabulary had significantly improved how it adhered to the Victim’s Code of Practice
• 91% of cases were successfully investigated
• Significant improvement in strategic planning, value for money, management and governance of budget and resources

Recruitment of more than 400 extra police officers, community support officers and front line police staff, strengthening of the Constabulary senior leadership team, changes to the core structure and training of the Force, and a new department dedicated to victim care are also expected to improve performance further.

Mr. Nelson said, “Within days of my election, I was presented with a draft report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate that was highly critical of the Force, based on performance data from the year before I started work.

“So for just over two years I have been addressing all the resource shortages the Force has had to cope with, recruiting like mad to strengthen the Constabulary, in numbers and in quality. I have also signed a £7M contract to replace our ageing record management system, which is a fundamental part of our crime recording processes.

“For too long the Force has been short of key resources, although its individual officers and staff have always performed at the highest level, giving their all to serve the public with pride. Anti-social behaviour has been cut by over 50% and the cost of rural crime has been cut by 29% – impressive results for any police force.

“Of course there is still more to do, for instance in answering 101 non-emergency calls more quickly and embedding a performance driven culture throughout the Force.  But all these independently recognised improvements mean the police are responding faster to incidents, looking after victims better, arresting more offenders, and solving more crimes.

“I am convinced the Constabulary is now reaping the benefits of all its hard work these last two years, and impressing residents with its professional and victim focussed performance.

“The Chief and I are certainly of one mind about where we want to take the force – to be outstanding in neighbourhood policing, crime prevention and taking a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour and male violence against women and girls”.