HMIC finds that the vast majority of police forces are good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour

Chief Constable Sir Jon Murphy said:

“We always aim to prevent harm rather than responding once it has happened so we are pleased that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) have found that the vast majority of police forces are good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour.  Forces have been working with our partners in health, social services and education to intervene early to deal with the causes of crime and this will be a key focus for policing in the next five years.

“HMIC’s assessment of police effectiveness also found good performance in tackling serious and organised crime and big improvements in our response to domestic abuse.

“Neighbourhood policing is vital in preventing crime, anti-social behaviour and terrorism.  Police chiefs have protected it when responding to previous budget cuts and are now considering the best way to deliver effective preventative policing in their communities while managing increasing demand in investigating complex, resource intensive crimes.  All chiefs agree that the positive effects of neighbourhood policing should continue but we also must respond to calls for help and prioritise based on threat, risk and harm so we have to manage our resources accordingly.

“The NPCC is working with police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to lead further reform of policing so that it is able to tackle new threats and improve the service to the public.  As part of that work, we are committed to improving digital investigations.  We are working the College of Policing and PCCs to address delays in recovering digital evidence and improve processes for identifying and supporting vulnerable victims. We are dealing with a huge increase in the volume of digital evidence related to everything from traffic offences to child sexual abuse, which we need to prioritise based on the risk to the public, so this is a complex issue to address.”