PCC welcomes independent inspection commending crime prevention and treatment of the public

The inspection into the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of Hertfordshire Constabulary has been welcomed by the Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd.

Although the format has changed this year, introducing a new category of adequate, the latest report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue (HMICFRS) highlights a number of areas of success, including crime prevention and the treatment of the public.

Hertfordshire Police have been commended by the independent inspector for ‘keeping people safe and reducing crime’ and having ‘an effective strategic planning framework to make sure it tackles issues that are important locally and nationally.’

Commenting on the report published today (Thursday) Mr Lloyd said: “We are pleased that the independent inspectorate has yet again found us to be one of the better forces in the country.

“I will use this report positively as a means to review practice across the whole constabulary, and to ensure that we still have a police force that works well for the public.

“This report recognises all the hard work carried out by officers and staff which has ensured that Hertfordshire remains a low crime area.”

The constabulary was rated ‘Good’ for its treatment of the public, with the report commending the panels set up by the PCC to scrutinise officers’ use of stop and search and use of force powers.

Preventing crime was also given a ‘Good’ rating with praise for the constabulary’s use of crime hotspot mapping to tackle criminal and antisocial behaviour. It found there was also evidence of support for children and young people to divert them away from criminal activity, alongside strong neighbourhood policing teams.

Mr Lloyd added: “The only area which ‘Requires improvement’ according to the report is in relation to responding to the public. I take that very seriously as the champion of the public and I will be ensuring that the Chief Constable delivers an improvement in performance.

“But we have already seen a significant improvement from when the inspection first started, as acknowledged within the report, and our response to emergency calls has continued to improve significantly. I agree with HMICFRS and will repeat that the public expects that we will attend incidents within the designated timeframes. We also need to ensure that repeat and vulnerable callers are identified, and that call handlers give appropriate advice on crime prevention and the preservation of evidence.

“It is broadly a good and useful report. Our police force is succeeding in its main duty to reduce crime and to keep residents and businesses safe and secure.

“It will spur us and the constabulary on to ensure we are one of the very best in the country when the next inspection is done, this report shows that we are well on the way.”