PEEL: Police effectiveness 2015 An inspection of Hampshire Constabulary February 2016 © HMIC 2016 ISBN: 978-1-911194-88-0 www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic Contents Overview – How effective is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime? ....................................................................................................................... 3 Overall judgment..................................................................................................... 3 Summary ................................................................................................................ 3 Force in numbers ..................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 10 How effective is the force at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, and keeping people safe? ............................................................................................. 12 How well does the force work to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour, and keep people safe? ................................................................................................ 15 How well does the force work with partners to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour, and keep people safe? ........................................................................ 18 Summary of findings ............................................................................................. 21 How effective is the force at investigating crime and managing offenders? .... 22 How well does the force investigate crime and keep victims safe and informed? . 24 How well does the force identify offenders and prevent them from re-offending? 30 Summary of findings ............................................................................................. 32 How effective is the force at protecting from harm those who are vulnerable, and supporting victims?........................................................................................ 34 Summary of findings ............................................................................................. 34 How effective is the force at tackling serious and organised crime, including its arrangements for fulfilling its national policing responsibilities? ................ 36 How well does the force understand the threat and risk posed by serious and organised crime? .................................................................................................. 38 How effectively does the force respond to serious and organised crime? ............ 40 How effectively is the force working with partners to prevent serious and organised crime? .................................................................................................. 42 How effective are the arrangements in place to ensure that the force can fulfil its national policing responsibilities?.......................................................................... 43 Summary of findings ............................................................................................. 45 Annex A – HMIC judgments .................................................................................. 46 2 Overview – How effective is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime? Overall judgment 1 Good Overall HMIC judges that Hampshire Constabulary is good at keeping people safe and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. The constabulary works well with local partner organisations to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour; it has dedicated resources to enable it to work within neighbourhoods to tackle issues of concern to communities. On the whole the constabulary investigates crime well and generally supports vulnerable people well but there is room for improvement in the way the force deals with some vulnerable victims of crime. 2 It has improved its approach to tackling serious and organised crime; and also works very well with partners to identify and manage the most serious repeat offenders to prevent re-offending and protect the public. This is the first year HMIC has graded forces on their overall effectiveness so comparison of their year-on-year effectiveness is not possible. Summary Overall HMIC judges Hampshire Constabulary is good at keeping people safe and reducing crime. Preventing crime, keeping people safe and reducing anti-social behaviour are clear priorities for the constabulary. The constabulary is aware that some levels of recorded crime have increased over the past year but is confident that this is a consequence of improved crime recording practices, rather than an increase in actual crime. A further period of monitoring is required before a definitive conclusion can be reached. The constabulary’s approach to investigating crime and managing offenders is good. However, the unexpected increase in recorded crime has meant that some officers have been carrying a higher than anticipated workload, and supervisors’ reviews of less serious crime have not always taken place. The constabulary is highly effective at preventing re-offending by working with partner organisations through a variety of different schemes, which help to identify, manage and divert vulnerable offenders away from further offending. 1 Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate – see Annex A of report for definitions. 2 A vulnerable person is someone who is in need of special care, support, or protection because of age, disability, or risk of abuse or neglect. 3 The constabulary effectively identifies repeat and vulnerable victims, and responds to them well. It investigates crime committed against most vulnerable victims well, usually ensuring the appropriate level of expertise is applied dependent on the level of the complexity of the investigation. However, the practice of resolving certain incidents involving potentially vulnerable people over the telephone should be reviewed so that the constabulary can be assured that it is consistently providing the right level of support and protection to all who need it. Hampshire Constabulary is good at identifying and tackling serious and organised crime. The constabulary understands the threat from serious and organised crime and it works well to disrupt and dismantle organised criminal groups which pose the greatest risk to communities. The approach would benefit from better communication with the public to raise awareness. The leadership has strong oversight of the force’s ability to respond to national threats, such as terrorism, serious cyber-crime incidents and child sexual abuse. Its own arrangements for ensuring it can meet its national obligations in this regard (such as planning, testing and exercising) are good. How effective is the force at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, and keeping people safe? How effective is the force at investigating crime and managing offenders? Good Good Hampshire Constabulary is good at preventing crime, anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe. This is consistent with HMIC’s judgment in the 2014 crime inspection when the constabulary was also good at reducing crime and preventing offending. Hampshire Constabulary is good at investigating crime and managing offenders. This is consistent with HMIC’s 2014 crime inspection, in which it was judged as good at investigating offending. Preventing crime, keeping people safe and reducing anti-social behaviour are clearly important to the constabulary. Senior police leaders work with other organisations to develop joint strategic approaches to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and to keep people safe. Despite financial constraints, the As part of the recent restructure, the constabulary has carefully considered how it effectively investigates all types of crime. It has introduced a new policing model which makes appropriate specialist provision for the most serious crime, but concentrates most investigative resources into either its telephone-based resolution centres and police investigation centres which deal 4 constabulary’s new policing model, allocates dedicated resources to work in neighbourhoods to address these issues. It works well with local partners to ensure a joined-up response to preventative activities and to early intervention to prevent any escalation of anti-social behaviour or crime. The constabulary has a structured approach to implementing evidence-based policing and HMIC saw a wide range of tactics being used to tackle problems of crime and anti-social behaviour. This could be enhanced by more consistent application of the shared problem-solving database used by the constabulary. Levels of anti-social behaviour continue to fall in Hampshire, although police recorded crime has increased in the 12 months to June 2015. The constabulary is monitoring these increases and is confident that this is a consequence of improved crime recording practices, rather than any real increase in actual crime. A further period of monitoring is required before a definitive conclusion can be reached. with majority complex and non-complex crime in the most efficient way. An unexpected increase in recorded crime has meant that officers have been carrying higher than anticipated workloads, which the constabulary has been working to bring down. HMIC is concerned to find that although supervisors set effective initial investigation plans, they rarely review progress on less serious crime meaning that there is a lack of supervision and oversight of these investigations. The constabulary is highly effective at preventing re-offending by working with partner organisations through a variety of different schemes, which help to identify, manage and divert vulnerable offenders away from further offending. HMIC found that these arrangements are good and maturing. Hampshire Constabulary has responded well to the increasing need for the police to examine digital evidence in crime investigations. It has a unique partnership arrangement with the University of Portsmouth to carry out forensic examinations on computers and other electronic equipment in a timely fashion. 5 How effective is the force at protecting from harm those who are vulnerable, and supporting victims? How effective is the force at tackling serious and organised crime, including its arrangements for fulfilling its national policing responsibilities? Requires improvement Good Hampshire Constabulary would have been assessed as good in this inspection were it not for a significant weakness in its practice of assessing the risk to some victims of domestic abuse over the telephone through its new resolution centre. Hampshire Constabulary is good at identifying and tackling serious and organised crime in its area. This is the first year HMIC has graded forces on their effectiveness at tackling serious and organised crime, including a force’s arrangements for ensuring that it can fulfil its national policing responsibilities, so no year-on-year comparison is possible. The constabulary is generally good at identifying vulnerable victims and responding to them appropriately. It investigates crime committed against most vulnerable victims well, with the right level of expertise involved in the investigation. The constabulary works well with partners and has implemented multiagency safeguarding hubs (MASHs) across the constabulary area. The constabulary understands the threat from serious and organised crime which is evident from its force strategic assessment, and the strategic serious and organised crime action plan. It has introduced a process by which activity to disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups (OCGs) is in line Hampshire has made progress in respect with the top risks to the public. This is designed to ensure that such activity is of the recommendations made by HMIC focussed on protecting those who are in our previous report on domestic abuse. We found a clear, structured and most vulnerable. well-supervised process for responding Oversight is provided through the OCG to reports that children are missing or management meeting and there are clear absent. The constabulary has made lines of accountability for tackling OCGs. good preparations to tackle child sexual Where they are used, management plans exploitation with awareness training to its are comprehensive and well structured staff. and generally involve other appropriate agencies working alongside the police to tackle OCGs. However the force needs to ensure that these plans are 6 consistently used so that it maximises its impact in targeting, disrupting and dismantling OCGs. The constabulary does not have a serious and organised crime communication plan, although HMIC did see evidence of improved awareness among its staff. Hampshire Constabulary has satisfactory oversight arrangements to fulfil its national policing responsibilities, and arrangements to test its response are in place. 7 Force in numbers (0 Calls for assistance Calls for assistance per 1,000 population 12 months to 31 March 2015 Crime Crimes recorded (excluding fraud) per 1,000 population 12 months to 30 June 2015 Crimes recorded (excluding fraud) per 1,000 population 12 months to 30 June 2014 Changes in recorded crime (excluding fraud) 12 months to 30 June 2014 against 12 months to 30 June 2015 Changes in recorded crime (excluding fraud) 12 months to 30 June 2010 against 12 months to 30 June 2015 Charge rate Charge rate as a percentage of all crimes recorded (excluding fraud) 12 months to 30 June 2015 Hampshire Constabulary Hampshire Constabulary 62.5 Hampshire Constabulary 52.8 Hampshire Constabulary +18.4% Hampshire Constabulary -11.0% Hampshire Constabulary 14.4% England and Wales England and Wales 63.0 England and Wales 60.3 England and Wales England and Wales -12.6% England and Wales 16.0% Hampshire . Anti-social behaviour Constabulary England and Wales Anti-social behaviour incidents per 1,000 population 12 months to 30 June 2015 Hampshire Constabulary England and Wales Anti-social behaviour incidents per 1,000 population 12 months to 30 June 2014 Domestic abuse Hampshire Constabulary England and Wales Hampshire Constabulary England and Wales Organised crime groups Domestic abuse as a percentage of all recorded crime (excluding fraud) 12 months to 31 March 2015 Domestic abuse as a percentage of all recorded crime (excluding fraud) 12 months to 31 March 2014 England and Wales ry Organised crime groups per million population as at 74.7 30 June 2015 Victim satisfaction rate h_ amps England and Wales Constabula Victim satisfaction rate 12 months to 31 March 2015 Introduction The public expects their local police force to: • Prevent crime and anti-social behaviour and, when crime occurs, to investigate it properly and provide support to victims. • Use appropriately trained officers and staff and approved practice when investigating crime, gathering evidence and building cases to ensure offenders are brought to justice. • Support victims of crime by responding to calls for service, identifying and putting in place the right help at the first point of contact, keeping them informed and consulting them about the possible outcomes of their case. • Ensure that vulnerable people who might not have been a victim of crime are identified and given appropriate support, for example people at risk of domestic abuse, children at risk of sexual exploitation and missing or absent children. • Understand and be prepared to respond to threats beyond their own force boundaries, including national threats such as terrorism, serious and organised crime and cyber-crime. • Work effectively with local partner organisations and other bodies to prevent all types of crime and re-offending and to protect the public. HMIC’s annual inspections into police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) consider whether forces keep people safe and reduce crime (how effective a force is), whether these activities are being carried out at the most appropriate cost (how efficient a force is), and how forces are ensuring they have the confidence of their communities (the public legitimacy of a force). All forces are subject to significant cost reductions; this is reflected in our efficiency reports published in October 2015. The judgments we are making in this effectiveness report are made understanding the financial challenges forces are facing. Reports on the efficiency and legitimacy of Hampshire Constabulary are available from the HMIC website (www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/). HMIC’s effectiveness inspections make an assessment of how well forces are preventing and investigating crime and anti-social behaviour; tackling serious and organised crime; and protecting victims and those who are vulnerable. These are the most important responsibilities for a police force, and are the principal measures by which the public will judge the performance of their force and policing as a whole. Our effectiveness inspection focused on the overall question: “How effective is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime?” 10 To answer this question we looked at four in-depth questions, three of which are discussed in more detail within this report: 3 1. How effective is the force at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, and keeping people safe? 2. How effective is the force at investigating crime and managing offenders? 3. How effective is the force at protecting those who are vulnerable from harm and supporting victims? 4. How effective is the force at tackling serious and organised crime, including its arrangements for fulfilling its national policing responsibilities? During our inspection, we collected data from forces, reviewed case files and surveyed the public to seek their views on the effectiveness of the force. We also surveyed and interviewed representatives from partner organisations to gather evidence about the effectiveness of their working relationships with the force. We interviewed chief constables and chief officers and held focus groups of officers and staff at all grades and ranks. We also made numerous unannounced visits to police stations to talk to frontline officers and staff about their work. This report sets out the findings from this wide-ranging inspection of Hampshire Constabulary. 3 HMIC inspected forces on questions 1, 2 and 4 between September and November 2015. Question 3 was inspected between June and August 2015, and a separate report was published in December 2015 (available from: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/publications/police-effectivenessvulnerability-2015-hampshire/). In 2014, in preparation for the PEEL programme, forces were inspected to assess how effective they are at cutting crime (available from: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/publications/crime-inspection-force-reports/). 11 How effective is the force at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, and keeping people safe? The police’s ability to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour and to keep people safe is a principal measure of its effectiveness. Crime prevention can be cheaper and more effective than investigating crime, and it makes society a safer place. The police cannot prevent crime on their own; other statutory and non-statutory bodies have a vital role to play. Police effectiveness in this matter is therefore dependent on their ability to work closely with other partner organisations to understand local problems and have access to a wide range of evidence-based interventions to resolve them. How much crime and anti-social behaviour is there in Hampshire? Although police recorded crime is by no means a complete measure of the totality of demand for calls on its service that a force faces, it does provide a comparable indication of performance across all forces. Crime rates are reported as a number of crimes per 1,000 population in each force area to enable comparison between areas. Total recorded crime is made up of victim-based crime (e.g. theft) and non victimbased crime (e.g. possession of drugs). More than two-thirds of forces showed an annual increase in total police recorded crime (excluding fraud) in the 12 months to 30 June 2015. This increase in police recorded crime may have been affected by the renewed focus on the quality and compliance of crime recording since HMIC’s national inspection of crime data in 2014. In 2010 the Home Secretary set a clear priority for the police service to cut crime. When compared with the 12 months to 30 June 2010, police recorded crime (excluding fraud) for the 12 months to 30 June 2015 fell by 11 percent in Hampshire compared with a reduction of 13 percent across all forces in England and Wales. Over this same period, victim-based crime (i.e. crimes where there is a direct victim such as an individual, a group, or an organisation) decreased by 14 percent in Hampshire, compared with a reduction of 12 percent across England and Wales. When compared with the previous year, police recorded crime (excluding fraud) in Hampshire increased by 18 percent for the 12 months to 30 June 2015. This is compared with an increase of 4 percent across England and Wales over the same period. Figure 1: Police recorded crime rates (per 1,000 population) for the five year period to 30 June 2015 12 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 - Hampshire Constabulary England and Wales Source: Home Office data The constabulary has sought to understand the reasons behind this increasing crime rate and is monitoring areas of increase closely. Its analysis shows that the volume of incidents being reported by the public has not altered over this period, and it points to better compliance with national standards around crime recording as the principal factor behind increases. HMIC’s view is that on the basis of the data available this is a plausible explanation, but a further period of monitoring is required to ensure that there are no other, as yet unseen, underlying factors behind this increase. The volume of police recorded crimes and incidents of anti-social behaviour per head of population indicates how safe it is for the public in that police area. Figure 2 shows crime and anti-social behaviour rates in Hampshire (per 1,000 population) compared with England and Wales. 13 Figure 2: Police recorded crime rates (per 1,000 population) for the 12 months to 30 June 2015 Rates per 1,000 population Hampshire Constabulary England and Wales Recorded crime (excluding fraud) 62.5 63.0 Victim-based crime 53.6 56.0 Sexual offences 2.0 1.6 Assault with injury 7.8 6.3 Burglary in a dwelling* 4.8 8.4 29.0 32.9 Anti-social behaviour incidents* Source: Home Office data, HMIC data return *Anti-social behaviour data is from the constabulary’s data return and the rate for burglary in a dwelling is the rate per 1,000 households, not population. HMIC has chosen these types of crime to indicate offending levels in the constabulary area. We are not judging the effectiveness of the constabulary on police recorded crime rates only. In the 12 months to 30 June 2015, Hampshire Constabulary recorded 56,337 incidents of anti-social behaviour. This is 7 percent fewer incidents than the constabulary recorded during the previous 12 months. When considering all forces across England and Wales, there were 9 percent fewer incidents in the 12 months to 30 June 2015, than recorded during the previous 12 months. 14 Figure 3: Percentage change in the volume of anti-social behaviour incidents, by force, comparing the 12 months to 30 June 2015 with the 12 months to 30 June 2014 10% 5% 0% -5% -10% -15% -25% Cumbria Metropolitan Police West Yorkshire Leicestershire Dyfed-Powys Warwickshire Avon and Somerset Norfolk Dorset South Yorkshire Cambridgeshire Sussex South Wales Humberside West Midlands Hampshire Cheshire North Wales Northumbria Lancashire Durham West Mercia Northamptonshire Derbyshire Greater Manchester City of London Wiltshire Lincolnshire Gloucestershire Surrey Kent Suffolk Devon and Cornwall Merseyside Cleveland Thames Valley North Yorkshire Gwent Staffordshire Nottinghamshire Hertfordshire Essex Bedfordshire -20% Hampshire Constabulary England and Wales Source: HMIC data collection How well does the force work to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour, and keep people safe? How well is the force prioritising the prevention of crime and anti-social behaviour? Preventing crime and anti-social behaviour are clear priorities for the constabulary and the police and crime commissioner. HMIC found that management processes directing the day to day activities of officers and staff enable a strong focus on crime and anti-social behaviour prevention. These ensure that prevention is part of police work throughout the constabulary from the local policing teams through to the teams tackling serious and organised crime. A recent operational restructure created the prevention and neighbourhoods command, which manages the resourcing of neighbourhood policing teams across the constabulary. These police teams work with other local services to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in order to protect vulnerable people. HMIC found that officers in these teams have a good knowledge of the problems and demographics of their area and their work was focussed on addressing these problems. To support officers in neighbourhood policing teams, the constabulary has provided a week-long ‘neighbourhood excellence’ training course, which has been completed by more than 600 officers supplemented by additional online training available for supervisors. As part of its response to reducing police spending, the constabulary has reduced the number of dedicated crime prevention officers and instead has 15 provided a set of crime prevention toolkits available to all staff via the constabulary’s intranet. We spoke to a range of frontline staff including investigators and neighbourhood officers, as well as those involved in response and patrol functions. HMIC found commitment from staff to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and there is evidence of crime reduction being part of normal daily activity. Much of the work to achieve this is led by the neighbourhood and prevention command officers, as was intended following the introduction of the new operating model in April 2015. HMIC is encouraged to see that some response and patrol officers still provide basic crime prevention advice, although HMIC was told that increasingly this work is referred on to the neighbourhood teams. HMIC considers that as the distinction between teams within the new operating model matures, the split in responsibilities may result in a loss of cohesion between neighbourhood staff primarily carrying out problem solving, and response officers, who respond to calls for immediate police assistance and reports of crime and disorder. The constabulary must remain assured that efforts to prevent and reduce crime remain coherent across all frontline staff. How well are resources allocated to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour? The constabulary has planned well in allocating resources to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour. It has taken a proactive approach to re-shaping its policing model with the intention of continuing to protect the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with reduced levels of resources. Over a two year period it researched, planned and delivered a new organisational structure for policing in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. This structure includes a neighbourhoods and prevention command with dedicated resources in each of the thirteen local police areas (LPA). Each LPA is headed by a district commander of chief inspector rank, responsible for an area that matches local authority boundaries. There are dedicated neighbourhood teams, comprising police officers and police community support officers (PCSOs), whose primary responsibilities are preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. Each member of the team is responsible for management of identified local anti-social behaviour problems, local crime profiles, and for monitoring those people in the community who are most vulnerable as well as those most likely to offend. Taken together, this means there is local accountability for, and knowledge of, those who cause harm or are vulnerable to harm in each area, driven by a focus on tackling anti-social behaviour and prevention of crime. 16 HMIC found good use of volunteers who provide assistance to the constabulary. These include members of the Special Constabulary who are closely aligned to LPAs to support crime prevention and anti-social behaviour initiatives, along with an active community ‘speed watch’ scheme spread widely across the constabulary’s policing area. The concerns held by HMIC from previous inspections that neighbourhood officers were being taken away from local preventative activities to fill shortfalls in response and patrol functions have been largely addressed. There are some reports of neighbourhood staff being abstracted on occasions for other duties, but overall this is no longer a major concern. Staff told us that there is a mixed picture in terms of the quality and availability of intelligence support throughout the constabulary. In some areas there are good interactions with the local intelligence officer, but staff provided examples of briefings where the content was repetitive and out of date. How well is the force using a broad range of effective tactics to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour? Hampshire Constabulary recognises the value in understanding ‘what works’ and promotes the use of evidence-based policing techniques and a range of tactics are in operational use to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour. The constabulary has set up an evidence-based policing board that identifies how academic research can be used to improve policing practices and the constabulary has created an organisational learning team to support this process. Online resources are provided to help officers and staff identify the most effective approaches to take and make the best use of their time when dealing with locally identified problems. In addition to online toolkits, there is access to the evidencebased policing tool, an application on the constabulary’s intranet that helps staff to extract a range of trend data from constabulary systems to inform their decisionmaking. There is also a multi-agency problem-solving database which both the police and partners use to share information and record joint problem-solving plans, all of which are structured around the scan, analyse, respond, assess (SARA) 4 problem-solving model. The constabulary has increased the frequency of meetings designed to manage and prioritise operational activity in real-time, from one to three times per day, which has improved the management and oversight of policing activity. During reality testing HMIC found neighbourhood officers employ a range of prevention tactics and were provided with evidence of a broad range of problemsolving approaches being appropriately used and recorded. Examples included: 4 SARA is an acronym for scanning, analysis, response, and assess. The process is aimed at identifying legal and ethical solutions to policing problems such as anti-social behaviour. 17 • freshers' week crime prevention work to reduce vulnerability among further education students; • proactive use of anti-social behaviour legislation, such as Criminal Behaviour Orders; • the use of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) for younger children in partnership with council community wardens; • rural crime initiatives, specifically Operation Falcon which focuses on reducing the incidence of repeat crime in rural areas; • provision of security measures, such as locks and bolts in locations vulnerable to acquisitive crime; • challenge and change anti-social behaviour diversion scheme for young people; and • community court pilot operated with the support of volunteers. HMIC is aware that officers attending the neighbourhood excellence course are trained to use the SARA model and this is built into the shared problem-solving system. However, HMIC found that application of the model and use of the shared system was not entirely consistent across the constabulary. Some officers record their activity on other constabulary systems meaning that the application of the SARA model and its wider benefits are not being consistently realised. How well does the force work with partners to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour, and keep people safe? How committed is the force to working with partner organisations? Hampshire Constabulary is committed to working with partners and invests a significant amount of time and effort into partnership work. The constabulary operates within a complex arrangement of partner agencies and local authorities. Despite the complexity it is consistently and proactively engaging with partner organisations, exploiting opportunities to work together to achieve shared objectives. The constabulary is well represented at senior level in a series of partnership meetings, including those designed to protect the most vulnerable in communities. It has committed resources to work with partners to reduce crime and protect vulnerable people, such as through the integrated offender management (IOM) programme, 5 multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASHs) 6 and multi-agency work tackling child sexual exploitation. 5 Integrated offender management (IOM) brings a multi-agency response to the crime and reoffending threats faced by local communities. The most persistent and problematic offenders are identified and managed jointly by partner agencies working together. 18 In addition: • a chief inspector has been placed within the “troubled families” team; • council staff have access to local intelligence which feeds directly into the SafetyNet system; and • a sergeant has been dedicated to the Basingstoke Community Safety Partnership to facilitate early intervention on emerging issues. During fieldwork HMIC spoke to a number of partners who frequently work with Hampshire Constabulary. Partners were satisfied with the constabulary’s commitment to partnership working. Partners are able to contribute to the creation of the constabulary strategic assessment and there is active and constructive joint work through the local community safety partnerships, producing co-operative activity aimed at reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. How well does the force share and use information with partners to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour? The constabulary is effective at sharing and using information with partners on a number of levels. At the strategic level there are formal meetings such as; dealing with people who are ‘missing exploited and trafficked’ (MET), multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) 7 and community safety partnerships (CSP). In addition, at tactical levels, there are joint co-located teams, such as IOM and MASHs. A process has been created to identify and protect those at risk of child sexual exploitation, where the constabulary shares information effectively with partners to prevent crime and protect vulnerable people. At the operational level the constabulary uses a shared problem-solving database to share information, work together and track progress for people and locations which present a problem to the local community. The system permits each agency to create a ‘problem profile’ using the SARA model and supply relevant information, which can be accessed and actioned by the other agencies who subscribe to the system. At the time of the inspection, 106 partner agencies had access to the system. However, there are varying degrees of use among the 106 partner agencies. HMIC found that some agencies are reluctant to use the system, which leads to sharing updates becoming far more time consuming. The constabulary recognises this issue, and along with the police and crime commissioner, is actively engaged in promoting the merits of the system with partners. 6 A MASH brings together into a single location key safeguarding agencies to better identify risks to children (and in some areas, vulnerable adults), and improve decision-making, interventions, and outcomes. 7 MARACs are multi-agency meetings where statutory and voluntary agency representatives share information about high risk victims of domestic abuse in order to produce a co-ordinated action plan to increase victim safety. 19 Each LPA hosts a partnership meeting, and while the titles of the meeting differ from area to area, they all provide an opportunity for the police to come together with partners, share information and plan how to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour. During fieldwork HMIC spoke to a range of officers, staff and partners and who spoke positively about the exchange of information between the different agencies. How well is the force working with partner organisations to keep people safe and tackle anti-social behaviour in local neighbourhoods? The constabulary has trained staff who receive calls for service from the public to identify if a person is a repeat victim of crime or anti-social behaviour. The IT system used to log details of call for service will automatically flag up to the operator if there is further information held by the constabulary about that particular caller. Staff are aware of the need to provide an enhanced service to repeat victims, and vulnerable repeat victims are identified well, but the levels of knowledge about exactly what constitutes a repeat victim in other cases is not consistent across the constabulary and therefore requires refreshing. The constabulary has an effective process in place to identify and work with partner agencies to address problems of anti-social behaviour. Every report of anti-social behaviour is assessed using a single risk assessment matrix which highlights the identification of repeat victims. Where appropriate, cases will be taken to the LPA multi-agency tasking meeting where a problem-solving approach can be adopted to resolve the issue. HMIC has reviewed a sample of minutes from these meetings and they are an effective forum through which to tackle anti-social behaviour. There are good examples of joint local work and early intervention; for instance, Southsea neighbourhood officers work with troubled families, youth offending teams (YOT), the drug intervention programme (DIP), 8 and integrated offender management (IOM). Each case is assessed for risk, harm and vulnerability, which may then lead to partnership activity which is aimed at diverting offenders away from future offending. Appropriate processes are in place to allow the constabulary to respond to community triggers, and it has done so on two occasions following the introduction of the community complaints trigger. 9 8 Drug intervention programme (DIP) is a national framework for prison release and arrest referral drug work. 9 The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced a process through which victims of anti-social behaviour (ASB) can require agencies to carry out a review of their response to reports of ASB. 20 Summary of findings Good Hampshire Constabulary is good at preventing crime, anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe. This is consistent with HMIC’s judgment in the 2014 crime inspection when the constabulary was also good at reducing crime and preventing offending. Preventing crime, keeping people safe and reducing anti-social behaviour are clearly important to the constabulary. Senior police leaders work with other organisations to develop joint strategic approaches to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and to keep people safe. Despite financial constraints, the constabulary’s new policing model allocates dedicated resources to work in neighbourhoods to address these issues. It works well with local partners to ensure a joined-up response to preventative activities and to early intervention to prevent any escalation of anti-social behaviour or crime. The constabulary has a structured approach to implementing evidence-based policing and HMIC saw a wide range of tactics being used to tackle problems of crime and anti-social behaviour. This could be enhanced by more consistent application of the shared problem-solving database used by the constabulary. Levels of anti-social behaviour continue to fall in Hampshire, although police recorded crime has increased in the 12 months to June 2015. The constabulary is monitoring these increases and is confident that this is a consequence of improved crime recording practices, rather than any real increase in actual crime. A further period of monitoring is required before a definitive conclusion can be reached. 21 How effective is the force at investigating crime and managing offenders? When a crime occurs, the public must have confidence that the police will investigate it effectively, take their concerns as victims seriously, and bring offenders to justice. To be effective, investigations should be well planned and supervised, based on approved practice, and carried out by appropriately trained staff. The risk posed by those who are identified as being the most prolific or dangerous offenders must also be properly managed (in partnership with other organisations), to minimise the chances of continued harm to individuals and communities. HMIC referred to national standards and best practice in examining how well the force allocates and investigates both complex and non-complex (e.g. burglary, robbery and assault) crime, including the full range of ways police officers and staff can gather evidence to support investigations (these include the more traditional forensics, such as taking fingerprints, as well as digital sweeps to find evidence of online abuse, for instance). We also looked at how well the force works with partners to identify vulnerable offenders and prevent them from re-offending, and how well it identifies and manages repeat, and dangerous and sexual offenders. How well does the force bring offenders to justice? Since April 2014, police forces in England and Wales have been required to record how investigations are concluded in a new way, known as ‘outcomes’. Replacing what was known as ‘sanction detections’, the new outcomes framework gives a fuller picture of the work the police do to investigate and resolve crime. The new broader framework (now containing twenty different types of outcomes) is designed to support police officers in using their professional judgment to ensure a just and timely resolution. The resolution should reflect the harm caused to the victim, the seriousness of the offending behaviour, the impact on the community and deter future offending. Given the work involved in amending police force crime-recording systems to accommodate fully the new outcomes framework, two forces have not yet been able to provide a full year of data for all new outcomes types. Hampshire Constabulary, however, has been providing the Home Office with full data since April 2014. The complete range of new outcome types will be used in future HMIC inspections, once all forces have provided a full year of data. Figure 4 shows only those outcome types for which full data is available for all forces in England and Wales. 22 Figure 4: Outcomes recorded in the 12 months to 30 June 2015 for all police recorded crime (excluding fraud) 10 11 12 Outcome type/group Hampshire Constabulary Number of outcomes Charged/Summonsed Rate England and Wales Number of outcomes Rate 17,420 14.4 577,678 16.0 367 0.3 21,318 0.6 4,395 3.6 165,384 4.6 Caution - youths 691 0.6 19,703 0.5 Caution - adults 2,938 2.4 115,000 3.2 766 0.6 30,681 0.8 5,504 4.5 159,915 4.4 Cannabis/Khat warning 1,370 1.1 41,964 1.2 Community resolution 4,134 3.4 117,951 3.3 Taken into consideration Out-of-court (formal) Penalty Notices for Disorder Out-of-court (informal) Source: Home Office crime outcomes data Outcomes are likely to differ from force to force for a number of reasons. Certain offences are more likely to be concluded without offenders being prosecuted, typically including types of crime such as cannabis misuse. If this type of crime is particularly prevalent in a force then it is likely that the level of 'cannabis/khat 13 warning' outcomes would be greater. The frequency of outcomes may also reflect the force's policing priorities. For example, some forces work hard with partners to ensure that first time and low-level offenders are channelled away from the criminal justice system. In these areas, locally based community resolutions are likely to be more prevalent than elsewhere. When considering all crimes recorded (excluding fraud), outcome rates for Hampshire Constabulary are broadly in line with most other forces in England and Wales. 10 Rate based on number of outcomes recorded in 12 months to 30 June 2015 divided by number of offences recorded in 12 months to 30 June 2015. 11 For a full commentary and explanation of outcome types please see Crime Outcomes in England and Wales 2014/15, Home Office, London, July 2015. Available from: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445753/hosb0115.pdf 12 Community resolutions are an out-of-court disposal the police can use to deal with anti-social behaviour and low-level crime. 'Taken into consideration' is when an offender admits the commission of other offences in the course of sentencing proceedings and requests those other offences to be taken into consideration. 13 A plant native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, the leaves of which are frequently chewed as a stimulant; the possession and supply of khat became a criminal offence in England and Wales in 2014. 23 How well does the force investigate crime and keep victims safe and informed? How well does the force initially investigate and allocate cases? It is important that when the police are called to an incident they respond in a timely manner, with officers or staff who are trained and competent to keep people safe, and who can take steps to apprehend offenders and investigate the circumstances if a crime has occurred. An effective initial response by the police increases the likelihood of a successful outcome for both the victim and the criminal justice system. Subsequent investigation by detectives and other specialist police staff also needs to be well managed and resourced. Effective investigation requires that suspects, once identified, should be managed though the investigation and criminal justice processes. In 2015 the constabulary went fully live with a new operating model which clearly defines how each part of the constabulary should deal with the various types of crime. It also established new departments, such as the resolution centre, and dedicated investigation teams. The levels of resourcing allocated to these functions followed detailed analysis of the levels of demand managed by the constabulary up to late 2014; types of demand included volume of calls for service, crime levels, and numbers of prisoners taken into police custody. However, the constabulary has experienced an unanticipated increase in recorded crime over the last 12 months. While this is not thought to reflect an increase in actual crime in Hampshire, it has led to an increased workload, meaning that the planning assumptions used to develop the new operating model have not matched reality. The constabulary has subsequently reviewed its operating model and is exploring measures to address areas of high workload pressure. An example is the introduction of a team providing direction and information to response officers, so that they can quickly resolve some crimes and provide effective outcomes for victims without them having to attend court. Steps already taken to reduce workloads are starting to have an impact; analysis provided by the constabulary indicates that from a peak in March 2015, the number of live cases allocated to investigators has steadily reduced and is now a third lower. However, HMIC heard from investigators and their supervisors that workloads were still high and that this impacts on the timeliness of investigations, which in turn creates an additional work providing further updates to victims and ultimately lower levels of satisfaction. Response officers receive training and are expected to undertake the ‘golden hour’ initial investigation principles. These principles require officers to complete a mandatory action plan for reports of crimes that they attend, prior to handing over virtually all cases to investigators within police investigation centres (PICs). Crime incidents not attended by response officers are initially dealt with by call-handlers at the force enquiry centre (FEC). The call-handler makes a decision about the 24 likelihood of solving the crime alongside any risk, threat or harm factors which might be identified and then allocates the crime to specialists best placed to investigate it. For example, hate crime – which does not always require an immediate response – or anti-social behaviour – best dealt with by a neighbourhood officer – would be sent directly to the relevant team. Officers in neighbourhood teams hold a small and appropriate crime investigation workload. Response teams’ primary responsibilities are the pursuit of suspects and ensuring crimes that they attend receive a professional initial investigation. Neighbourhood teams are responsible for making sure victims are safeguarded as investigations continue. Neighbourhood staff have recently received training from public protection specialists to better equip them to conduct follow-up visits to domestic abuse victims, and other training to build their awareness of warning signs and trigger behaviour that can indicate that a child is facing sexual exploitation. In the case of reports received at the FEC which do not require the immediate or urgent deployment of an officer to the scene, but do have lines of enquiry to pursue, the report is allocated to the resolution centre. Staff in the resolution centre will conduct further enquiries to ascertain if an investigation is necessary and if so pass the results of their enquiries to the PIC for allocation to an investigator. Alternatively, if after following all reasonable lines of enquiry there is no basis to investigate further, the investigation will be closed by the resolution centre. The resolution centre currently deals with 30 percent of reported crime. Supervisors in the resolution centre do provide initial oversight by setting a generic investigation plan at the outset and then review the investigation after the enquiries are complete, but there is no checking of progress throughout an investigation. The initial assessment of the crime by the supervisor provides an opportunity to identify its suitability to be dealt with in the centre and to identify any risks that might be present. How well does the force investigate different types of crime? In HMIC’s 2014 crime inspection a number of recommendations were made to Hampshire Constabulary including that it should make sure that the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, 14 especially in relation to the use of victim personal statements and special measures, was complied with and feedback from victims used to improve the service provided. This is an area that has improved. We found that compliance with the code is now good, and is well understood by staff. There is still room for improvement but the direction of travel is positive and there is a process to identify when victim personal statements have not been taken which will further improve adherence to the code. HMIC’s 2014 crime inspection also found improvement was needed in the quality of crime investigations. This included 14 Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470212/code-of-practice-forvictims-of-crime.PDF 25 ensuring that investigating officers and police staff have the right professional skills and expertise and supervisors are providing oversight, direction and driving up standards on quality and the timeliness of investigations. Since then as part of its new operating model, the constabulary has brought together the majority of its investigative expertise and seeks to provide resilience by economies of scale through the creation of police investigation centres (PICs) located in Southampton, Basingstoke and Fratton. This is a move away from the traditional model of local CID as there are no LPA-based investigators. Police investigation centres are made up of both uniformed and detective staff which means that serious and complex crimes can be allocated to accredited detectives, and more straightforward crimes such as criminal damage, routine theft, public order offences and lower-level assaults are allocated to uniformed officer and police staff investigators. Following the implementation of the new operating model the constabulary has recognised that there are some skills gaps in the investigations command. The constabulary is providing professional development opportunities, for example, proactive development days, study time for the detective accreditation programme (ICIDP), workshops on new legislation and investigative techniques, along with bulletins. Each PIC offers investigators the opportunity to progress through the PIP accreditation process and ICIDP course. This is positive and provides officers and staff a professional career pathway. However, there is a lack of ongoing supervision of non-complex crimes. The constabulary has made a conscious decision that non-complex crimes will not receive ongoing supervisor reviews. Upon initial allocation by a supervisor it is risk assessed and an investigation plan put in place. The responsibility for delivering this plan or seeking further advice then rests with the allocated investigator. A supervisor will not see the crime report, or review progress until it is returned following investigative activity. During our fieldwork we heard from a number of supervisors who were concerned that the volume of work held by their staff prevented them from carrying out progress reviews; this suggests that there is some confusion amongst staff about whether these should take place. In other cases supervisors were not aware of individual investigator’s workloads, meaning that they do not have a comprehensive picture of the nature or size of the workloads carried by their staff. While acknowledging the steps the constabulary has taken to provide training and reduce the workload in the PICs and the resolution centre, the lack of ongoing supervisory oversight to identify any gaps of capacity or capability to deal with noncomplex crime through various phases is of concern. Supervisors are reliant on individual officers to seek advice and manage their own workloads. This reduces the opportunity for supervisors to guide individual investigators, particularly when cases approach the limit of their experience or ability, or to ensure that workloads are spread evenly between staff. 26 Bi-monthly audits of successful and unsuccessful cases brought to magistrates and crown courts are assessed to monitor and identify prosecution file quality issues. This is having a positive effect on driving up standards and the constabulary has found a notable improvement in the three months up to August 2015; the direction of travel is good, but it is too early to say if this progress is sustainable. A senior detective at each PIC is held to account for performance and progress on key issues such as the correct charging decision, disclosure to the defence and keeping victims updated and informed. The constabulary has formalised training to meet the gaps identified from case file quality monitoring, for example, dealing with disclosure and improving case summary evidence. Specialist resources, for example crime scene investigators, provide a good service; their attendance at crimes scenes is based on professional judgment and an assessment of whether the crime might be solved. The number of crime scenes attended up to June 2015 is less than in the previous 12 months although the number of positive identifications from forensic examinations of crime scenes has remained broadly stable. Proactive and covert teams work across the constabulary to investigate more serious crimes, for example, kidnap. The constabulary-level daily management meetings allow other investigative teams to request assistance from specialist teams to help target suspects and offenders who present a high risk of harm to the community, even when the nature of their criminality is confined to less severe crime types. The constabulary’s organisational learning team captures learning from serious case reviews and domestic homicides. Where necessary they put immediate actions in place, while other relevant learning is used to improve policy, practice and training for investigators. How well does the force gather digital evidence? Increasingly, crime in England and Wales is committed online and through the use of digital devices such as tablets, computers or mobile phones. All forces have to retrieve data from these devices and examine them for evidence; staff, in what may be known as high tech crime units (HTCU), carry out these examinations. In the 2014 crime inspection HMIC made a recommendation that the constabulary review the resourcing and process for prioritising the examination of computer equipment seized as part of criminal investigations. Significant progress has been made to improve the timeliness of digital evidence capture and recovery to support investigations. The constabulary has established a unique collaborative arrangement with the University of Portsmouth to provide timely technical evidence from computers and digital devices. The scientific services team is based within the university campus and has digital forensic group technicians and examiners who work on forensic imagery, phone and computer images and downloads. Investigators, who make submissions to scientific services, informed HMIC that examinations are conducted to the required standards, as set out in the service level 27 agreement, and there are few backlogs. Over the last 12 months the backlog of computer and digital device examination has been reduced with a clear prioritisation process, which means that serious crimes involving the most vulnerable people, including children, are the focus of investigation. Performance against agreed turnaround times is good and improving and where there are exceptional circumstances then these requests can be expedited. The location of scientific services sometimes makes it more difficult for investigators to view the evidence found as they need to travel some distance to one location, however, by the end of 2015 remote access viewing will be enabled. Investment in technology to interrogate mobile devices, such as phones, is also available at police stations and specially trained officers are able to examine phones for evidence to help make early decisions on charging offenders with a crime. The use of digital evidence captured on officers’ body-worn video is making a difference to the number of offenders who decide to plead guilty at an early stage in an investigation, which may go some way to explain the large increase in guilty pleas at court. Overall, progress on this recommendation is excellent which means offenders are being brought to justice more quickly. How satisfied are victims of crime with the service provided by the force? Of those who have been the victim of a crime in Hampshire in the 12 months to 31 March 2015, 84.1 percent were satisfied with their whole experience with the police. This is similar to the national victim satisfaction rate of 83.8 percent over the same time period. The victim satisfaction rate in Hampshire for the 12 months to 31 March 2015 is significantly lower than the previous year’s rate, while it is broadly in line with the rate for the 12 months to 31 March 2011. 28 Figure 5: Percentage of victims satisfied with the overall service provided by the police, for the four year period to 31 March 2015 100% 95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50% Hampshire Constabulary Mar-15 Dec-14 Sep-14 Jun-14 Mar-14 Dec-13 Sep-13 Jun-13 Mar-13 Dec-12 Sep-12 Jun-12 Mar-12 Dec-11 Mar-11 40% 0% Sep-11 ≈ Jun-11 45% England and Wales Source: Home Office data provided by forces During the inspection HMIC was advised that the constabulary takes steps, over and above the required Home Office survey, to ensure that victims receive a high quality of service. This starts at first point of contact when supervisors dip-sample the quality of response received by callers to the force enquiry centre (FEC), and how in the police investigation centre (PIC) investigation performance takes account of victim satisfaction. Each supervisor in the constabulary calls three victims of crime per month to assess how well they were dealt with. Individual officers are informed of the results of these victim call-backs and trends analysed at a constabulary-wide level. As a result measures have been put in place to improve how cases progress to court, for example, a domestic abuse officer from the investigations team being able to provide a single point of contact for victims. The constabulary considers that this decline in victim satisfaction is due in part to the narrow criteria of crime types this survey covers, some of which are of the type the constabulary now deals with over the telephone through its resolution centre without any physical police attendance. It has carried out a more detailed analysis of satisfaction by crime types which identifies higher levels of satisfaction reported by victims of more serious crimes. Although the supervisor call-backs and the Home Office survey yield broadly similar findings in respect of user satisfaction, HMIC would suggest that by extending the call-backs to examine other types of crimes and anti-social behaviour, the constabulary may be able to access a more comprehensive picture around satisfaction. 29 How well does the force identify offenders and prevent them from re-offending? How well does the force divert offenders away from crime? The constabulary is good at the early identification of offenders and tailored diversionary schemes are designed to prevent re-offending. It also makes good use of restorative justice and remedial options and the use of these are decided upon using a risk-based assessment process. Project CARA is a police-led initiative, where some domestic abuse offenders are given a conditional caution. It has successfully diverted a significant proportion (as compared to the control group) of domestic abuse offenders from further crime, and repeat incidents have significantly reduced. The project requires eligible domestic abuse perpetrators to attend workshops designed to address the underlying reason behind their offending and evaluates the impact on their re-offending after a 12 month period has elapsed. An independent evaluation of the pilot has demonstrated a 50 percent reduction in offending among attendees, compared to a similar group who had not participated. The constabulary also carries out notable activity at a local level with young offenders. There is a clear and effective referral process into diversion schemes, such as the ‘challenge and change programme’ and the ‘youth crime prevention team’ who, as part of the youth offending team, provide bespoke support such as anger management courses. For adult offenders, the 'About Turn' project, operated by a charity, enables regular meetings where they receive support and signposting to services from health care professionals, housing and social services. Further diversionary programmes that have received funding to provide liaison and diversion opportunities have been introduced across police custody suites. The initial results on the take-up of referrals to other agencies for support are promising. The police custody function also provides helpful information and signposting delivered by a mental health worker who attends daily and is given referrals from the custody sergeant. There has also been investment in a mental health triage project with mental health nurses based in the force control room. This has assisted in reducing the number of people detained under the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983 and being placed in police custody as a place of safety. How well does the force deal with repeat offenders? The constabulary has excellent processes in place to identify and manage repeat offenders. It is committed to the Integrated Offender Management (IOM) scheme which covers people drawn from a range of offending, including: serious acquisitive crime, violent crime, priority and prolific offenders, and, most notably, those who are identified as emerging threats and who need support to divert them from a life of crime. The cohort is actively and dynamically managed with offenders being risk assessed. Active action plans are in place for those who pose the highest risk and other scheme members may be moved off the cohort where appropriate. 30 The IOM function is clearly having a positive effect on reducing offending. Analysis conducted on cohorts over several years shows that the Hampshire IOM scheme is successful at reducing repeat offending. The IOM function is managed through a hub based at Cosham, where police are co-located with probation staff, with small teams based across the constabulary area. Integrated offender management officers are expected to attend daily management meetings and monthly tactical planning meetings, as well as working closely with local intelligence officers to ensure that enforcement and intervention activity occurs quickly. Work with the probation service is described as strong and meetings take place to review information and risk assess members of the IOM cohort. This means that effective enforcement across the agencies involved actually takes place and the impact of that is incorporated back in to the assessment process quickly. Information and intelligence about IOM cohort members is passed efficiently within neighbourhood and response teams through the constabulary IT system that is updated to reflect the highest risk offenders. Frontline officers have a very good understanding of their local IOM cohort members, specifically where they live and places they frequent. The IOM officers routinely locate and arrest cohort members circulated as suspects for offences or breaching orders where the power exists. Pursuit of wanted persons is managed through the IOM hub with clear governance of active court warrants and European arrest warrants. How well does the force deal with sexual and other dangerous offenders? Hampshire Constabulary recognises the importance of multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPAs) 15 and there are good arrangements in place for dealing effectively with sexual and violent offenders. Offenders on the MAPPA scheme are managed by committed staff with appropriate plans in place and clear governance arrangements. Each offender has a named officer assigned to them who is appropriately skilled, trained and supported in their work. In addition, where required, trained surveillance resources are available to respond to intelligence suggesting that breaches are happening, which in turn provides a swift method of returning those who do breach their conditions to custody. Workloads are currently manageable although close to the accepted recognised levels. Changes in behaviour and other triggers are flagged quickly and there is a systematic home visit plan that aids this risk assessment process. A more risk-based methodology is now being used to look at the likelihood of re-offending. Probation officers work closely with MAPPA teams to highlight risk and ensure that the most 15 MAPPAs are in place to ensure the successful management of violent and sexual offenders. Agencies involved include as responsible bodies the police, probation trusts and prison service. Other agencies may become involved, for example the Youth Justice Board will be responsible for the care of young offenders. 31 high-risk offenders are managed closely. As a result there has been a significant reduction in MAPPA scheme members at Level 2, 16 and probation colleagues are supportive of this more dynamic risk assessment process as it allows resources to be focused on targeting the highest risk offenders. Frontline officers are knowledgeable about high-risk MAPPA offenders and provide intelligence to the teams. This effective intelligence sharing between public protection and neighbourhood officers ensures dangerous and sexual offenders are well managed. The constabulary makes good use of Sexual Harm Prevention Orders 17 and Sex Offender Prevention Orders 18. The daily management meetings are used to highlight MAPPA risks and action accordingly. The constabulary recognises the risk posed by foreign nationals arriving by air or sea who have not declared serious and sexual offending in other countries. It is working with Border Force to more effectively respond to manifest checks of passengers and staff. This follows research of landed passengers who have then been deported for not declaring such offences. Summary of findings Good Hampshire Constabulary is good at investigating crime and managing offenders. This is consistent with HMIC’s 2014 crime inspection, in which it was judged as good at investigating offending. As part of the recent restructure, the constabulary has carefully considered how it effectively investigates all types of crime. It has introduced a new policing model which makes appropriate specialist provision for the most serious crime, but concentrates most investigative resources into either its telephone-based resolution centres and police investigation centres who deal with majority complex and noncomplex crime in the most efficient way. 16 MAPPA have three connected levels used to assess the risk posed by violent and sexual offenders. Level 2 is applicable to those where the risk is judged to be high or very high and require the active involvement of more than one agency to manage the risk. 17 Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPOs) can be applied to anyone convicted or cautioned for a sexual or violent offence. They can place a range of restrictions on individuals depending on the nature of the case, such as limiting their internet use, preventing them from being alone with a child under 16, or preventing travel abroad. 18 Sexual Offences Prevention Orders (SOPOs) were introduced by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and are designed to protect the public or any particular members of the public from serious sexual harm from an offender. As of March 2015, SOPOs were re-named Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPOs). 32 An unexpected increase in recorded crime has meant that officers have been carrying higher than anticipated workloads, which the constabulary has been working to bring down. HMIC is concerned to find that although supervisors set effective initial investigation plans, they rarely review progress on less serious crime meaning that there is a lack of supervision and oversight of these investigations. The constabulary is highly effective at preventing re-offending by working with partner organisations through a variety of different schemes, which help to identify, manage and divert vulnerable offenders away from further offending. HMIC found that these arrangements are good and maturing. Hampshire Constabulary has responded well to the increasing need for the police to examine digital evidence in crime investigations. It has a unique partnership arrangement with the University of Portsmouth to carry out forensic examinations on computers and other electronic equipment in a timely fashion. Areas for improvement • The constabulary should ensure that there is regular and active supervision of investigations to check quality and progress. 33 How effective is the force at protecting from harm those who are vulnerable, and supporting victims? This question was inspected between June and August 2015, and the full report 19 was published in December 2015. The following is a summary of the findings. Summary of findings Requires improvement Protecting vulnerable people is a stated priority for Hampshire Constabulary and in almost all of the areas that HMIC reviewed as part of this inspection, the strong commitment to protecting the most vulnerable people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is translating into operational reality. The constabulary is to be commended for placing more resources in areas of its business devoted to keeping the most vulnerable people safe, and the innovations it has introduced to work more effectively. The constabulary’s recent major restructuring has seen increases in resources in this vital area and, most importantly, improvements in the service the police provide to vulnerable people. However, given the risk that its current practice poses to some victims of domestic abuse HMIC judges the constabulary as requires improvement. Hampshire Constabulary would have been assessed as good in this inspection were it not for a significant weakness in the practice it has recently adopted of routinely assessing the risk to some victims of domestic abuse over the telephone through its new resolution centre. HMIC has carefully reviewed this practice and notified the constabulary of our concern that the risk to vulnerable people may not be fully assessed through this method. The constabulary is involving domestic abuse support groups, and academics in a comprehensive review of this approach while strengthening supervisory scrutiny of such cases. With the exception of this concern, the constabulary identifies and responds to vulnerable victims well and investigates crime committed against most vulnerable victims well, with the right level of expertise involved in the right complexity of investigation. The constabulary has made progress in respect of the recommendations made by HMIC in our previous report on domestic abuse. It has volunteered to review the practice of resolving certain incidents involving potentially vulnerable victims of domestic abuse over the telephone. This is important as the current arrangements may result in risk not being fully assessed in some cases and a victim of domestic 19 PEEL: Police effectiveness 2015 (Vulnerability) – Hampshire Constabulary, HMIC, December 2015. Available from: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/publications/police-effectiveness-vulnerability2015-hampshire/). 34 abuse (and other family members) not being appropriately safeguarded. For example, the constabulary is missing opportunities to identify physical and emotional signs of domestic abuse upon the victim (and family members, particularly children), or the condition of the home environment which may give cause for concern, not being seen. We found a clear, structured and well-supervised process for responding to reports that children are missing or absent. The constabulary works well with partners to safeguard vulnerable people and has implemented multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASHs) 20 across the constabulary area. These enhance the work done by key professionals, to keep people safe. The constabulary has invested in dedicated resources to prepare to tackle child sexual exploitation. It has provided child sexual exploitation awareness training to its staff and is due to refresh this during autumn 2015. This inspection considered how well prepared the constabulary is to tackle investigating child sexual exploitation. 20 (MASHs) bring together into a single location key safeguarding agencies to better identify risks to children (and in some areas, vulnerable adults), and improve decision-making, interventions, and outcomes. The MASH enables the multi-agency team to share all appropriate information in a secure environment, and ensure that the most appropriate response is provided to effectively safeguard and protect the individual. 35 How effective is the force at tackling serious and organised crime, including its arrangements for fulfilling its national policing responsibilities? Serious and organised crime poses a threat to the public across the whole of the UK and beyond. Individuals, communities and businesses feel its damaging effects. Police forces play a critical role in tackling serious and organised crime alongside regional organised crime units (ROCUs), the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other partner organisations. Police forces that are effective tackle serious and organised crime not just by prosecuting offenders, but by disrupting and preventing organised criminality at a local level. They also use specialist capabilities (for example surveillance and undercover policing) where appropriate in order to protect the public from highly sophisticated and rapidly changing organised criminal threats. A number of forces within a regional area often share specialist capabilities as this provides better value for money and is a more efficient way of working. As at 30 June 2015, Hampshire Constabulary was actively disrupting, investigating or monitoring 62 organised crime groups (OCGs). This represents 32 OCGs per one million of the population. 36 Figure 6: Organised crime groups per one million population, by force, as at 30 June 2015 21 22 250 200 150 100 0 Metropolitan Police Lancashire Merseyside Cumbria Gwent North Yorkshire Derbyshire Bedfordshire Hertfordshire North Wales Surrey Greater Manchester Cleveland Cambridgeshire Norfolk Durham Sussex Lincolnshire Dyfed-Powys Northamptonshire Leicestershire Kent Suffolk Avon and Somerset Cheshire Essex Nottinghamshire Hampshire West Yorkshire Humberside South Yorkshire Staffordshire South Wales Northumbria Thames Valley West Midlands Gloucestershire Warks. and W. Mercia Wiltshire Devon and Cornwall Dorset 50 Hampshire Constabulary England and Wales Source: HMIC data collection Forces categorise OCGs by the predominant form of criminal activity in which the group is involved. Although OCGs are likely to be involved in multiple forms of criminality, this indicates their most common characteristic. 'Drug activity' was the predominant crime type (56 percent) of the OCGs managed by Hampshire Constabulary as at 30 June 2015. 'Drug activity' was also the most common predominant crime type recorded by all forces in England and Wales, 23 with 64 percent of all OCGs classified in this way. 21 City of London Police data has been removed from the chart as its OCG data is not comparable with other forces due to size and its wider national remit. 22 The number of OCGs in the Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police force areas is a combined total of OCGs for the two force areas. The OCGs per one million population rate is based upon their areas’ combined population figures. 23 The Metropolitan Police Service is not included in the England and Wales figure because it does not categorise in the same way as other forces; by the predominant form of criminal activity. 37 Figure 7: Force organised crime groups by the predominant crime type, as at 30 June 2015 24 Violent criminal activity 5% Other 6% Sexual offences 8% Drug activity 56% Organised theft 24% Drug activity Organised theft Sexual offences Violent criminal activity Other Source: HMIC data collection Serious and organised crime is one of six national threats specified within The Strategic Policing Requirement. 25 These include terrorism, serious cyber-crime incidents and child sexual abuse. These are complex threats which means that forces must work together to respond to them effectively. It is beyond the scope of this inspection to assess in detail whether forces are capable of responding to these national threats. Instead, HMIC has checked whether forces have the necessary arrangements in place to test their own preparedness for dealing with these threats, should they materialise. How well does the force understand the threat and risk posed by serious and organised crime? Serious and organised crime is assessed, monitored and well understood at the strategic level of the constabulary. Its commitment to tackling serious and organised 24 Figures may not sum to 100 percent, due to rounding. 25 The Strategic Policing Requirement, Home Office, March 2015. Available from: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/417116/The_Strategic_Policin g_Requirement.pdf 38 crime, along with the associated threat from OCGs, is evident from a variety of documents including the force strategic assessment, the serious and organised crime local profile and action plan and the Southampton serious youth crime prevention plan. The serious and organised crime local profile, awaiting final sign off at the time of inspection, is a detailed and comprehensive document that includes recommendations to develop a partnership approach towards OCG mapping, understanding local communities, and improving the multi-agency response to serious and organised crime. Specifically, the constabulary recognises that it has a limited understanding about the scale and impact of organised criminal activity within minority ethnic and hard to reach local communities. The constabulary attends regional intelligence meetings to share OCG information. To promote consistency in scoring and the sharing of information about criminality, the South-East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) is asked by the constabulary to confirm their initial assessment and scoring for new OCGs. When a police force identifies a group of individuals whom it suspects may be involved in organised crime, it goes through a nationally standardised ‘mapping’ procedure. This involves entering details of the group’s known and suspected activity, associates and capability into a computer system, which assigns a numerical score to OCG. It also places each OCG into one of several ‘bands’ which reflect the range and severity of crime in which a group is involved as well as its level of capability and sophistication. Police forces, ROCUs, the NCA and a number of non-police organisations such as Border Force, use OCG mapping. Despite the use of standard software and methods, forces carry out OCG mapping inconsistently and there is significant variation in the number of mapped OCGs per head of population across England and Wales. This inconsistency is partly due to the unavoidably subjective nature of some aspects of the mapping procedure, which relies on human judgment as well as computer algorithms. Sometimes groups exhibiting similar characteristics are scored in different ways, and forces do not always use the full range of information available to generate OCG scores, which can compromise their accuracy and usefulness. For these reasons, HMIC has recommended that ROCUs assume responsibility for OCG mapping on behalf of their constituent forces. 26 The constabulary has good processes in place to gather intelligence on serious organised crime and to map OCGs. Any criminal network that comes to notice is subjected to intelligence development and full mapping by local intelligence hubs. These networks are referred to the OCG manager within the constabulary intelligence bureau to assess and calculate a score, using the national assessment 26 Regional Organised Crime Units: A Review of Capability and Effectiveness, HMIC, December 2015. Available from: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/wp-content/uploads/regional-organisedcrime-units.pdf 39 tool, which is then ratified by the head of intelligence. New OCGs are considered at tasking meetings in order to set the scale and nature of resources to be set against them, and to identify who will be responsible for the OCG management plan. Subsequently all OCGs are subject to re-scoring in light of investigative or intelligence developments. There is a separate OCG management plan owners’ meeting every four weeks chaired by a detective chief superintendent with intelligence, investigative and disruption activity recorded alongside the impact each has on the OCGs’ score. The constabulary’s processes for managing and scrutinising activity against OCGs are effective. The constabulary recognises that it has made relatively little use of the Government Intelligence Agency Network (GAIN) 27 function and has addressed this by extending a standing invitation to the regional GAIN co-ordinator to attend the four-weekly OCG plan owners’ meeting and the constabulary’s monthly tasking and co-ordination meeting. How effectively does the force respond to serious and organised crime? The 2014 HMIC crime inspection described the constabulary’s management of OCGs as “limited in its effectiveness”. A recommendation specified that OCG management should be more clearly defined, and, “that relevant staff, especially those within neighbourhood teams, are made aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to disruption.” HMIC is pleased to find in this inspection a programme of well attended and understood meetings at all levels which discuss and review OCG activity. HMIC consistently found examples of awareness within intelligence and investigative staff about the OCG process and understanding of who the lead responsible officers are. HMIC spoke to a number of frontline staff from across the constabulary and found they were aware of OCGs, particularly the names of OCG members and locations they frequented, with notably elevated awareness from staff in the neighbourhoods and prevention command. The constabulary has the capacity and capability to deploy a range of covert tactics commensurate with the scale of serious and organised crime activity. However a shortfall in analytical capability has been identified and will be addressed with the anticipated arrival of nine new staff members. The new staff will be used to develop the constabulary’s understanding of the threat posed by serious and organised crime across all communities, as illustrated in the local profile. The constabulary is redefining its approach towards serious and organised crime so that the full impact of the criminality is understood and considered. For example, 27 The Government Intelligence Agency Network’s primary role is to act as a channel for the effective sharing of intelligence, within legislative boundaries, across a large network of partners including all police forces in England and Wales. 40 intelligence will be developed to gain the fullest picture of exploitation and harm caused by an OCG. The intention is for this wide understanding to inform the partnership approach to be used for meaningful prevention, protection and diversion activity, alongside traditional disruption of the OCG. The constabulary demonstrates regular and sustained activity against OCGs. A specific disruption assessment is not made after action has been taken, however, the OCGs remain under management and are subject to re-scoring in order to illustrate the impact of disruption activity. Between April and September 2015, the constabulary reported that 21 OCGs have been disrupted, with 9 of those experiencing multiple disruption events. HMIC looked in detail at two OCG management plans. Both had regular updates that showed active management in each case. One plan was fully orientated around the 4P structure 28, which is best practice, whereas the other was not. While the absence of a 4P structure, in itself, does not impair the investigation, it is suggestive of the focus being towards disruption activity. Throughout each plan there is reference to partner agencies, police and statutory, as well as reference to discussing the investigation at the local multi-agency meetings convened specifically for OCGs. Additionally, the 4P structured plan had cross-references to the elements that each partner agency is intended to support, and how. The constabulary works with other law enforcement partners, but there has been limited inter-agency work to tackle serious and organised crime, which reduces the ability of the constabulary to achieve a sustained impact. The revised approach of considering OCG harm and exploitation, matched by district commanders becoming the lead responsible officer for OCGs and including them as part of their local panel agendas, will encourage co-operation with partner agencies. Management plans require their owners to articulate which partners have, and have not, been engaged to help maximise disruption activity and to ensure OCGs are dismantled. Occasions on which the powers held by other agencies were used during the course of OCG investigations were seen during the inspection. Although applications for six Serious Crime Prevention Orders (SCPOs) 29 are being prepared, the constabulary has made little use of ancillary orders against OCG members so far. It recognises that there is relatively low awareness about the use of orders but plans to have ‘champions’ within each investigative hub to help 28 The 4P Structure is the framework cited to tackle serious and organised crime, namely Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare, see HM Government Serious Organised Crime Strategy (October 2013). Available from: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/248645/Serious_and_Organis ed_Crime_Strategy.pdf 29 An SCPO is a court order that is used to protect the public by preventing, restricting or disrupting a person’s involvement in serious crime. An SCPO can prevent involvement in serious crime by imposing various conditions on a person; for example, restricting who he or she can associate with, restricting his or her travel, or placing an obligation to report his or her financial affairs to the police. 41 colleagues identify and apply for appropriate ancillary orders during prosecutions. The constabulary is sensibly in contact with the Crown Prosecution Service and courts about how to make sure that meaningful and manageable orders are being applied at trial sentencing. How effectively is the force working with partners to prevent serious and organised crime? The constabulary operates an organisational risk matrix as part of its resource allocation process. This matrix contains the control strategy priorities with child sexual exploitation and online child abuse being assessed as the highest risk categories of crime. The application of this matrix means that resource allocations are directed toward activity which addresses the crimes presenting the greatest threat of harm, among the most vulnerable. Hampshire Constabulary does not have a communications strategy in relation to serious and organised crime or OCGs. Publicity and media releases generally tend to be of traditional format, reactive to major events within an investigation. However there are exceptions, for instance toolkits are available for neighbourhood staff advising them how and what to brief landlords about recognising signs of ‘cuckooing’. 30 Operation Fortress, originally a drug and related violence operation in Southampton, has an established identity and branding both with the constabulary and with the public. The constabulary is seeking to continue with and broaden that identity to encompass all serious and organised crime activity. In December 2015 a week of action was focussed around young people and use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and mephedrone (MCAT), with the associated messages of how they can make young people vulnerable to exploitation in many forms. The intention was to promote awareness and prevention with the constabulary hoping to make use of ‘survivor stories’ from families who have been affected by substance abuse and exploitation. Southampton’s serious youth crime prevention plan is a strong example of multi-agency co-ordinated activity to identify and reach out to young people at risk of being drawn in to or affected by serious and organised crime. The plan includes contributions from all statutory and many nonstatutory bodies having responsibility for, or regular contact with, young people. It recognises a wide range of factors can predispose young people to the effects of serious crime, such as the highest risk stages of their life, specifically the transition to adulthood when the type and volume of support services narrows. It contains a monitoring aspect for those young people already in the criminal justice system and by those means will evidence diversion, or recidivism, rates. 30 Cuckooing – a process where professional criminals target the homes of vulnerable people to be used for drug-dealing. This allows the criminals to operate from an unobtrusive property not known to police. 42 Presently, lifetime offender management sits within the portfolio of one detective inspector and no staff are permanently assigned to that business area. However, there are plans for the established and effective IOM teams to adopt lifetime offender management of convicted OCG members and any associated orders or conditions, after release from prison. The constabulary understands that OCGs can pose a threat to investigators and police staff themselves, having learned from cases of criminals attempting to groom and ingratiate themselves with investigators. All investigators within serious and organised crime investigations are vetted and subject to close scrutiny to check for unprofessional conduct, specifically in relation to computer misuse or matters of operational security, prior to joining specialist units. A quarterly cycle of training days for all staff is underway and operational security is always included. A culture of self-referral has been developed meaning that staff are encouraged to and reassured about discussing any concerns they might have with a supervisor. How effective are the arrangements in place to ensure that the force can fulfil its national policing responsibilities? It is beyond the scope of this inspection to assess in detail whether forces are capable of responding to the six national threats. Instead, HMIC has checked whether forces have the necessary arrangements in place to test their own preparedness for dealing with these threats, should they materialise. The constabulary has completed a strategic assessment against the six strategic policing requirement (SPR) threats. The SPR governance board ensures the assessment is sustained through quarterly meetings chaired by an assistant chief constable and attended by a representative from the office of the police and crime commissioner. The constabulary’s ability to respond to terrorism and other elements of the SPR is enhanced by improved levels of resilience achieved through close collaboration with Thames Valley Police. It demonstrates clear ownership of SPR threats at strategic and tactical level. Each strand has an identified ‘owner’ at superintendent rank (detective chief inspector in the case of counter-terrorism) and an up-to-date picture of the threat in each strand is brought to the governance board meeting. The constabulary documents current status, position against the threat, any organisational gaps and actions. The constabulary uses a matrix to identify what response is needed to close any gaps. The chief officer team comprises experienced and accredited commanders for the relevant SPR threats and has a robust commitment to the digital intelligence and investigation national plan which will elevate force-wide capability to recognise and take action against cyber-crime. HMIC saw a wide range of documented management plans for business continuity relating to several constabulary locations and also specific plans for events such as 43 flooding and utility supply failure. We were also made aware of the arrangements that the constabulary has in place with other agencies, through which it plans and tests its response to incidents requiring a co-ordinated multi-agency response. The constabulary maintains a greater than the minimum requirement of public order trained officers. Through its resource planning processes it aims to have sufficient trained officers on duty at all times in order to fulfil its public order capability from officers on duty. This planning principle is tested periodically, without actual calls being made, but by taking a snapshot of resources with the necessary skills who are on duty and available. Arrangements are in place for the constabulary to manage any requests for officers to assist other forces, a process commonly known as mutual aid. Requests can be made in advance or may be spontaneous, but are infrequent; however, the constabulary regularly works in collaboration with Thames Valley Police to deploy highly specialist officers, such as those trained in disaster victim identification. The constabulary has developed working relationships with partners to tackle cyber-crime. It is working with a multi-national information technology company for threat mitigation within the constabulary’s IT infrastructure and continues to work with Portsmouth University in the area of cyber-crime investigation. 44 Summary of findings Good Hampshire Constabulary is good at identifying and tackling serious and organised crime in its area. This is the first year HMIC has graded forces on their effectiveness at tackling serious and organised crime, including a force’s arrangements for ensuring that it can fulfil its national policing responsibilities, so no year-on-year comparison is possible. The constabulary understands the threat from serious and organised crime which is evident from its force strategic assessment, and the strategic serious and organised crime action plan. It has introduced a process by which activity to disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups (OCGs) is in line with the top risks to the public. This is designed to ensure that such activity is focussed on protecting those who are most vulnerable. Oversight is provided through the OCG management meeting and there are clear lines of accountability for tackling OCGs. Where they are used, management plans are comprehensive and well-structured and generally involve other appropriate agencies working alongside the police to tackle OCGs. However the force needs to ensure that these plans are consistently used so that it maximises its impact in targeting, disrupting and dismantling OCGs. The constabulary does not have a serious and organised crime communication plan, although HMIC did see evidence of improved awareness among its staff. Hampshire Constabulary has satisfactory oversight arrangements to fulfil its national policing responsibilities, and arrangements to test its response are in place. Areas for improvement • The force should complete its serious and organised crime local profile including relevant data from partner agencies, and ensure that it has a local partnership structure in place with responsibility for tackling serious and organised crime. 45 Annex A – HMIC judgments Our judgments The judgment categories are: • outstanding; • good; • requires improvement; and • inadequate. Judgment is made against how effective the constabulary is at keeping people safe and reducing crime; it is not an assessment of the overall effectiveness of policing. In applying the categories HMIC considers whether: • the effectiveness the constabulary is achieving is good, or exceeds this standard sufficiently to be judged as outstanding; • the effectiveness of the constabulary requires improvement, and/or there are some weaknesses; or • the effectiveness of the constabulary is inadequate because it is considerably lower than is expected. 46