PEEL Force Inspection

PEEL 2018-19 CoC Recommendations: West Mercia Police

Cause of Concern recommendations tracked by HMICFRS for West Mercia Police (2018-19)

14
Recommendations
12
Completed
Applicable Forces
West Mercia Police
Recommendations (14)
# Recommendation Directed at Status
T1 Cause of concern: The force does not have suitable arrangements in place to make sure it can maintain the full range of public services when its alliance with Warwickshire Police ends. There are gaps in its workforce skills assessment, and weaknesses in both its investigative approach and its approach to safeguarding vulnerable people. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that the force should immediately: conduct a review of officers’ capabilities and capacity to manage their investigative workload, to better understand investigative demand and the pressures placed upon them; and West Mercia Police Completed
T10 Cause of concern: The force does not have the capacity or capability to investigate crime effectively and this is affecting the service being provided to the public. There are failings in the way that crimes are being investigated. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that within six months the force should: improve its ability to retrieve digital evidence from mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices quickly enough to ensure investigations are not delayed; West Mercia Police Completed
T11 Cause of concern: The force does not have the capacity or capability to investigate crime effectively and this is affecting the service being provided to the public. There are failings in the way that crimes are being investigated. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that within six months the force should: improve its understanding of suspects released under investigation and the management of those released on bail; West Mercia Police Completed
T12 Cause of concern: The force does not have the capacity or capability to investigate crime effectively and this is affecting the service being provided to the public. There are failings in the way that crimes are being investigated. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that within six months the force should: introduce consistent processes to effectively manage the risk posed by suspects who are under investigation but have not yet been arrested or circulated as wanted on PNC; and West Mercia Police Completed
T13 Cause of concern: The force does not have the capacity or capability to investigate crime effectively and this is affecting the service being provided to the public. There are failings in the way that crimes are being investigated. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that within six months the force should: introduce effective arrangements to ensure it complies fully with its disclosure obligations. West Mercia Police Completed
T14 Cause of concern: The force does not have the capacity or capability to investigate crime effectively and this is affecting the service being provided to the public. There are failings in the way that crimes are being investigated. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that within six months the force should: take steps to better understand the data relating to its crime outcomes and put actions in place to ensure that it is effectively pursuing justice on behalf of victims; West Mercia Police Superseded
T2 Cause of concern: The force does not have suitable arrangements in place to make sure it can maintain the full range of public services when its alliance with Warwickshire Police ends. There are gaps in its workforce skills assessment, and weaknesses in both its investigative approach and its approach to safeguarding vulnerable people. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that the force should immediately: conduct a review, involving its partners, of the approach to vulnerability to better safeguard vulnerable people. West Mercia Police Completed
T3 Cause of concern: The force does not have suitable arrangements in place to make sure it can maintain the full range of public services when its alliance with Warwickshire Police ends. There are gaps in its workforce skills assessment, and weaknesses in both its investigative approach and its approach to safeguarding vulnerable people. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that the force should immediately: expand the skills project work to include an assessment of all skills, not only operational, including potential future skills requirements. This assessment should inform workforce plans; West Mercia Police Superseded
T4 Cause of concern: The force does not have suitable arrangements in place to make sure it can maintain the full range of public services when its alliance with West Mercia Police ends. There are gaps in its workforce skills assessment and weaknesses in its investigative approach. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that the force should immediately: put in place plans to maintain the full range of public services by October 2019, particularly in the areas of highest risk; West Mercia Police Completed
T5 Cause of concern: The force has not yet defined how all of its services to the public will operate in the future, nor has it agreed a smooth transition to a future operating model. And it has not consulted with the public on these important matters. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that the force should immediately:agree arrangements with Warwickshire Police to secure a smooth transition to its future operating model, ensuring no disruption to public services; and West Mercia Police Completed
T6 Cause of concern: The force has not yet defined how all of its services to the public will operate in the future, nor has it agreed a smooth transition to a future operating model. And it has not consulted with the public on these important matters. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that the force should immediately:clearly define its new operating model, ensuring all operational and support services are affordable and fit to protect the communities of West Mercia; West Mercia Police Completed
T7 Cause of concern: The force has not yet defined how all of its services to the public will operate in the future, nor has it agreed a smooth transition to a future operating model. And it has not consulted with the public on these important matters. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that the force should immediately:improve its arrangements both to consult with the public about business planning and to feed back on changes made to service delivery as a result of such consultation. West Mercia Police Completed
T8 Cause of concern: The force does not have the capacity or capability to investigate crime effectively and this is affecting the service being provided to the public. There are failings in the way that crimes are being investigated. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that within six months the force should: ensure regular and active supervision of the quality and progress of investigations. This supervision should be properly recorded; West Mercia Police Completed
T9 Cause of concern: The force does not have the capacity or capability to investigate crime effectively and this is affecting the service being provided to the public. There are failings in the way that crimes are being investigated. Recommendation: HMIC recommends that within six months the force should: improve how it responds to reports of crimes, how it then allocates them, ensuring it allocates investigations to appropriately trained and supported officers, and that it reviews this allocation appropriately throughout the investigation; West Mercia Police Completed