PEEL Assessment 2023-25: Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to improve how it records equality data Durham Constabulary’s data for victims of crime shows that it records age and gender properly. But it doesn’t always record ethnicity and it isn’t good at recording other protected characteristics. The constabulary should collect this information to understand the extent to which each protected group is affected by crime, how this differs from those without the protected characteristics and whether a different response is needed for these victims. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary should review how it uses its resources to manage registered sex offenders The constabulary has a hybrid model for managing registered sex offenders. Officers managing very-high and high-risk offenders are based in a centralised public protection unit. ‘Locality’ officers manage medium and low-risk offenders based at local stations. Innovative practice During our inspection, we found occasions where officers carried out very-high and high-risk registered sex offender visits alone when the risk management plan (RMP) required officers to visit in pairs or ‘double crewed’. The constabulary responded quickly to this feedback and on further inspection we were pleased to find that measures had been put in place to prevent this from happening. Where the RMP doesn’t mandate double crewing, the constabulary sends lone officers to very-high and high-risk offender visits, with at least every third visit double crewed. This sits outside authorised professional practice for managing of registered sex offenders. By comparison, we found that locality officers consistently visited registered sex offenders in pairs. This means that a very-high or high-risk registered sex offender is more likely to be visited by an officer working alone than an offender who presents a medium or low level of risk. Accurate RMPs rely on detailed observation of an offender’s environment. This is more difficult for officers working alone. Authorised professional practice is guidance only and forces do have the discretion to step outside its recommendations. We recognise the constabulary has sacrificed double crewing every visit to make sure visits are prompt. However, we encourage the constabulary to review its position on officer allocation, making sure that the appropriate resources are directed toward the highest-risk offenders. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary provides support to the families of those under investigation for indecent images of children offences When someone is arrested and/or investigated for indecent images of children offences, the consequences are often devastating for the suspect’s family. This can result in the suspect losing their job and reputation. Where there are children in the family, local services will be involved, meaning that families will sometimes become separated. Suspects’ partners might blame themselves for not knowing about the suspect’s behaviour. Durham Constabulary has recognised this and has taken steps to make sure families get the support they need in these circumstances. Working with victim care services, families are offered a referral at the time of arrest. The offer is repeated after three weeks. This provides an opportunity for the family to reflect on what has happened and to be in a better position to accept support. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to improve the effectiveness of its professional development reviews and make sure the workforce is fully involved Professional development reviews (PDRs) should be an effective tool for officers and staff to record their objectives and achievements. PDRs are essential to helping supervisors understand the development needs of their officers and staff. Although Durham Constabulary has an established process for completing PDRs, the officers and staff we spoke to didn’t value this highly. Many described PDRs as only having value for those seeking promotion. Some viewed them as merely an administrative task that senior leaders don’t promote. This is consistent with the constabulary’s completion rate. The constabulary told us that, in the year ending 31 March 2023, 46.64 percent of the workforce had a completed PDR with evidence recorded against the previous year’s career objectives. The workforce should have formal reviews that involve a series of conversations between individuals and their line managers where they plan and subsequently review their professional development over a 12-month period. The workforce should value these reviews and believe they are effective. Without an effective PDR process where the workforce is properly involved, the constabulary can’t confidently support people’s development needs, recognise achievement and identify future talent. This is important to the overall workforce perception of how Durham Constabulary values its people. Innovative practice Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to do more to support the development and career progression of people from underrepresented groups Policing relies on the consent of the public to operate effectively. It is essential that the police are representative of the communities they serve to achieve this. While improvements have been made across England and Wales, some roles and ranks still lack the diversity needed to properly represent communities. It is important that forces identify the barriers that prevent people from underrepresented groups making progress in the service and take steps to address them. During our inspection, we found that Durham Constabulary had identified some barriers it was working to rectify, but there was no overall strategy or formal action plan. The constabulary has invested in an equality, diversity and inclusion team, but the team has limited involvement in the design and implementation of internal selection processes. There is a good range of staff networks. But those involved told us they could do more to help the constabulary develop its approach to supporting people from underrepresented groups if there was better communication with senior leaders. The constabulary needs to formally develop its approach to support people from underrepresented groups if it is to attract and retain talented officers and staff. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary recognises the personal financial challenges faced by officers and staff The constabulary has responded to the personal financial challenges sometimes experienced by officers and staff by offering interest-free loans. While available to everybody, it is often new recruits who are most affected. This is because joining the police often means a reduction in pay, or recruits are just starting out having completed their further education. An unexpected cost like a car repair can have serious consequences for some people, particularly if their only means of paying is by using credit. Spiralling debt can then affect well-being and mental health. The constabulary offers interest-free loans to the value of a month’s salary to help with this and these are repaid direct from payroll. This negates the need for officers and staff to turn to credit cards to meet unexpected costs, and it helps avoid debt having an adverse effect on well-being. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary should make sure it is effective at managing demand and can show it has the right resources, processes, or plans in place to meet current demand The constabulary should make sure that its operating model and workforce help it to respond to priorities and meet both current and future demand in all areas. During our inspection, we found examples of inconsistent performance across the areas inspected. Governance structures need to have good-quality data and information so that the constabulary can maintain effective oversight of performance in all areas. The constabulary should reassure itself that the data it produces is capable of highlighting emerging issues. This will allow senior leaders to develop a better understanding of them and act earlier when necessary. The constabulary also needs a better understanding of unlogged demand on its contact centre, which is significant. During 2022, the constabulary told us that it didn’t record an incident for 58.1 percent of 999 and 9. percent of all 101 calls. It has invested additional resources in its switchboard to expand its operating hours to help it manage current demand. However, it should reassure itself that it understands the underlying cause behind these pressures. This will improve its ability to manage and reduce demand across the entire organisation and provide a better service to the public. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to improve the time it takes to record crimes The constabulary records less than three quarters of reported crime within 24 hours. Some crimes that we reviewed took the constabulary more than three days to record. Recording crime without delay helps make sure that victims receive the support they need. It also helps establish an effective investigation. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to improve its training to make sure that officers understand and use stop and search powers fairly and appropriately During our inspection, we reviewed a sample of 254 stop and search records from 1 January to 31 December 2022. Based on this sample, we estimate that 77.2 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 5.0 percent) of all stop searches by the constabulary during this period had reasonable grounds recorded. This is a statistically significant deterioration compared with the findings from our previous review of records from 2020, where we found 89.5 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 5.3 percent) of stop searches had reasonable grounds recorded. Of the 14 records we reviewed for stop and searches on people from ethnic minority backgrounds, 11 had reasonable grounds recorded. It is important that officers fully understand the need to record a detailed written explanation of why they considered a search necessary. The constabulary should properly train supervisors to assess whether the recorded grounds are reasonable and provide developmental feedback when needed. Stop and search powers are a valuable tool in preventing and detecting crime. However, if the constabulary can’t show that it has used the tool fairly and appropriately, this risks undermining public trust and confidence. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to make sure it answers calls quickly enough In the year ending 31 March 2023, Durham Constabulary received 155 calls to,999 per 1,000 population. This was in line with other forces in England and Wales. In the same period, the constabulary answered 61 percent of its 999 calls within 10 seconds. This is below the expected standard of answering 90 percent within 10 seconds. Some of these emergency calls are likely to go unanswered. Similarly, the constabulary told us that, during the same period, an average of 20.2 percent of its non-emergency calls were abandoned before being answered. The constabulary understands its call data and has taken some action to improve performance. But a lack of long-term investment means systems are outdated and not meeting current demand. The constabulary told us of its plan to improve call-handling systems and, at the time of our inspection, an increase in staffing numbers had been approved. We would encourage the constabulary to make sure that these plans are implemented to avoid further deterioration in service. Failing to answer calls quickly enough can mean losing both public confidence and investigative opportunities. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary doesn’t consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims The constabulary doesn’t always achieve acceptable outcomes for victims of crime. It solves unacceptably low numbers of crimes following investigation. The constabulary needs to understand the issue and work to achieve better outcomes for victims. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary should establish an effective performance framework for its multi-agency safeguarding arrangements to make sure it is capable of meeting current and future demand The constabulary contributes to two multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASHs), each covering its constituent local authority area of Durham or Darlington. During our inspection, we found that the constabulary’s MASH function was struggling with demand. This was evident in the backlogs of referral forms awaiting triage, minutes of child safeguarding strategy meetings waiting to be added to force systems, and out-of-county enquiries that hadn’t been addressed. The constabulary was able to show how it monitored MASH demand. But officers and staff we spoke to were unsure how supervisors reviewed this at a senior level. Progressing safeguarding referrals quickly is critical to keeping people safe. The constabulary needs to make sure that its MASH function is properly equipped to meet demand. It should make sure that it has effective performance frameworks. These frameworks should be capable of identifying emerging demand pressures and reducing the additional risk caused by delays in the assessment of referrals being shared with partner organisations within the hubs. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to make better use of protective measures to keep vulnerable victims safe In the year ending 30 September 2022, Durham Constabulary recorded 16.8 repeat domestic abuse-related incidents per 1,000 population. This was the highest number across forces in England and Wales. It notably exceeds the average of 2.1 incidents per 1,000 population. The constabulary also recorded the highest number of repeat domestic abuse-related crimes in that period, at 14.0 per 1,000 population. The England and Wales rate was 5.8 crimes per 1,000 population. Despite this, the constabulary applied for only 3.6 Domestic Violence Protection Orders per 1,000 recorded domestic abuse-related crimes during that period. This was lower than the England and Wales average of 12.2 Domestic Violence Protection Order applications per 1,000 recorded domestic-abuse related crimes. In the year ending 31 March 2022, Durham Constabulary recorded 3,616 domestic abuse-related stalking and harassment offences, equalling 5.7 offences per 1,000 population. This is higher than the England and Wales average of 3.9 offences per 1,000 population. During this time, the constabulary made only two full Stalking Protection Order applications at court, and only one of those applications was successful. Protective measures are a powerful tool designed to help keep vulnerable victims safe. The space that protective measures create between a victim and a perpetrator provides an opportunity for other services, such as Women’s Aid, to intervene and offer support. Failure to apply for protective measures, where appropriate, denies victims this opportunity and potentially places them at risk of greater harm. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to improve how it manages multi-agency risk assessment conferences and multi-agency tasking and co-ordination referrals The SafeLives recommendation for the number of multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) cases to discuss in Durham, based on the size of the local population, is 1,040. In the year ending 31 March 2023, Durham Constabulary discussed 718 cases. This is an increase from 630 the previous year but is still lower than we would expect. We therefore reviewed the rationale given in high-risk cases that weren’t referred to MARAC. We found that some unreferred cases should have been discussed at MARAC. Examples included incidents where victims had been strangled, suffered violence with weapons in front of their children and/or been subjected to violence or abuse while pregnant. We are concerned that a supervising officer had endorsed these decisions. The constabulary needs to make sure that all victims who meet the MARAC criteria are being provided with access to the full range of interventions MARAC can offer. It should satisfy itself that officers and staff involved in the referral decision-making process fully understand the MARAC criteria. And it should consider how it monitors the quality of decision-making in this area. We found that a lack of available resources had resulted in a considerable reduction in the number of perpetrators referred to multi-agency tasking and co-ordination (MATAC) meetings, from over 150 the previous year to 14 at the time of our inspection. MATAC is a process used to identify and tackle serial perpetrators of domestic abuse. While the constabulary isn’t required to have a MATAC process, it does need to have effective measures in place to mitigate the harm caused by perpetrators. The constabulary needs to make sure that any process is properly resourced and supported by the right organisational structure. In relation to both MARAC and MATAC, the constabulary risks placing victims at risk of further harm if improvements aren’t made. Durham Constabulary

The constabulary needs to make sure that bail is always considered as a safeguarding measure The constabulary has processes in place to monitor the use of bail and this is reported on during force performance meetings. But it doesn’t consistently use bail as a safeguarding measure. We found that only 11 of 69 suspects under investigation for indecent images of children offences were subject to bail conditions. This means that, despite the nature of offences under investigation, there were no safeguarding measures to prevent those released under investigation from having contact with children. It is appropriate for investigators and supervisors to consider each case on its merits. But the constabulary must make sure that every opportunity to safeguard children is taken. This should include the application of bail conditions where suspects present a risk to children and vulnerable people. Durham Constabulary