Leicestershire Police graded as 'outstanding' following inspection report

The national inspection body for policing, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has released a glowing report of Leicestershire Police following a comprehensive inspection.

Rated ‘outstanding’ in three key areas, Leicestershire Police stands out from the crowd with the force’s work acknowledged as innovative.

Her Majesty’s Inspector has congratulated Leicestershire Police for an outstanding performance particularly in a challenging policing environment.

The report gives an outstanding rating in areas of prevention and deterrence, protecting vulnerable people and recording crime. Four other areas were rated as good and two as adequate. This means that all of Leicestershire Police’s performance is in the top three categories.

 

 

The report noted the force has a focus on problem solving and early intervention. It stated that the inspectors found good examples of the force working in a public health approach, in partnership, to divert people away from offending and to safeguard vulnerable people.

It said: “Leicestershire Police demonstrated ‘effective community engagement methods by increasingly diverse staff; that help to build trust so that the public will share intelligence or become volunteers to help to reduce crime. Its trailblazing approach to safeguarding the most vulnerable, in particular; by its approach to increasing information sharing to safeguard more children; and introducing work to reduce the threat posed by the most dangerous people. “

 

 

The report also highlighted the use of powerful and informative tools such as films and social media to increase awareness of the signs that those who are the most vulnerable to crime might display.

Temporary Chief Constable Rob Nixon said: "I am proud of what we have achieved and am delighted that we reached an outstanding level in three areas.

"This report is good news for our local communities because it shows we do a very good job and that they can have confidence in policing.

"The last two years have been particularly challenging and throughout all of this it is good to see that the Inspectors have acknowledged how well the force has performed.

"This success is the result of a team effort and can be attributed to the hard work of our officers and staff across the entire force.  I know our former chief constable Simon Cole would have been equally proud.  

"There are of course, areas that the report has highlighted as to where we can improve. Plans are already in place to look at these areas and the force continuously strives to improve and learn.”

Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Roy Wilsher, said: "Leicestershire Police’s officers and staff are to be congratulated on their hard work. The force is outstanding in three areas, which demonstrates its high level of performance but it can improve in other aspects to provide a consistently good service.”

In 2014, HMIC introduced police efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections, which assess the performance of all 43 police forces in England and Wales. They now assess forces against the characteristics of good performance, causes of concern and areas for improvement. They have also expanded our previous four-tier system of judgments to five tiers.

Rupert Matthews, Police Commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, said: "Outstanding! It’s the only word I would use to describe Leicestershire Police, and I’m glad that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services agree.

"I want to congratulate all officers and staff who made this happen. I’m aware that we have come on leaps and bounds since the last report, and I know that such a significant improvement in such a small amount of time is only achieved through sheer hard work and, more importantly, teamwork.

"Temporary Chief Constable Nixon and I have discussed these findings, which are reassuring to both me and the public, and agree that we need to use the positive momentum to drive even greater change and work to make our force ‘outstanding’ in all categories.

"This is an outstanding inspection report for our outstanding police. I am delighted with its findings, and we will move heaven and earth to make improvements and keep up the excellent work. Well done, Leicestershire Police."

To see the full report go to: Leicestershire - HMICFRS (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk)