Wiltshire Police has made major improvements since it had been placed into and then taken out of special measures.
The latest Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy (PEEL) report from has been released which demonstrates that a significant improvement has been made since the last inspection in 2022.
This follows Wiltshire Police being placed into enhanced monitoring special measures in June 2022 and then returned to normal monitoring in May this year.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) rated the county force 'Good' in preventing and deterring crime and anti-social behaviour and managing suspects, and 'Adequate' at recording data about crime, leadership and force management and building and supporting the workforce.
But it highlighted that work needs to be done in treating the public fairly and with respect, responding to the public, investigating crime and protecting vulnerable people, which were all judged to 'Require Improvement'.
This is a vast improvement from the previous report that found Wiltshire Police to be 'Inadequate' - the lowest possible grading - in responding to the public, protecting vulnerable people and strategic planning, organisational management and value for money
It was also found to 'Require Improvement' in investigating crime, managing offenders and suspects, engaging with and treating the public with fairness and respect, preventing crime and anti-social behaviour and building, supporting and protecting the workforce.
Recording data about crime - Adequate
HMICFRS found that Wiltshire Police was recording 92.4 per cent (with a confidence interval of +/- 2.7 per cent) of all reported crime (excluding fraud), with the number varying between different types of crime.
However, inspectors found failings in recording rape cases, saying: "In our audit, we found that the force had recorded 34 out of 41 crimes of rape which should have been recorded. Of the seven unrecorded crimes of rape, five were incorrectly recorded as N100s or other crimes and two weren’t recorded at all."
They also said that records showed that less than half of crime were being reported within 24 hours, including reports of rape, often taking more than three days to do so.
Anti-social behaviour reports are also not being recorded with the inspectors looking at 50 incidents and identifying 12 cases of anti-social behaviour that should have been recorded but were not.
Improvement is also needed in the way that Wiltshire Police records ethnicity and other protected characteristics of victims
A spokesperson for the HMICFRS said: "The force doesn’t always record crimes against vulnerable victims. We examined 70 cases. 52 crimes should have been recorded but only 48 actually were. Two of the crimes not recorded were crimes of rape. When the crime wasn’t recorded, there was often no investigation and sometimes no safeguarding of the victim. Failure to record these crimes can result in offenders not being identified or brought to justice."
Police powers and treating the public fairly and respectfully - Requires Improvement
HMICFRS shared concerns about the use of force and stop and searches which essentially boiled down to under-reporting of them.
The inspector said: "We found the force lacks an in-depth understanding of how it uses stop and search and use of force powers. There is an under-recording of use of force and stop and search in Wiltshire."
They added: "We would expect the number of uses of force to be greater than the number of arrests. Accordingly, we estimate that Wiltshire Police under-recorded use of force by at least 5,258 incidents."
It was also highlighted that were was 'insufficient' internal scrutiny on use of force with officers and supervisors telling inspectors that that there was no process to review the use of force.
However inspectors did find that the number of stop and searches that had reasonable grounds had increased from 79.2 per cent to 90 per cent, and they said that during viewing body-work video recordings that Wiltshire officers treated people with dignity and respect and complied with the necessary legislation and processes.
Preventing and deterring crime and antisocial behaviour, and reducing vulnerability - Good
Wiltshire Police was found to listen and respond to what matters to its communities, to prioritise the prevention and deterrence of neighbourhood harm and crime, an effective problem-solving approach to reduce and prevent neighbourhood criminality and harm and encourage its communities to become involved in policing activity
It was also praised for working with seldom-heard communities. Inspectors found an example of a successful force-wide problem-solving activity to tackle burglary in the Chinese community and the force’s ‘We Rise’ personnel development programme which created a positive opportunity for young homeless people to communicate with police officers and staff.
The force's commitment to its neighbourhood policing teams was also highlighted, with inspectors noting: "The force rarely takes neighbourhood officers away from their beats. Accordingly, we found neighbourhood teams focused on their core role. They have time to communicate with local communities and understand local issues and deal with them."
Responding to the public - Requires Improvement
In the year ending 31 March 2024, Wiltshire Police answered 70.4 percent of 999 calls within 10 seconds. This was below the expected standard of answering 90 percent within 10 seconds and makes Wiltshire Police the worst police force in the country.
It was also found that in the same timeframe, Wiltshire Police received 137 calls to 999 per 1,000 population which was lower than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales.
In non-emergency situations, HMICFRS found that in the 12 months to February 2024, a total of 25.8 per cent of calls were abandoned by callers after they had spoken to the switchboard, which is much higher than the 5 per cent target.
It did mention that since November 2023, the switchboard assesses non-emergency calls with callers requiring police attendance within an hour placed in a ‘priority line’ queue. The force returns the calls to anyone who abandons in this queue, which reduces some of the risk.
In addition, HMICFRS said: "In 60 of the 84 cases we examined, the force didn’t attend incidents in line with its published attendance times. This delayed response can lead to the force missing opportunities to safeguard victims or collect evidence. And in 14 of the 26 relevant cases the force didn’t inform victims of delays, meaning that victims’ expectations weren’t always met."
Investigating crime - Requires Improvement
"The force isn’t always achieving acceptable outcomes for victims of crime. It has low numbers of crimes that are solved following investigations. It needs to understand the issue and work to achieve better outcomes for victims," is what HMICFRS said.
It highlighted that in the year ending September 2023, the number of victim-based crimes assigned with a 'charge/summonsed' outcome was 8.1 per cent, which was higher than the average in England and Wales, but a significant decrease from the 13.5 per cent in the year ending 31 March 2015.
The report found that not all cases were being appropriately supervised with only 74 of the 98 cases examined having evidence of this.
The inspector said: "When supervision is absent or not good enough, investigations become less thorough and the service to victims declines."
The force was also found to not be completing victim's needs assessments (only 48 or 76 cases had them) meaning that "the force didn’t always recognise when a victim was entitled to an enhanced service."
Wiltshire Police was praised for improving how it complies with some of the requirements of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, its use of surveys to identify potential improvements in how it treats victims and for understanding what it needs to do to improve investigations.
Protecting vulnerable people - Requires Improvement
Well-documented problems with Wiltshire Police's implementation of Claire's Law were highlighted here.
Inspectors said: "This scheme gives people the right to ask whether a partner has a violent past. Between April 2015 and August 2023, the force was providing incorrect and incomplete information in response to applications made under Clare’s Law. This failure to properly disclose information put applicants at risk.
"As a result of this issue, the force declared a critical incident. The force assessed that it had to review over 3,500 applications to find any errors and make further disclosures as necessary. The force moved extra personnel into the team to carry out this work. The force has now completed this review."
Inspectors also noted that the police had no proactive procedures for monitoring offenders’ compliance with orders, such as Domestic Violence Protection Orders. Nor was there a prioritisation process for breaches.
"This means the force relies on vulnerable victims to report further victimisation. This also reduces the effectiveness of orders to protect victims," inspectors said.
Improvements were noted in how Wiltshire Police obtains feedback, how it deals with domestic abuse - particularly by providing training and having a much higher arrest rate than the national average.
The force's involvement in two multi-agency safeguarding hubs was also highlighted as a positive.
Managing offenders and suspects - Good
Wiltshire Police's proactive pursuit of outstanding suspects and wanted people was praised by inspectors as well as significant changes which have improved its management of sex offenders and violent offenders.
The force risk assesses registered sex offenders effectively and manages them in compliance with authorised professional practice and it is effective at dealing with online child abuse.
"We were pleased to find the child internet exploitation team and the management of sexual or violent offenders team sharing their staff, tactics and technologies with each other and local officers, to identify suspects, obtain evidence of offences, and apprehend high-risk suspects and offenders."
Building, supporting and protecting the workforce - Adequate
The development of the 'We Rise' programme was singled out for specific praise from inspectors
‘We Rise’ is a six-month development and confidence-building programme for members of under-represented groups who show potential to develop within the force.
The programme gives participants an opportunity to develop and connect with members of other under-represented groups. External mentors are appointed to support people on the programme.
It was found that the force provides enhanced welfare support to staff in high-risk roles, supports members of the workforce who have been assaulted or experienced traumatic incidents and is making efforts to retain new recruits.
Leadership and force management - Good
Improvements are needed in how Wiltshire Police records and uses data.
Inspectors said: "For example, we found that the force doesn’t have access to some partnership data, such as information from the NHS. So it doesn’t understand some sources of demand.
"This has an effect on how well it manages and responds to these demands. This also affects how well the force can work with its partners to provide joint services. The force must improve the data sharing process so it can meet the needs of its communities now and in the future."
The report found that the force has developed new performance management processes that are helping it improve
"We were also told by the workforce that chief officers were very visible and engaging. The workforce also commented positively about senior leaders who were creating a positive workplace environment through effective communication and being supportive," inspectors added.
You can view the full report here: hmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/peel-reports/wiltshire-2023-25/
Catherine Roper, Chief Constable for Wiltshire Police, has reacted the report's findings.
She said “I welcome the independent scrutiny and assessment that HMICFRS provide and the publication of their latest PEEL report today. I fully acknowledge and accept all their findings and recommendations for further improvement.
“Whilst we have seen significant improvements in some areas of the policing service we provide, we recognise that we still have much more to do to ensure that policing in Wiltshire and Swindon is at the consistently high quality our communities expect and deserve.
“The Police and Crime Commissioner holds me to account on behalf of communities for providing the best possible service. This HMICFRS report provides some good indications that we are improving. However, I share HMICFRS’ concerns that we haven’t made the progress we would have wanted to in some areas.
“We have a clear three-year strategic plan that outlines what we are doing to continue improving our service and our operational priorities of Safer Public Spaces, Tackling Violence and Burglary provide an anchor point for our policing activity to ensure that we are dealing with the issues that matter to our communities.
"We have also introduced a more robust approach to monitoring our performance – this enables us to identify areas of concern more quickly so that we can tackle it robustly and provide reassurance to our communities.
“Our mission is Keeping Wiltshire Safe. I remain steadfast in my belief that by maintaining a relentless focus on continuous improvement, working closely with our communities and partners, we can provide the best possible policing service and ensure that our communities feel truly safe.”
Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson also welcomed the report.
He said: “Today’s report shows Wiltshire Police has come a long way since its last report in 2022.
“Both the Chief Constable and I knew strides were being made to improve in a variety of areas and this was confirmed when the Force was lifted from Engage in May. It is pleasing to see this has also been recognised by His Majesty’s Inspectors and we approach this report with a level of cautious optimism.
“It has been a joint priority of Wiltshire Police - and my office - to ensure significant, and sustainable, reform across all areas of the organisation to provide a stable foundation for all necessary improvements. It was vital we ensured the Force functioned strategically but was also able to deliver the policing service it knows it should - and which our residents want and need. I join the Chief in her aspiration for Wiltshire Police to be an outstanding policing service in future years.
“But, as the report highlights, there is still much work to be done in some really key areas across the Force. This will not come as a surprise to Wiltshire Police’s Leadership or the hardworking and dedicated staff, officers and volunteers, who are currently working towards significant development in those areas HMIC have identified as requiring improvement.
“Chief Constable Catherine Roper’s vision and leadership has meant changes are being delivered at pace within the Force. The focus now needs to ensure those operational improvements – the ones which the public encounter and by which they measure their policing service – are really starting to deliver in our communities.
“We want our residents to start to feel safe and not be told they are safe because statistics tell them they should.
“My immediate goal is to ensure my updated Police and Crime Plan – which is being informed by our communities, Force input, our partners and stakeholders, as well as national policing priorities – will enable Wiltshire Police to further deliver those improvements needed.
“Working together, we will further rebuild trust and confidence in our policing service and continue making Wiltshire safer.”
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