The chief constable of Wiltshire Police has responded to concerns raised in a recent report about the force’s response times and crime-stopping capabilities.

Catherine Roper spoke to local journalists following the publication of the Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy (PEEL) report, which 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.

In terms of required improvements, it highlighted that work needs to be done in treating the public fairly, responding to the public, investigating crime, protecting vulnerable people, managing offenders and suspects, preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, and building, supporting and protecting the workforce.

Sorting out the control room has been a priority in the months following the inspectors' visit.

Chief Constable Roper said: "We are the fourth worst in the country [in this category]. The service in our control room is not where we want it to be.

"We have aligned the shift system to meet the demand and filled all the vacancies that were there when I joined.

"Staff are omni-competent so rather than having people with certain specialisms doing certain tasks, they can all do anything required and better manage the demand.

"We had not invested in technology that could assist us in reducing handover times but in the last six months, we have acquired that tech.

"Our 101 abandonment rate is reducing but our answer rate is still not good enough. If you can’t get the control room right, the rest of it falls away."

Ms Roper acknowledged that while the improvements highlighted in the report were a "vindication" and marked "a step forward" for the police, the Wiltshire force was still "not where we should be" and "won’t be good enough until everyone feels safe and feels confident to pick up the phone".

Improving how they work with vulnerable people and cracking down on shoplifting are among the priorities.

The chief constable added: "We are working with children who are victims and who are on the cusp of engaging in knife crime. 

"Children might not realise how they being criminally groomed so we have a serious youth violence reduction team that is working with young people and tackling grooming.

"We are introducing a vulnerability directorate in September to bring together teams dealing with vulnerable people to make sure we provide the most support for victims.

"We are introducing a vulnerability directorate in September to bring together teams dealing with vulnerable people to make sure we get the most support for victims.

"We have been improving all our outcomes in criminal investigations, apart from shoplifting.

"We have a 27 per cent outcome rate for shoplifting reports – the best in the country is 30 per cent. We are arresting more people and holding them to account more and speaking to retailers.

"During the festive season, we will flex our resources to have more of a presence in the town centre and night-time economy."

Recruitment is another key focus, as the police has filled its allocation of new employees for the next few months, met all of the uplift targets given by the previous government, and seen a lot of interest from people wishing to apply and transfer from other forces.

The reintroduction of dedicated neighbourhood teams has helped increase officers' visibility and strengthen relationships with communities around the county.

Catherine Roper added: "Our new recruits are dedicated to public service. We are providing more support and guidance and teaching them the skills they need. The enthusiasm and commitment are all there, they are incredibly proud and want to help their areas."