Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) report has today revealed why Wiltshire Police has been placed under special measures.
The force’s Chief Constable, Kier Pritchard, described it as a “significantly concerning report”, adding that action is already being taken to address the issues outlined.
The report grades Wiltshire Police as ‘inadequate’ in our ability to respond to the public, protect vulnerable people, and strategic planning.
It further describes the force as ‘requiring improvement’ in a number of other areas from the inspection and makes a series of recommendations of what the Force needs to do to improve the service provided to the public.
My responsibility as Chief Constable is to deliver a local policing service that the people of Wiltshire expect, pay for and deserve. I remain resolute in our effort to improve”, Chief Constable Pritchard added.
“I acknowledge the findings from HMICFRS and accept the recommendations outlined in their report – we take the concerns raised very seriously and we are already taking prompt and comprehensive action to address these.
“Whilst we have been working hard to drive improvements in our service to our communities, we will be relentless in our focus on accelerating our work to do what is needed to improve our service.
“We fully accept that we need to move quickly to make improvements in some critical areas and we will turn the inspection feedback into tangible activity that you will see.
“I know people join Wiltshire Police to make a difference and protect our communities, and it is clear from this report we have not been doing that to the standard and expectation the public have of us. As a Force, whilst we are bitterly disappointed by the findings of the inspection, we are determined to address the improvements set out in the report.
“Improving service delivery is my highest priority as your Chief Constable.
“Whilst our officers, staff and volunteers work incredibly hard in challenging circumstances, it is clear we have much more to do in focusing on the core service delivery.
“We have received similar challenges from the Police and Crime Commissioner and, with our respective organisations, we are already working together to identify and address many of the issues outlined in the report today and have already made changes in these areas.
“We have a detailed and focused plan which is firmly aligned to the delivery of the Commissioners Police and Crime Plan. Our ambition is to return our service to the standard the public expect, and we have already put in place many actions to support this.”
These include:
- Establishing a dedicated action taskforce which will focus on re-setting and improving the fundamentals of public service at every level, from point of contact through to delivering improved justice outcomes
- Focused ongoing training for all of our front-line officers and staff, and critically, with their supervisors and sergeants. Enhanced training has also been delivered to our Contact Centre staff specifically on identifying vulnerability threat, harm and risk in every interaction with the public
- We are in the process of introducing a Force-wide Volume Crime Team to further professionalise our approach to investigating crime across neighbourhoods, keeping victims better informed and working with the Crown Prosecution Service to deliver better outcomes.
He continued: “During May, I personally set out my expectations to my officers, staff and volunteers through a series of whole force forums, speaking directly to over 1500 members of Wiltshire Police.
“I can assure you that they are deeply saddened by the findings of the inspection, they acknowledge what needs to be done and are determined to play their part in making the improvements required to enhance the service we provide to the public.
“Set against the complexity of demands they now face, I am confident in their ability to deliver the service improvements required across our communities. We share the same ambition, and we are going to do this together.
“Policing is becoming ever more complex and the annual HMICFRS inspection is one of a number of important elements of scrutiny to check and test how we are performing as a Force.”
