Gloucestershire Constabulary has been criticised for failing to record crime effectively and its inadequate service to victims of crime.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has raised concerns about the overall performance of the force despite improvements in some areas.

The inspectorate graded the constabulary’s performance across 10 areas of policing and found the force was inadequate in five of these. This included how the force protects vulnerable people and how it investigates crime.

They say the force is not able to respond effectively to calls to the control room or when it deploys officers to incidents.

And opportunities to prosecute are being missed because investigations are poor, or because officers have not collected evidence or persevered in enough cases where the victim no longer wishes to pursue a prosecution.

Inspector Wendy Williams said she recognised that the constabulary has faced many challenges overcoming the pandemic but has concerns about the force’s performance in keeping people safe and reducing crime.

“The force’s service to victims of crime is inadequate and it isn’t recording crime effectively,” she said.

“The force is sometimes missing opportunities to safeguard vulnerable people. The way crime is recorded has improved since our last inspection in 2019, but I am concerned that it still isn’t effective, particularly in cases of domestic abuse and anti-social behaviour.

“The force isn’t yet able to respond effectively to calls to the control room or when it deploys officers to incidents, despite establishing a new way of working. The force should gain a better understanding of these demands and be able to manage its resources more effectively as the new system develops.

“The force must make sure that officers have the capacity and ability to investigate reported crimes properly and promptly. Opportunities to prosecute are being missed because investigations are poor, or because officers haven’t collected evidence or persevered in enough cases where the victim no longer wishes to pursue a prosecution. This makes successful prosecutions less likely, which lets victims down.”

The inspection also found the constabulary has improved in certain aspects.

The force’s performance to be ‘good’ in four areas, and ‘adequate’ in one area.

“The force is good at treating people fairly and with respect and it works well with communities. It is improving its understanding of the use of force and it understands and is improving the way it uses stop and search,” Ms Williams said.

“The force is good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. It uses problem-solving well and works with other organisations to reduce demand and safeguard vulnerable people.

“The force is good at identifying and tackling serious and organised crime. There has been a significant improvement from the last inspection. Serious and organised crime is now a priority and is being tackled using intelligence. I’m pleased to see the force is working with other organisations to tackle serious and organised crime.

“I will monitor the force’s progress towards addressing the areas I have identified where the force can improve further.”

Chief Constable Rod Hansen said there were many examples of good practice identified in the report but he recognised that much work still needs to be done to address the concerns.

He said the report only represents a partial picture of the work the police do to keep people safe from harm.

And he also explained the pandemic has hampered their progress in improving the recording of crime.

“At times, our workforce was severely reduced in capacity, most training had to be cancelled and many staff members had to change roles and often do things very differently. The landscape of policing changed dramatically and so our plans had to adapt as well,” he said.

“We had to take steps like train and equip a Covid incident response team, set up video interview facilities to make sure court cases could continue and establish and manage a temporary mortuary and while none of this is recognised in the report, I hope it does provide people with some context.

“Another major factor has been legacy IT systems that need massive investment, and we’re now approaching a point where we can replace a crime recording system that relied on staff inputting information numerous times.

“Additionally, recruitment is happening on a scale that simply wasn’t possible during many years of austerity – meaning we are already addressing the issues the HMICFRS has identified, including an increase to 62 posts in our crime management unit – but it takes time.

“To those concerned by the findings around safeguarding vulnerable people and quality of investigations, I do recognise our service to victims needs to improve – the pandemic did affect us here too but with extra resources on their way including eight DCs to our rape and serious sexual offences team, changes to how we monitor and train staff and improvements in technology, we are confident we will improve in this area.

“We do have officers who are already exemplars when it comes to safeguarding – for example one of our PCs who worked over 20 additional hours, keeping the support of the victim, to ensure a domestic abuse suspect was remanded at court– but with many officers new to the service and some supervisors who lack the experience we have had in the past then we must do more to ensure consistency.

“It is pleasing that the HMICFRS recognise we have been improving in relation to crime recording but we can give some reassurance here that where a crime record was not generated it does not mean safeguarding action did not take place. This is because we use a separate vulnerability form to assess risk and prompt safeguarding measures.

“And there has been some remarkable work that has helped keep vulnerable people safe in the last 18 months, such as the use of a dedicated domestic abuse response vehicle during lockdown that was cited in a national HMICFRS report on the policing response to Covid.

“We’re also the first force to introduce technology that allows us to capture phone evidence at the earliest opportunity after a crime has taken place without taking the device away from the victim, which is particularly beneficial in sexual assault cases and helps us maintain the support of victims.

“And last year one of our officers received a Judge’s commendation for an investigation into a dangerous paedophile that resulted in one of the longest sentences ever given at Gloucester Crown Court.

“Notably our satisfaction survey results are very strong and show that a clear majority of the public are content with the service they receive.

“Please be assured that I’m not complacent though, and that I’m working with my colleagues across the constabulary, and the police and crime commissioner and his team to ensure we maintain that trust and confidence as we strive to keep of our local communities safe from harm.”