West Mercia Police 'requires improvement' - report

HM Inspectorate of Constabularies gave the force an “inadequate” rating over its performance on serious and organised crime.

The report found the force was “good” in just four of the areas it was inspected in.

Chief Constable Anthony Bangham admitted he was disappointed with the result of the inspection, which had rated the force as “good” last year.

The report praised the force for its work in investigating crime and preventing re-offending, but said it was found wanting in crime prevention and tackling anti-social behaviour – as well as protecting vulnerable people.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams said the force’s performance was disappointing compared to last year’s assessment.

She said the force needed to improve its initial response to incidents involving vulnerable people, particularly victims of domestic abuse.

“The force’s approach to serious and organised crime is a cause of concern," she said.

"There are weaknesses in the way it assesses the risks posed by organised crime groups, and its processes for scrutinising the use of tactics and interventions are under development.

"It is failing to assess the impact of its efforts to disrupt the activities of organised crime groups in accordance with national guidelines. "The force needs to ensure that the prevention of serious and organised crime is based on a comprehensive understanding of the threats posed.

"It also needs to work more closely with its partner organisations to understand and prevent this type of criminality.”

Chief defends force after inspection

Mr Bangham said he accepted the force was "not where we should have been" at the time of the inspection last year.

But he said the report also identified areas of improvement.

“Although we are disappointed that the inspectorate felt we had not responded well enough to previous recommendations, there were several examples in the inspection of positive work ongoing across the force area,” he said.

“This included recognition for the force’s work to understand the signs of vulnerability and our investigations involving vulnerable people. We are pleased to see this as it clearly reflects the force’s aim to focus on protecting the most vulnerable people in our communities.” He said the force covered a large geographic area with a diverse range of issues.

The report was particularly critical of the way the force dealt with serious and organised crime, and Mr Bangham said during the last six months it had looked at working more closely with the community to tackle this.

“We now have much better partnership structures in place focused on identifying the specific issues in each community, working with the appropriate partners and addressing these using a range of approaches and tactics to disrupt and reduce criminal activity.

“Accepting as an organisation we were not where we should have been last year in respect to the areas inspected, I am confident that significant focus has been given to addressing the areas highlighted.”

Mr Bangham added that next month the force would introduce new working patterns that would mean that more officers and staff would be deployed at the times of highest demand.

“This will ensure we have the right people available at the right time to deliver the best possible protection to our communities,” he said.