West Mercia Police reporting procedures improve - but still work to be done

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) praised the force's "notable improvements" to how it records reported crime, following its recent inspection.

But inspectors estimate that the force still misses about 8,900 reports a year, about 4,200 of which are violent crimes.

Today the HMICFRS released the report from West Mercia Police's recent Crime Data Integrity inspection, examining how well it tracks reported crimes across the region.

Inspectors rated the force as 'Good', the second best possible rating.

The report concluded: "The force has made good progress in improving its crime recording since our 2014 inspection.

"The leadership team in West Mercia Police is clearly committed to good crime recording. This has made sure that more victims receive the service they are entitled to and can access support and safeguarding where needed."

New bureau

A report of the inspection said: "The force has improved its crime recording accuracy since our 2014 report. We found it has made crime recording training available to all officers and staff who make crime recording decisions... has invested in additional resources to increase its ability to audit crime recording... has strong governance arrangements to make sure that it maintains the improvements it has made to its crime recording; and has completed all but one of the recommendations from our 2014 report."

It praised the force's new centralised crime bureau, which aims to make sure crimes are properly identified and recorded.

There are still improvements to be made though, the report said, including around domestic crime and modern slavery.

"The force acknowledges that it still has more work to do. It recognises that it still doesn’t always make the correct crime recording decisions.

"And it must work to: improve recording standards for violent crime, particularly harassment, stalking, coercive and controlling behaviour, and domestic abuse-related crimes; ensure it only uses out-of-court disposals when it is appropriate; ensure it always records reports of crime received from professional third parties; and correctly identify and record modern slavery crimes originating from modern slavery referrals it receives.

"We are confident that the force’s leadership and governance arrangements will enable it to address the remaining areas for improvement identified in this inspection."

Immediate improvements needed

The report said that West Mercia must immediately improve how it records violent crimes, domestic abuse and modern slavery; provide training in Home Office Counting Rules; and improve how it collects and analyses equality data.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams said: “It is incredibly important that police forces get crime recording right. Doing so improves the effectiveness of investigations and makes it all the more likely that victims will receive justice.

“I am therefore very pleased with the findings from our most recent inspection into crime recording at West Mercia Police. We found that the force has put in place several measures – including implementing all but one of our 2014 recommendations – to improve how it records crime.

“The force’s crime recording procedures are now more aligned with the Home Office Counting Rules, which has led to greater standardisation between records. In addition, almost all crime is properly recorded at an early stage, which means that investigations benefit from a comprehensive information trail.

“While there are still some concerns, victims of crime in the West Mercia region can be more confident than ever that their crimes will be recorded in a proper manner.”