Humberside Police congratulated for ‘outstanding’ performance

Inspectors found the force was ‘outstanding’ in six areas, ‘good’ in two areas and ‘adequate’ in one.

HMICFRS said the force was graded ‘outstanding’ in preventing crime, treatment of the public, protecting vulnerable people, managing offenders, developing a positive workplace and good use of resources.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Roy Wilsher said: “I want to congratulate Humberside Police on its excellent performance in keeping people safe and reducing crime. The force has achieved the highest level of performance and service in six areas of policing and demonstrated improvements in many areas.

“I was pleased to find that the force arrest rate for domestic abuse is high and officers arrest offenders at the earliest opportunity. Victims can be reassured that the force treats crimes seriously and it will seek to achieve appropriate outcomes for them.

“The force also continues to develop its well-established neighbourhood policing model, and this works effectively to tackle local problems. It also places value on early intervention, which is important in supporting children and young people to divert them away from offending.

“However, although the force has improved its recording of crime, it still needs to improve its reporting of anti-social behaviour incidents.

“This is an excellent report and Humberside Police should be applauded for its efforts to keep the public safe. I will continue to monitor its progress in maintaining this high level of performance.”

Humberside Police said the grades “were one of the highest of any UK police force by HMICFRS” following its latest inspection, which took place between January and June this year.

The inspection, which covers nine core areas of policing, is a comprehensive assessment of how the force is performing for its communities, and covers areas such as:

• Providing a service to victims of crime;
• Engaging with and treating the public with fairness and respect:
• Preventing crime and anti-social behaviour;
• Responding to the public;
• Investigating crime;
• Protecting vulnerable people;
• Managing offenders and suspects;
• Building, supporting and protecting the workforce; and
• Strategic planning, organisational management and value for money;

“A total of six outstanding grades and two good grades were awarded across the key pillars, the most outstanding grades given to any force to-date,” said Humberside Police.

Commenting on the report, Chief Constable Lee Freeman said he was “delighted” with the assessment from HMICFRS and the outstanding grades the force have been awarded”.

He said: “When I took over as chief in June 2017, the force was in ‘special measures’ and remained so until 2018.

“I recall saying then, that my ambition was that our local communities have a right to be policed by one of the best performing forces in the country.

“Today’s report demonstrates that Humberside Police, through our staff, always had the potential to achieve that and that my belief in them was not misplaced.

“I also recall saying that it was our actions and not words that the public needed to see, and my officers and staff have done everything that I have asked of them and have delivered the strongest set of grades of any force in the country. Thank you for your continued support and hard work.

“These improvements have a real-world impact – victims are receiving a better service, more offenders are being brought to justice and I hope as a consequence, public trust and confidence in Humberside Police will continue to increase.”

“As with any comprehensive inspection, there are always areas where there remains room for improvement, and this is something that we will now focus on.

“Being graded as outstanding does not mean you cannot improve further.

“I also know there will be some victims of crime who will read the headlines and know that they haven’t received the service that they have a right to expect.

“My priority is to support my staff in order that all victims receive the level of service that I know my staff want to provide, but are sometimes unable to, due to workloads.

“Therefore, my next priority is to further support and enable our investigators to provide the service to all victims that is not only ‘good’ but ‘outstanding’.”

The report highlighted innovative practices across all inspection pillars, including the force’s approach to those in mental health crisis. Right Care, Right Person is an innovative approach that ensures the right person supports those in need.

Mr Freeman said working with partners in the healthcare system, “no longer do we send a police officer to those experiencing a mental health crisis, enabling us to save more than 1,000 hours a month that we’ve redeployed back into traditional policing to support victims of crime and deliver positive outcomes for them”.

On the drive to implement innovative practices at Humberside Police, Mr Freeman added: “I wish to record my thanks to all my staff for their support and hard work over the last five years, as it is them, along with the 800 new officers that have joined us since I took over, who have delivered improvements and innovations at every level and across every part of Humberside Police.

“I also want to acknowledge the key role that our partners also play in keeping people safe. With the force going back to its roots with locally based policing teams across the East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North and North East Lincolnshire, our relationships with all four local authorities have never been stronger.

“When I became chief, I said I wanted my officers and staff to feel proud to work at Humberside Police. This second consecutive positive and improving inspection means that our staff know that their hard work, bravery and commitment has not gone unnoticed.”

“But we must also remember we’re not finished yet. This report is a checkpoint and not a destination”

“Of course, the real test of whether we are delivering an outstanding service, is what our communities say about us. So, we must be determined to ensure that the force continues to improve, particularly in the area of investigating crime.”

“I have always been very clear that the ambition was our local communities has one of the best performing forces in the country. Today’s report demonstrates that Humberside and our staff always had the potential to achieve that and that this belief was not misplaced.”

He said the report highlighted the “significant work” done to improve the service offered to vulnerable people, something which was of particular importance for everyone at the force.

“It is particularly pleasing to see that the HMICFRS has awarded us outstanding for the work we’ve done to improve the way that we deal with those people who are vulnerable,” said Mr Freeman.

“Protecting vulnerable people is a real priority for us and so many of the calls we get now involve people who are vulnerable – such as the very young or elderly, those who have mental health challenges, or those who simply find themselves in a position where they cannot protect themselves from harm.

“We have transformed our services in this area and restructured our teams to make them more effective than ever before.

“As a result, HMICFRS has recognised significant improvements in our service across all of these areas, including how we tackle domestic abuse and other crimes such as child sexual or criminal exploitation, how we respond to human trafficking and online crime as well as how we deal with the everyday calls we receive, such as missing persons.

“HMICFRS Inspectors have also recognised the work we have done to improve how we investigate crime, re-forming our CID teams across the force and ensuring that the investigative training we provide our staff is of a high standard, has undoubtedly made a difference.

“I am also particularly pleased to see our force control room being praised in this report. It is now answering more calls, more quickly, than ever before, with Humberside Police the first force in the country to offer a call back service for our non-emergency 101 service so that people don’t have to wait on the line during busy periods.

“The investment made in our new control room has been money well spent; not only do we have a control room that is the envy of our emergency services colleagues, but also delivering an exceptional service for those that use it.

“Finally, 2023 will see us innovate even further, with the introduction of new digital ways to report crime.

“From January, our communities will be able to report nearly all incidents to us digitally; through social media, via our soon-to-launch live chat function and online by completing a simple form on our new website, coming in the new year.

“This report is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone at Humberside Police. We are here to serve our communities and we hope they are as proud as we are to have a police force that puts victims first and focuses on responding to crime and being proactive in disrupting criminals.”

Humberside police and crime commissioner (PCC) Jonathan Evison said the report from HMICFRS was “testament to years of hard work, planning and dedication by everyone at Humberside Police, from the outstanding leadership shown by Chief Constable Lee Freeman and his senior team through all officer ranks, police staff and volunteers”.

“Humberside Police has been on a continuous journey of improvement since 2017 which has not been without its challenges but everyone in the force can rightly be proud of today’s announcement,” he said.

“When I was elected as PCC in 2021 the improvements made were clear to be seen and I have continued to be impressed with the progress to date.

“My role, and that of my office, is to have an oversight of Humberside Police’s performance and scrutinise aspects of their work, both supporting and challenging the force to be the best they can be, so we are delighted with this outcome.

“As the public’s representative on policing matters, I would like to congratulate everyone at Humberside Police; there is always more to do, and I know that the chief constable and his team are continuing to drive standards even higher.

“Our residents have a police force to be proud of.”