Wiltshire best force for local priorities
Wiltshire Police has been praised for its progress after it was found to be the best force in the country for dealing with community priorities.
Despite ranking 29th last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found Wiltshire Police is now England and Wales’ most effective force for handling priorities highlighted by its local population.
The force also placed second for public confidence in the police, up from 20th in the same category in 2017, and third for the perception it is doing a ‘good or excellent job’.
The findings follow Wiltshire Police’s response to the poisoning incidents in Salisbury that killed 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess and left four other victims in hospital.
Police and crime commissioner Angus Macpherson said: “It’s really positive to see such a significant increase in how the force deals with priorities as outlined by the community from last year and is clearly a testament to the hard work going on within the force to forge better links with those who live and work here.
“Recent events in Salisbury and Amesbury have demonstrated just how strong Wiltshire Police’s relationships are within the communities they serve and protect.
“For the force to come second nationally for public confidence in the police is great news and I’m glad that the public believes in our force as much as I do.”
Sixty-eight per cent of people polled for the ONS research said they ‘strongly agree’ or ‘tend to agree’ that Wiltshire Police is good at dealing with local concerns.
Surrey Police, Cheshire Constabulary and Cumbria Constabulary also scored highly on this matrix with 66 per cent approval, while the average for policing across England and Wales was just 59 per cent.
Just 41 per cent of people said South Yorkshire Police dealt well with community priorities.
And almost four-fifths of the public reported high confidence in policing, although Surrey Police scored highest with 86 per cent.
Humberside Police emerged as the force with the lowest public confidence at 68 per cent.
Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said: “I’m really proud of the progress Wiltshire Police has made in the past year and whilst there are some areas where I would have liked the force to place higher, this is a good opportunity for us to look at where we’re excelling and replicate that across all the categories in the survey.”