Staffordshire Police has been taken out of special measures by inspectors.
The force had been in an enhanced monitoring process, called Engage – but this has been removed after His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) noted improvements to how vulnerable people are identified and improvements to standards of investigations and the service provided to victims of crime.
Chief Constable Chris Noble said:
“I welcome this decision, which comes on the back of incredibly hard work by our officers and staff for two years.
“Most importantly, it reflects an independent assessment that our communities are receiving a much better service, and our ambition is to significantly improve that service further.
“When we were first placed in Engage in June 2022, we were taking nearly 25 seconds to answer 999 calls. Now, calls are consistently answered in less than ten seconds.
“Our control room staff are now routinely identifying the signs of vulnerability in our contacts with the public, enabling us to help and respond to those most at risk more effectively. This is a result of increased investments in our control room, clear performance processes, enhanced leadership, and adopting best practice ways of working.
“We’ve also seen a noticeable improvement in pursuing and bringing offenders to justice – moving from a 10% outcome rate in 2022 to 18.5% in the last three months, one of the best rates in the country. This is achieved by our move back to a local policing approach, which has seen our stop and search rates increase by 20% and arrest rates up by 18%.”
Chief Constable Chris Noble
The Chief Constable said that despite his delight at moving out of special measures there was “much still to do”.
“Everyone in the force is determined to return Staffordshire Police to being an ‘outstanding’ local police service, something it was known for in the past.
“Moving back into normal inspection monitoring is an important milestone in the journey, but for my staff and I, it is a beginning and not an end.
“Our focus in the coming months will be on further improving our public contact through a better 101 service, investing further in preventative and proactive policing across rural and urban communities, protecting the most vulnerable and exploiting technology to become more productive and effective.
“This focus will not be straightforward, as we move into a period of financial pressure with one of the least experienced workforces in the country, with one of the heaviest workloads, and the fifth lowest number of police officers compared to our population size.
“But we are as up for the challenge as we were in tackling the numerous areas of concern levelled at us by our Inspectorate in 2022.
“I want to thank and recognise my officers and staff who serve our communities every day, often putting themselves in harm’s way and regularly putting the demands of the job before friends and family.
“This is their achievement and reflects their desire to get back to being the outstanding local police service that Staffordshire needs and deserves.”
Chief Constable Chris Noble
The full decision to remove Staffordshire Police from the Engage status can be read online.
Staffordshire’s Commissioner Ben Adams said:
“The decision by HMICFRS to remove the force from the Engage process is testament to the wide-reaching improvements made by Staffordshire Police.
“This has only been possible due to the hard work and commitment of all the officers and staff here in Staffordshire, led by Chief Constable Chris Noble and his team, and I’m delighted to see that this hard work has been recognised.
“This is a significant step forward by Staffordshire Police as they rapidly improve, and I will be closely monitoring the force’s performance on behalf of the communities of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to ensure that this momentum is maintained.”
Staffordshire Commissioner Ben Adams
