Thames Valley Police rated 'good' in their yearly HMIC Peel assessment

Thames Valley Police has been rated as good in terms of how effective the force is at keeping people safe and reducing crime.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) carried out its effectiveness inspection of Thames Valley Police in September and has today published its report.

PEEL is the programme in which HMIC draws together evidence from its annual all-force inspections. The evidence is used to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of the police.

HMIC has introduced these assessments so that the public will be able to judge the performance of their force and policing as a whole.

The effectiveness of a force is assessed in relation to how it carries out its responsibilities including cutting crime, protecting the vulnerable, tackling anti-social behaviour, and dealing with emergencies and other calls for service.

Its efficiency is assessed in relation to how it provides value for money.

Its legitimacy is assessed in relation to whether the force operates fairly, ethically and within the law.

The evidence from inspections, together with the context within which forces operate, allows HMIC to make an assessment of each of the 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Commenting on the report Chief Constable Francis Habgood said:

"I am pleased that Thames Valley Police has again been rated 'good' in terms of its effectiveness which is the principle measure by which the public judge the performance of their force and policing as a whole.

"I welcome the finding by HMIC that the force keeps victims at the centre of its investigations and that, through our training programmes, front line staff have a good understanding of vulnerability and can identify victims who are at risk of further harm.

"Effective policing depends on our ability to work closely with other partner organisations. We are proud of our history of partnership working with other agencies and we continue to widen and deepen these relationships which are critical to our ability to protect the most vulnerable within our communities."

HMIC highlighted that Thames Valley Police has a good understanding of its communities and works well to keep people safe. It noted that the Force is generally good at investigating crime and has a growing appreciation of new and emerging types of criminality.

HMIC examined how well Thames Valley tackles serious and organised crime and commented that the Force is generally effective and has completed a large amount of work to disrupt the activities of criminal gangs.

The inspection report on effectiveness states:

"Thames Valley Police is good at keeping people safe and reducing crime...Levels of crime and anti-social behaviour are low...Staff recognise when a person is vulnerable and provide the right support in conjunction with partner organisations. The force is well prepared to respond to national threats, and it tackles serious and organised crime effectively."

The publication of the effectiveness report today now completes the publication of the annual set of PEEL (Police Efficiency Effectiveness and Legitimacy) reports. Thames Valley Police has now been rated 'good' in all of the HMIC inspections carried out in 2016 replicating the performance of the Force in 2015.

Commenting on the report Anthony Stansfeld, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police said:

"I am delighted that HMIC's report has underlined the positive role of Thames Valley Police in keeping our communities safe and reducing crime. This is the second consecutive year that the force has been rated 'good' in terms of its effectiveness, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone - from police to partnerships - for their hard work.

"HMIC has rightly identified the Force's strength in the way it supports victims of crime, protects vulnerable groups, manages ASB and tackles serious organised crime. While I will continue to work with the Chief Constable and other key partners to ensure we maintain these standards, we must all be mindful of the changing nature of criminality and the impact this has on our communities."