Performance and Measurement

Summary

Hertfordshire has a population of well over one million residents and local policing is delivered through three operational commands that align with local authority boundaries.
The five strategic aims for policing Hertfordshire are to reduce crime, improve public confidence, improve the response to the public, reduce disorder, and improve public safety and feelings of safety.

The force has had a challenging but successful year, including the intense media spotlight during the Buncefield explosion and fire in December 2005.

Falls in recorded crime have been matched by falls in the British Crime Survey measures. The introduction of the Major Crime Task Force has had a significant impact on the force and removed the need to regularly abstract officers from local areas. Crime investigation overall has been problematic, not least because of the continued loss of experienced investigators to other forces. However, during 2005/06 an initial decline in the sanction detection rate was reversed and ensured that the year-end target has been exceeded. 

Improvements within the call-handling function have led to a significant increase in the number of emergency and non-emergency calls answered within the target time.

Rising arrest levels and offences brought to justice have created the need for additional custody space and demands for more court time. While the force is addressing the custody issue, lack of court capacity is leading to long delays in cases going to trial in magistrates’ courts, and this appears likely to worsen in 2006/07.

For further information see the full baseline assessment.