Performance and Measurement

Summary

Essex covers 1,400 square miles and is a county of contrasts, with a mixture of urban areas of varying populations and smaller rural market towns with strong agricultural links. The county’s towns are connected by a number of key roads, including the M25, M11, A12 and A13. Stansted Airport and the ports of Tilbury and Harwich are key entry points into the UK for many visitors. Policing is delivered by five territorial divisions, plus a division at Stansted Airport, and is supported by three centrally co-ordinated divisions: crime, mobile support and communications.

The HMIC assessment for 2006/07 focused specifically on how the force is delivering Neighbourhood Policing, how it understands and manages performance, and how it protects vulnerable people. A number of Neighbourhood Policing teams are now working across the 145 neighbourhoods within Essex; these teams consist of a mix of police officers, PCSOs and special constables. The force recognises the need to ensure that staff are not abstracted from their areas and has introduced a process to monitor this. Emphasis is also being placed on providing Neighbourhood Policing teams with appropriate levels of training for their roles. Performance management within the force is robust, with strong leadership provided by a chief officer team that sends out consistent messages on force priorities.

The 2005/06 HMIC baseline assessment revealed that, within the 23 areas of policing assessed, the key area of concern was Protecting Vulnerable People, which was graded as Poor/Stable. Recent reassessment reveals that the force has improved performance in the key areas of child abuse investigation, missing persons enquiries and public protection. More work, however, needs to be carried out on domestic violence, although there is now evidence of progress being made. The assessment also identified areas for improvement across other domains. The force has a structured approach to documenting actions that arise from the identification of areas for improvement, with progress clearly evident.

Key achievements for the force during 2006/07 include implementation of the National Quality of Service programme. The main challenges for the force now are to improve further on overall levels of satisfaction, particularly for victims of crime and witnesses, and to improve community engagement. The force is also actively working to progress the collaboration agenda and, in August 2007, a joint project with Kent Constabulary was formally announced, covering a number of protective services. The project has recently been awarded demonstrator site status and the Home Office will provide part-funding to assist with start-up costs.