Performance and Measurement

Summary

Kent has a population of 1.62 million residents. The county borders four other policing areas, including the Greater London Authority, and is the country’s principal ‘Gateway to Europe’, with the Channel Tunnel, Dover and other ferry ports. This has been further strengthened with the opening of the Channel Tunnel rail link at Ashford International. Kent Police is unique among British police forces in operating an overseas police station at Coquelles, France. More than 30 million cross- Channel passengers travel through the county each year and there are over 5 million commercial vehicle movements on the country’s longest stretch of the strategic roads network, including the M2, M20, M25 and M26. The force headquarters is at Maidstone, with operational delivery through six area-based commands, reorganised from the nine that existed prior to April 2006. Considerable energy has been applied to managing this change, including the relocation of staff with the minimum of disruption, both professional and personal. The investigation into the Tonbridge Securitas raid, which commenced in February 2006, was a major commitment throughout the year. Whilst the investigation proved successful, there is no doubt that at times the overall operational and investigative capacity of the force was tested.

HMIC has recently carried out the first phase of a three-year programme of inspection activity within Kent, specifically assessing how the force is delivering Neighbourhood Policing, Performance Management and Protecting Vulnerable People. Across all three areas, it has either maintained or improved on an already satisfactory level of service to the public.

The force has published a policing plan covering 2006–09; this aligns key national and local themes. Well developed performance structures ensure that the force’s performance is constantly measured against national and locally agreed targets.

The Kent Police Authority, following wide consultation, has set local performance indicators reflecting community priorities. For 2006/07, these are: the percentage of people who perceive six types of anti-social behaviour to be a problem in their local area; and the number of people arrested who are referred into the Drug Interventions Programme.

The 2006 HMIC baseline assessment identified no major areas of concern; however, performance management and continuous improvement together with volume crime reduction were graded Fair with a Deteriorated direction of travel. In response, the force looked to other forces where good practice was evident and developed a comprehensive performance management framework under the leadership of the Deputy Chief Constable. This focuses not only on managing performance, but also on the development and sharing of learning. The rise in overall crime levels reported in 2006 has now been halted and turned into a small reduction.

In addition to the clear achievements already set out, improvements in overall performance were seen particularly in the latter stages of a year that included significant reorganisation and the exceptional demands placed on the force by the investigation of the Tonbridge robbery. The force has been awarded a Good grade for Performance Management in the 2007 HMIC inspection.

The main challenges for the force include the maintenance of, and improvement on, generally good performance, with a particular focus on improving levels of public confidence compared with peer forces; to fully embed Neighbourhood Policing within the force by April 2008; and to enhance the provision of protective services through collaborative arrangements with Essex Police, for which the force has now been awarded demonstrator site status.