Police performance rated 'fair' (From Witney Gazette)

Police performance rated 'fair'

9:04am Thursday 11th March 2010

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Thames Valley Police's performance was today given an overall 'fair' rating, but poor for solving crime.

The force was graded as fair in three categories - Local Crime and Policing; Protecting from Serious Harm; and Confidence and Satisfaction.

But the force said the national assessment was based on data which was six months old and improvements had already been made.

Chief Constable Sara Thornton said: “The Police Report Card is a new national approach to measuring police performance and does provide some valuable information for the public in Thames Valley.

"Our priorities agreed with the Police Authority over the last few years have been to reduce crime and improve confidence and satisfaction.

"The Report Card shows that we are doing just that. I am concerned about the grade for solving crime and we have agreed with the police authority that this will be a priority for the next year.”

Crime has fallen across Thames Valley and over the last 12 months there have been 3,000 fewer victims of burglary, car crime and robbery when compared to the previous 12 months.

In the six months from July to December 2009 (when we ran Operation Breaker) there has been a 14 per cent drop in burglaries.

Ms Thornton said: "Confidence in the ability of Thames Valley Police and the local authorities to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour is also increasing and we are on course to meet the nationally set target.

"A significant factor in improving these confidence measures is our commitment to neighbourhood policing, with over 1,000 staff dedicated to working in local areas tackling local problems.

"Victim satisfaction rates have continued to increase and currently stand at just under 84 per cent. Although we have seen increases for both white victims and victims from a black and minority ethnic (BME) community, the rise has been greater for white victims and the gap between the two groups has grown. This is why we have been graded poor.

"However more recent figures have shown that the disparity gap has halved as BME victim satisfaction has risen and so improvements have already been seen and the conclusion is out of date.

"We have been graded poor on solving crime because of a weak detection rate for assaults with less serious injury. All other areas of detection are graded as fair.

"We acknowledge that we need to improve these detection rates. We have a plan in place and have already seen improvement.

"In the last year we have detected more serious sexual offences and hate crimes than last year and our performance when dealing with the most serious offences is very strong. "We are also pleased to note the excellent performance in reducing those killed or seriously injured on our roads.

"This follows a long-term downward trend which is delivered as a result of the excellent work by the Road Policing Department and local partners in the Safer Roads Partnership."

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