Chief constable welcomes HMICFRS closure of cause of concern
North Wales Police Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman KPM welcomed the announcement that His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Kathryn Stone OBE, has closed the cause for concern previously raised in the 2022/23 inspection of the north west regional response to serious and organised crime (SOC).
The inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) identified several issues which it said affected the force’s ability to tackle serious organised crime.
Ms Blakeman said: “I welcome these findings, which confirm the hard work we have undertaken to ensure a comprehensive approach to fighting serious organised crime.
“In December 2024, we invited HMIC to review the actions we had implemented, including increasing our analytical capability to identify emerging threats, changing the way we manage and investigate these threats, as well as developing a comprehensive process to identify learning and good practice.
“I am therefore pleased that today HMIC has recognised the significant steps we have taken as a force.”
She added: “Tackling serious organised crime is a priority to us. Organised crime groups do not recognise borders, and we will continue to work closely with colleagues from across the north west to relentlessly pursue those who seek to gain from criminality in the region.”
Police and crime commissioner (PCC) for North Wales, Andy Dunbobbin said: “My role as PCC is to hold the chief constable to account on behalf of the public for the performance of the force, and I made tackling SOC a key priority in my Police and Crime Plan for North Wales following my re-election.
“As such, I am pleased that HMICFRS have announced the closure of the cause of concern for the force that they issued following inspection of the north west regional response to SOC in 2022-23.
“At that time, they noted that North Wales Police should make sure that it has enough resources to tackle serious organised crime effectively and that it must also make sure that its workforce understands that serious organised crime is a priority.
“It is therefore welcome that the force has been found to have, among other areas, increased workforce understanding of the importance of SOC and its role in tackling it, to have increased their analytical capacity to improve the understanding of emerging SOC threats, and to have reviewed their resourcing model to improve how SOC threats are identified, managed and investigated.
“It is testament to the dedication and hard work of the senior officers of North Wales Police that these changes have been implemented, and they have had a positive effect in closing this cause of concern.
“There is always more work that can be done to ensure residents and communities are being policed in the most effective way possible, but developments like this are welcome and I look forward to working with the chief constable and her team to ensure North Wales is the safest and most secure region of the UK.”