Domestic abuse initiative left victims waiting weeks for response
West Yorkshire Police has made improvements since its last inspection but still requires improvement in five of eight areas assessed, according to a new report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.
The force was rated adequate in three areas — police powers and public treatment, preventing and deterring crime, and responding to the public — but requires improvement in leadership and force management, developing a diverse and inclusive workforce, investigating crime, safeguarding children and adults, and managing fraud.
HMICFRS found the force shows consistently strong performance in answering emergency and non-emergency calls, with a low rate of abandoned calls, and has effective oversight of stop and search and use of force powers. His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said the force had acted promptly on feedback given during the inspection and expressed confidence that its leadership would continue to make progress.
However, the report identifies serious concerns about how the force manages demand, with some governance meetings found to be ineffective or not taking place at all.
One of the starkest examples centres on Operation Rapid, introduced in February 2025 to improve the force’s response to domestic abuse by treating all such reports as priority incidents requiring attendance within an hour. The initiative had the unintended consequence of creating massive backlogs in the force control room, with officers and staff unable to manage the volume of queued incidents.
Reports of sexual offences and child abuse were left unattended for weeks. Inspectors were sufficiently concerned that they referred specific incidents to the force during the inspection itself. The force partially withdrew the operation in September 2025, after which response times improved.
Inspectors also found significant problems with how the force handles missing persons reports. In 2025, supervisors directed that no formal record be made on the Niche system for more than 4,000 children and nearly 3,000 adults reported missing from home. The force’s own internal audit found that five children came to harm while reported missing during the period when records were not being properly maintained.
The report raises further concerns around the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, with at least 567 applications closed as “victim not engaging” in 2025 after just two phone attempts, with no follow-up action and no marker placed on the system to trigger a disclosure if the applicant came to police attention in future.
On investigating crime, the force is rated as requiring improvement, with only 10 percent of outcomes for victim-based crimes classed as positive, against a national median of 12.2 percent. Inspectors found many officers carrying unmanageable workloads, with complex cases including rape investigations and serious assaults being allocated to inexperienced officers.
The force had a detective shortfall of 258 officers as of January 2026. Even if all 178 officers currently in detective training qualify, a shortfall of 80 would remain.
HMIC Michelle Skeer said: “I am optimistic that the leadership team, together with its committed officers and staff, will continue to make progress on the areas for improvement identified during this inspection. I will continue to monitor this progress.”
Chief Constable Sir John Robins QPM DL said: “This inspection acknowledges the improvements West Yorkshire Police has made since the last HMICFRS PEEL report.
“Crime is down by nine per cent and the prosecution of offenders has increased by 25 per cent. We are answering 999 and 101 calls faster than ever and we are working tirelessly to improve our attendance times to incidents. The satisfaction rate for victims of crime is now at 72 per cent.
“HMICFRS rightly highlights the areas where the force should improve, and acknowledges that the signs of improvement are already underway. The inspection also recognises the significant progress we have made since their last visit and, most importantly, the overall performance continuing to strengthen.
“We recognise there is more to do. We are working hard to bolster our investigations and to deliver a consistent high-quality service to everyone who needs us.”