‘Significant progress’ by Gwent Police on service to victims
Gwent Police has made “significant progress” in how it answers calls for service, identifies vulnerability at first point of contact and attends incidents within its published time-frames.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) identified these a ‘cause of concern’ in its previous inspection in November last year.
Its revisit in September this year found the force has improved how it assesses risk when the public makes calls for service, including how well it identifies vulnerable and repeat callers, said HMICFRS.
The victim service assessment also found it has also improved how well it investigates crime, including how effectively it follows lines of inquiry and how promptly it carries out investigations.
However, HMICFRS said the force needs reduce the number of non-emergency calls abandoned by the caller because they are not answered, and should improve how promptly it attends incidents.
Wendy Williams, His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, said: “Gwent Police has made significant progress against some of the recommendations that we focused on in this revisit. The force still needs to improve how it responds to non‑emergency calls, to reduce the rate of abandonment. And it should continue to focus on how promptly it attends incidents.
“Nonetheless, I recognise the positive progress the force has made. I can confirm that the existing cause of concern is discharged. We will continue to monitor the force’s improvement in the areas of 101 abandonment and attendance times.
“I would like to congratulate the force on its commendable performance in improving investigative standards. All outstanding areas for improvement concerning investigations have been discharged.
“We will continue to monitor the force’s work in this area during our PEEL 2023-25 inspection.”