South Yorkshire Police is good at preventing crime, but must improve its investigations

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded South Yorkshire’s performance across nine areas of policing. The inspectorate found the force was ‘good’ in one area, ‘adequate’ in five areas and ‘requires improvement’ in two areas.

HMICFRS said the force is committed to neighbourhood policing and is continuing to invest in its policing model, which focuses on prevention of crime, antisocial behaviour and vulnerability. It has developed initiatives designed to provide early intervention and to prevent and deter crime. For example, the force has carried out a trial of targeted digital advertising to give crime prevention information within areas identified as burglary hotspots.

The force also has a strong evidence-based policing ethos that is clear across all of its functions. It maximises opportunities to prevent public harm and reduce demand by using problem-solving techniques.

Inspectors also found the force makes good use of stop and search, and it records reasonable grounds for the search in almost all cases. But there is more work to do to improve officers’ recording of use of force, and it would benefit from gathering data from its supervisory reviews to improve analysis and further development.

HMICFRS also said that the force needs to improve the way it investigates crime, particularly as a low number of crimes are solved following investigation. It needs to work to understand the reasons for this and to achieve better outcomes for victims. This includes making sure it remains victim focused throughout its investigations and that they are regularly updated.

The inspectorate found that high workloads were also affecting officers’ wellbeing and their ability to investigate crime. The force needs to make sure it understands its workforce challenges, has effective systems in place, and uses them consistently to monitor workloads and to provide support to its officers.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said: “I am pleased with some aspects of the performance of South Yorkshire Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service. I recognise the efforts of individual officers and staff who are clearly working hard to manage high workloads and to help victims.

“We found the force particularly good at preventing and deterring crime, with a clear commitment to neighbourhood policing. The force also answers 999 calls more quickly but doesn’t always respond to calls for service as quickly as it should. While the force has tried to address this issue, it needs to do more to meet the public’s needs.

“The funding it receives isn’t bringing about a good service for the public in some important areas, such as investigating and solving crimes. It also must do more to support, build and protect its workforce, particularly on those facing high demand and workloads. It needs to make sure it is providing consistent well-being support for officers.

“The force has faced significant challenges, including experiencing significant disorder following the tragic Southport murders and financial issues reported by the South Yorkshire Mayor last year. They have carried out work to address this and we are encouraged by the preparations and planning already made.

“I will be monitoring the force’s progress closely and I hope that changes made will result in improvements that help it better meet the public’s needs.”

In a stement, the force said: “The report rates South Yorkshire Police as good at preventing and deterring crime and anti-social behaviour, and reducing vulnerability – recognising three areas of promising practice relating to how we engage with young people and community groups to prevent crime; our provision of GPS devices to the families of people with dementia to help find them if they go missing; and how we use streaming services for crime prevention.

“The force is rated adequate in our use of police powers and treating the public fairly and respectfully, responding to the public, protecting vulnerable people, managing offenders and suspects, and leadership and force management.

“Within the areas of protecting vulnerable people and leadership and force management, the report recognises innovative practice relating to our use of our violence against women and girls (VAWG) Independent Advisory Group to help us develop training for officers and staff and support for victims, and our analytics process which helps us predict future demand and develop our longer-term plans and strategies.

“[However] Our investigation of crime and our work to build, support, and protect the workforce requires improvement.”

South Yorkshire Police said while work is underway to develop a plan of action to improve all areas, some actions have already been taken to implement improvements in how it investigates crime:

• All chief superintendents have been tasked with developing plans to increase the number of investigations in their business areas which result in charges/summons further above the national average. A dedicated chief superintendent is overseeing work to make appropriate use of Out of Court Disposals.
• The Investigation Improvement Unit is actively analysing investigative standards and working at an individual and organisational level to improve them;
• Training for supervisors has been tweaked to ensure they are taking a more consistent approach to overseeing investigations; and
• The force working with the College of Policing to compare its practices to other forces to identify and fill any gaps.

Deputy Chief Constable Sarah Poolman said: “As the public’s expectations of policing increase, so too do the expectations of HMICFRS, and rightly so if we are to provide efficient and effective policing services which evolve alongside society.

“Some gradings have lowered. This is not a sign that we are holding ourselves to lower standards than before but rather that a new higher bar has been set by HMICFRS prior to this round of inspections and that we need to address our outstanding challenges and embed some recently identified innovative practices into our ways of working.

“We are thankful to the inspectors for the time they spent in force and on this report to help inform our focusses for the coming years. Based on their findings, work is already underway to develop an action plan to improve the service we are delivering to South Yorkshire.

“We are also thankful for the recognition that some of our work is promising and innovative.”

She added: “Whilst we face some challenges in the investigation of crime and in building, supporting, and protecting the workforce – posed by demand, the financial deficit, and shortage of detectives, we commit to continue being an ambitious force which aims to be the best we can be at preventing crime and disorder, responding to the needs of victims and communities, and focusing on those who cause the most harm.”

South Yorkshire’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Kilvinder Vigurs, said:  “I’m grateful to HMICFRS for their thorough work in the latest PEEL inspection and shining a light on South Yorkshire Police’s performance. We remain committed to working closely with the inspectorate and South Yorkshire Police to drive continuous improvement and ensure the safety of our communities.

“It’s encouraging to see the force’s investment in neighbourhood policing, crime prevention, and evidence-based practice being recognised. The report also highlights progress in the ethical use of stop and search and stronger community engagement – clear signs of a police service striving to build and maintain public trust.

“However, it is clear there is more to do. Improvements are needed in how crimes are investigated, how victims are supported, and how we care for officer wellbeing. These are priorities the chief constable is already addressing, and I will be closely monitoring progress to ensure meaningful and measurable change. Although HMICFRS’s inspection methodology has changed, which has affected the performance ratings of all forces, I am clear that we must always aim for the highest standards of policing – it’s what our communities expect and deserve.

“The report also acknowledges both the financial constraints resulting from budgetary challenges and the operational pressures of the past year, in particular, in the wake of last summer’s tragic events in Southport and the subsequent unrest in Manvers. Our officers responded with courage, resilience, and professionalism under extraordinary circumstances, and I commend them for their service.

“Public safety is not negotiable. The people of South Yorkshire must be assured that their police service is equipped to respond appropriately and investigate effectively to tackle crime. I will continue to scrutinise the force’s performance rigorously and transparently, ensuring it meets the high standards that our communities expect and deserve.”

Steve Kent, chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said it “sadly comes as no surprise” that South Yorkshire Police has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ in the Developing a Positive Workplace section.

“Our officers are very tired and in most cases demoralised,” he said. “It is important to note for context that South Yorkshire Police is one of the poorest funded forces in the country and one that carries some of the highest workloads per officer in the country.

“We have said in the past that the force is good at providing services to officers who are struggling and who are in essence broken. What we are not good at is preventing the officers from breaking in the first place.

“Our own counselling service in South Yorkshire Police Federation is pretty much constantly full. I believe this is mainly in part due to the performance culture that exists and is ruining policing in England and Wales.

“This, coupled with the conditions as mentioned in our force, has created a perfect storm in which our officers are burnt out or getting close to burnout.”

Mr Kent added: “I do find it ironic that the HMICFRS who carried out the inspection. along with the Government, are the drivers centrally of the performance culture which sets poorer forces like ours up to fail.

“How can it be acceptable that forces of similar sizes and demands across the country in some cases have 30 per cent more police officers than South Yorkshire Police. We still haven’t got to the numbers we had before 2010. It is absurd. The officers and staff of South Yorkshire Police – and subsequently the public – are suffering as a result.

“All these central issues aside, the force absolutely has to re-think its stance towards performance and how we drive our workforce. We cannot continue to do so much with so little.

“Something has to give, and if that includes being honest to the public about our limitations then we have to do just that and reduce the pressure on our officers. This is a matter of urgency.

“The alternative is the domino effect of officers burning out, which we are already seeing signs of beginning. That will have a far bigger long-term consequence on our force and its people than accepting our position in terms of our financial and resourcing constraints and taking the force off the constant redline it is on.

“We need to get back to basics. I have never accepted that performance should have a major role in policing in England and Wales. It drives poor practice and can focus on quantity over quality. Police officers in England and Wales are here to use their discretion and decision making with what they deal with as they come across it.

“If we adequately train and empower our officers to do this, then the public will get a better service and our officers will have the time and space to do their job properly under less bureaucratic stress. It is this stress which is and has been at the centre of this growing crisis for a number of years now.”