Gwent Police heavily praised by inspectorate
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent (PCC), Jeff Cuthbert, has praised Gwent Police for improving the accuracy of crime reporting, following a positive report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies, Fire & Rescue Service (HMICFRS).
The report commends Gwent Police for its strong leadership and effective recording of crimes reported by vulnerable victims of crime, such as victims of sexual offences and modern slavery.
The service is also praised for the full implementation of all recommendations made within the HMICFRS 2014 crime integrity report.
PCC Jeff Cuthbert said: “The report praises Gwent Police for its ethical, victim focused crime recording, in particular the efforts which have been made around improving first point of contact.
“I do acknowledge that there are some areas in which Gwent Police does need to improve upon, primarily around training and awareness raising, and the report makes a number of recommendations for improvement.
“I will discuss these findings with the Chief Constable and continue to monitor progress against all recommendations in order to ensure crime is recorded effectively and that victims of crime in Gwent receive the best possible service.”
Chief Constable for Gwent Police, Julian Williams said: “Victims are at the heart of everything we do and remain our priority. We have specialist teams and officers focussed on our most vulnerable and we continue to introduce new measures to provide support for these people.
“We’ve recently introduced a crisis intervention team in our control room so that there is a specialist response to domestic abuse calls, offering further support for both our own staff taking these calls and the victims themselves.
“We’ve seen an increase in the use of domestic violence protection orders used to protect victims of such abuse and are also working directly with victims to discuss their experiences of our service to ensure we continue to improve.
“I’m pleased to see that the report highlights our commitment in this area along with our dedication to act on previous recommendations which have all resulted in an improved service to our communities.”
The full report can be found online by visiting the HMICFRS website www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/news/news-feed/effective-oversight-has-positive-impact-on-gwent-polices-crime-recording-decisions-inspectors-find