Wiltshire and Gloucestershire police forces put in special measures by watchdog
Wiltshire Police and Gloucestershire Constabulary are among six forces to be placed under special measures following inspections from the UK's police watchdog.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has decided that along with the Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester Police, Cleveland Police and Staffordshire Police, the two forces in the South West need to be monitored.
According to the HMICFRS, a force enters the monitoring, or, 'Engage' process if it is “not responding to a cause of concern, or if it is not succeeding in managing, mitigating or eradicating the cause of concern".
On the watchdog's website it says: “In the Engage phase, forces will develop an improvement plan to address the specific cause(s) of concern that has caused them to be placed in the advanced phase of the monitoring process.”
A spokesperson from Wiltshire Police told ITV News West Country that the force welcomes the opportunity to improve its operation.
They said: “We have been made aware by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) of their intention to provide closer scrutiny to Wiltshire Police further to their recent PEEL (Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy) inspection, and their intention to move Wiltshire Police to the ‘engage’ phase of scrutiny.
“We welcome the support this approach will offer and we will fully engage with the process. We remain focused on ensuring we continually improve and are able to deliver the best possible service to our communities."
A spokesperson from Gloucestershire Police says the force has already started to make improvements since the inspection.
They said: "Our report was published in October 2021 and whilst it identified a number of areas of good performance there were also other, important areas, where our performance was inadequate.
"These areas, as would be expected, led to us being escalated from the ‘scan’ tier of inspection with HMICFRS and into ‘engage’.
"In the 12 months since we have made substantial progress on improvements and will continue to do so with energy and pace.
"Whilst the engage process holds forces to account we have found it to be a supportive step that gives access to additional subject matter expertise from bodies such as the College of Policing.
"Since being advised of our move into the engage phase we have welcomed and embraced the opportunities it presents to make improvements comprehensively and sustainably."
An inspection report about both forces is due to be published next week highlighting the areas of concern in more detail.
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