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HMIC Inspection Reports and Results

In addition to the Policing Pledge Inspection, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC)(external website) has carried out a Programmed Inspection that was delivered in two phases over the last 2 - 3 years. The Inspections covered the following areas:

  • Major Crime
  • Serious and Organised Crime
  • Neighbourhood Policing
  • Developing Citizen Focus
  • Protective Services

This section of the website provides additional detail about the results and recommendations arising from the inspections.

The Full Inspection Reports are available to download at the bottom of this page.

Major Crime

The inspection of Major Crime focused on the Force’s ability to deal with homicide and other crimes that would require the setting up of a Major Incident Room. These facilities are required to co-ordinate the running of an enquiry and evidence collection.  The assessment is a judgement on the extent that the force predicts and prevents major crimes, as opposed to discovering and investigating them.

The standard against which the Force was judged looked at how they identify, manage and mitigate the risk to local people.  Inspectors look at intelligence, prevention, enforcement, performance management and resilience in meeting the requirements.

HMIC recognised that there is a low to medium demand in Lincolnshire in the major crime areas and that detection rates were far above average. Despite this the Force failed to meet the overall standard.

They acknowledged that the Force has made major progress and have a clear understanding of trends and interventions and recommended that additional resources should be allocated to increase our analytical capacity and review major crime cases. The Force will be taking these recommendations forward and making sure that we have the right level of resources to be able to meet the national standard.

Serious and Organised Crime

There were recommendations to increase our analytical capacity, develop a review unit and use intelligence systems. These recommendations will be taken forward in the Force's action plan.

Neighbourhood Policing 2007/08

The Association of Police Officers (ACPO) launched a Neighbourhood Policing programme in April 2005, under the National Reassurance Policing Programme (NRPP). This acknowledges that the public expect and need a safe and secure society and that it is the role of the police, in partnership, to ensure that such a society is provided. All forces were to have fully implemented and embedded Neighbourhood Policing by 31 March 2008.

The HMIC inspection of Neighbourhood Policing implementation assessed the impact on neighbourhoods, together with identified developments for the future.

HMIC assessed Lincolnshire Police as ‘meeting the standard’ and that ‘Neighbourhood policing has been implemented to a consistent standard across the force’.

Developing Citizen Focus 2007/08

Citizen focus policing is about developing a culture where the needs and priorities of the citizen are understood by staff and are always taken into account when designing and delivering services. A sustained commitment to quality and customer need is essential to enhance satisfaction and confidence in policing, and to build trust and further opportunities for active engagement with individuals, thereby building safer and more secure communities.

The HMIC inspection of Developing Citizen Focus was the first of this agenda and designed to provide a baseline for future progress. One of the key aims was to identify forces that are showing innovation in their approach, to share effective practice and emerging learning.

HMIC assessed Lincolnshire Police as ‘meeting the standard’ and that ‘a citizen focus ethos is embedding across the force, establishing an initial baseline’.

Protective Services Review

The review of protective services looked at the services that the Force provides over a wider area than a particular neighbourhood and includes the most serious crimes such as murder, kidnap, organised crime and terrorism.

It also examined how the Force protect vulnerable people and the way that they police the major roads network in the county.

The review made recommendations on how the Force can best tackle the threats and risks for protective services at a time when there are competing demands for resources and made suggestions for changes and improvements that are needed to achieve the national standards.

The Force's strengths were in their commitment to achieving the national standards, with adequate plans to address high need areas and protective services as our core business and strategic priority.

More work is needed to establish a protective services strategy and improvement plan and to balance resources to risk.