South Yorkshire Police rated 'good’ but told to improve how it protects vulnerable people

The latest efficiency and effectiveness report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service (HMICFRS) said the force had improved in several areas since its good inspection in 2016.

HM inspectors are independent of government, the police and fire and rescue authorities and are appointed by the Crown. 

The report, published today (Thursday) judged that South Yorkshire Police was good in the followin. areas: Preventing crime and tackling anti-social behaviour, investigating crime and reducing re-offending and tackling serious and organised crime.

But the force was rated as requiring improvement at protecting vulnerable people

HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said: “South Yorkshire Police is good at keeping people safe and reducing crime, and has improved in a number of areas since our 2016 inspection. 

“We are pleased to see the positive effect recent improvements have had across the force, particularly in neighbourhood policing and investigations.

“The force is effective in its approach to reducing crime, tackling anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe. 

“It has invested further in its neighbourhood policing and safer neighbourhood services, working jointly with partner organisations. The force evaluates most local problem-solving activity but it does not yet have a full understanding of the overall effect of its crime-prevention activity across the force.”

The force was “generally good” at investigating crimes but some initial evidence gathering was adversely affected when officers were not able to respond promptly enough. 

Mr Parr added: “But the force must improve its ability to protect people who are vulnerable. 

“Although it responds well to immediate calls for service from vulnerable victims, we are concerned that, due to increased demand, it cannot respond to all priority calls in a timely way. 

“This means that some vulnerable victims may not receive a sufficiently rapid response to keep them safe. The force is generally good at investigating crimes involving vulnerable people, but we found that the quality of some investigations suffered as a result of a delayed response by officers, and subsequent workload pressures within specialist investigations. 

“The force does however have good arrangements in place with partner organisations to help support vulnerable victims, and effectively manages the risk posed by dangerous and sexual offenders.”

Asst Chief Con Tim Forber said: “I’m really pleased with the report – a year ago we required improvements across most areas of policing.

“I’m pleased the inspectorate now recognises we are a good force.”

He said last year the inspectorate had painted a picture of a force that was reactive and had lost touch with communities.

“That was because the structure of the force had become diluted in terms of neighbourhood policing,” he said.

Mr Forber said the force had spent a long time listening to communities and 387 officers had been posted back into neighbourhood policing.

He added: “We’ve still got to make improvements in terms of how we deal with the broader issues of vulnerabilities.”

He said more resources were going to be ploughed into protecting vulnerable adding: “It’s a massive area of increasing demand, particularly in missing children and mental health.”

He said the force was now communicating its vulnerable action plan to all officers.

“I think the public can look at this report and recognise the commitment and hard work from everyone that works at SYP to make sure there’s a police force there that keeps people safe and prevents crime”, he added.

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said the report was “very encouraging” and praised the new leadership’s “clear focus” and hard work by officers and staff.

Dr Billings added: “The restoration of neighbourhood policing has clearly been crucial in this improvement, and the work the force is doing in understanding the demands for service that come upon them.”

He said he would be focusing on the need to do more for vulnerable people over the next year.