Nottinghamshire police placed in special measures

[dutchman]

Force is sixth in England and Wales to get grading as inspectorate warns force is letting down victims of domestic abuse and burglary



Nottinghamshire police have become the sixth force in England and Wales to be placed into special measures.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said the east Midlands force was letting down victims in crimes such as domestic abuse and burglary and must urgently improve.

Nottinghamshire police have been buffeted by criticism over their handling of the case of Valdo Calocane, who had contact with the force before he went on a stabbing rampage in Nottingham leaving three people dead in June 2023.

It joins five other forces in special measures, known officially as Engage. The others are Britain’s biggest force, the Metropolitan police, West Midlands police, Devon and Cornwall, Staffordshire and Wiltshire. There are 43 forces serving local areas in England and Wales.

In Nottinghamshire’s case there are two areas of concern. The inspectorate said it must “improve how it manages, supervises and carries out effective investigations, and make sure that victims get the support they need”.

The second area adds up to a judgment after an inspection by HMICFRS that the force was flying blind in crucial areas: “The force doesn’t have adequate processes, planning or governance arrangements in place to monitor performance effectively or identify areas where improvement is required.”

The lead inspector, Roy Wilsher, said: “We move police forces into our enhanced level of monitoring, known as Engage, when a force is not responding to our concerns, or if it is not managing, mitigating or eradicating these concerns.

“Nottinghamshire police has been asked to urgently produce an improvement plan and will meet regularly with our inspectors.”

In more detailed reasons, the inspectorate said victims were not told that investigations into their crimes were being dropped: “The lack of supervisor reviews and victim updates can put victims at risk.”

The force was also sometimes closing “investigations inappropriately without informing victims”.

The inspectorate added: “We also found that the force didn’t have adequate oversight of a significant number of crimes. This means senior leaders aren’t effectively overseeing some areas of performance that are essential to providing the community with an effective police service.”

Wilsher said there was a “real possibility of harm” because of the deficiencies, but none had been uncovered yet.

Its crime investigation, graded as good in an inspection two years ago, is understood to have been assessed as deteriorating since.

The decision to place Nottinghamshire into Engage is not linked to its actions in the Valdo Calocane case, Wilsher said.