Three MORE forces in ‘special measures’
One in seven are now failing as the shocking crisis in policing is laid bare
THE staggering scale of police failures across the country can today be revealed as a record one in seven forces are now in special measures.
A day after Scotland Yard was castigated for ‘systemic’ blunders by the police watchdog, the Daily Mail has learnt that three more forces – on top of three already known about – are currently being monitored due to poor performance.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has confirmed it is currently dealing with the highest ever number of failing forces. However, the inspectorate faced heavy criticism yesterday as it emerged the public are not automatically informed which forces are under the special measures – known as being in an ‘engage phase’. It will also not provide any details about why police are not performing or how long they have been under the measures.
Yesterday HMICFRS said its ‘policy’ was not to reveal any details about the forces involved.
But it later confirmed the list of six under-performing forces – out of 43 in England and Wales – included Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Wiltshire as well as three that have emerged publicly – the Met, Greater Manchester and Cleveland Police.
Details about Scotland Yard’s humiliation only emerged yesterday after a letter confirming it had received the sanction was leaked.
The force has faced a number of high-profile scandals in recent years, including the disastrous Operation Midland inquiry into spurious VIP child sex abuse allegations and the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens. The force
was subsequently also accused of ‘manhandling’ women at a vigil for the 33-year-old marketing executive.
Yesterday Victims’ Commissioner Vera Baird described the secrecy surrounding failing forces as ‘completely appalling’. She said: ‘The public should know which police are performing and which ones are not.
‘There has been a focus on the Met, but actually this shows some of those failures are widespread. This needs to be made clear if forces are to be held to account.
‘For this to be kept secret from the public at a time of a crisis in confidence in policing is unbelievable.’ Harriet Wistrich, founder and director of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: ‘There is huge concern about policing at the moment and the lack of transparency and accountability.
‘If the public don’t know that a force is under special measures, how can that force be held to account? This is really concerning. It will do nothing for trust and confidence in policing.’
HMICFRS introduced the policy around five years ago that if a force is not responding to a cause of concern, it should face ‘ advanced’ external monitoring and have to come up with
an improvement plan. it refused to say the total number of forces that have received the judgment yesterday, but confirmed that it is currently dealing with the highest ever number of forces needing help at one time.
A spokesman said: ‘We report publicly and transparently on the performance of every police force in england and Wales... we also report accelerated causes of concern as and when they arise.’
AFTER the shock revelation on Tuesday that the Metropolitan Police has been placed in special measures, we now discover that five other forces are also failing.
Two – Cleveland and Greater Manchester – were known about. The other three – Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Wiltshire – weren’t named until the Daily Mail investigated. Even now, we don’t know when or precisely why they were put into special measures, or how long they are likely to be in them.
The Inspectorate of Constabulary has done well to make clear that the performance of these forces was unacceptable and to draw up plans for improvement.
But the people they serve deserve much more transparency.
They need to know exactly what went wrong and how it will be fixed. Trust will not be restored without full disclosure.