Force must work on staff support
A POLICE force has been told to make improvements faster amid concern that support services for staff aren’t up to scratch.
The office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, headed up by PCC Steve Turner, said there had been anecdotal reports of officers standing around in stations waiting for patrol cars because of problems with availability. It also said staff had reported having to share laptops when accessing online Microsoft Teams networking sessions.
Mr Turner, who scrutinises the force’s activities as part of his role, said he was not assured by information given to him at a meeting last month and voiced concerns about the “pace of change”. The Conservative
PCC had sought assurances that Cleveland Police’s ‘enabling’ services were fit for purpose and that appropriate plans and strategies were in place.
This covered areas such as human resources, where questions were asked about how quickly vacant posts at the force were being filled, and information technology. Mr Turner’s office asked how many drone pilots the force now had with all neighbourhood policing teams now having access to drones for crime fighting purposes.
On fleet services, it commented and asked: “Anecdotally there are reports that cars can be off the road for long periods of time due to mechanical issues, which hinders operational policing. We have also heard anecdotally that officers are often left in stations waiting for keys for a car.
“Could the force provide an update on the current status of the fleet and provide assurance that operationally there are enough cars to meet demand?”
Mr Turner said he wasn’t convinced by the answers given and “recognised that there were some green shoots of improvement, but that the force weren’t where they wanted to be yet”.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Cleveland Police faces the same challenges as many emergency services, in delivering efficient and cost-effective support functions to allow frontline workers to deliver an exceptional service to the public.
“In this instance, it was clear that progress in some key areas of business was not happening as quickly as the public may expect. That said, I believe the force are heading in the right direction and they do have appropriate plans in place - it’s just about accelerating the pace of change.”
Cleveland Police did not comment on the specific points highlighted by Mr Turner, but said in a statement: “We are currently progressing an enabling services reform programme and providing regular updates to the OPCC. The programme is designed to support and strengthen operational policing by making improvements to IT and increasing capabilities within our workforce.”