Wednesday 29 June 2022 10:18 PM Three more police forces are in 'special measures': One in seven are now failing trends now
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.
Patsy Stevenson is arrested by Metropolitan Police officers at a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard on Clapham Common, London, on March 13 2021. 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
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
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.
The force has faced a number of high-profile scandals in recent years, including the murder of Sarah Everard (pictured) by serving officer Wayne Couzens
Yesterday Victims’ Commissioner Vera Baird (pictured) 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.’
It's time to shut down the failed, vast, arrogant monster our police forces have become
By Peter Hitchens
Like some dud bog-standard school, Britain’s most important law-enforcers, the Metropolitan Police, find themselves humiliatingly condemned to ‘special measures’. About time too.
Now we have also learned that one in seven police forces is in special measures. Quite frankly, I’m not surprised.
The howling, blatant failure of all Britain’s police forces to do the job for which we pay them so much has been a scandal for years. It has been at its worst in the capital.
Now, at last, even our political class has begun to notice. If we have the sense to seize it, the moment has come to replace our failed police, who have traded for decades on a reputation won by others many years ago.
Normally the liberal elite, cocooned by money and power, have little idea of what is going on in this country. They seldom visit anywhere outside their privileged enclaves, and dismiss reports from the real Britain as ‘moral panic’.
For years they have not
