Police force called into investigate NI Police Ombudsman ‘alleged incident’ accused of ‘poor investigations and failing victims’
The police force called in by the PSNI to investigate an alleged ‘incident’ at the home of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, has been placed in special measures and accused of failings by an inspectorate. West Midlands Police has been judged by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to be ‘failing’ and stands accused of poor investigations into crimes leading to poor outcomes for victims. In October, the PSNI[1] asked West Midlands Police to lead an investigation into circumstances around a suspected ‘two-day incident’ at home of the Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson in September.
A spokeswoman said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland have asked West Midlands Police to lead an investigation and assess whether there are any further criminal offences following an alleged incident in Co Down[4] in September 2023.” The investigation is ongoing. But a month on, the West Midlands force whose headquarters are in Birmingham, has been placed in “Engage” – or special measures – and joins four other GB forces in the same position; the Metropolitan Police, Devon and Cornwall, Wiltshire and Staffordshire.
HMIC gave four grounds for subjecting West Midlands police to special measures.
- Failing victims,
- Failures over managing registered sex offenders,
- Ineffectively managing the risk posed by suspected online child abusers, and,
- Failures in protecting vulnerable people.
Wendy Williams from HMIC, 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. “The ‘Engage’ process provides additional scrutiny and support from the inspectorate and other external organisations in the policing sector to help the police force improve and provide a better service for the public. “West Midlands police has been asked to urgently produce an improvement plan and will meet regularly with our inspectors.
We will work closely with the force to monitor its progress against these important and necessary changes.” West Midlands new police chief Craig Guildford says improvements have been made since he joined a year ago. He said: “I completely disagree with the [inspectorate’s] decision to move West Midlands police into ‘Engage’ now despite providing them with recent evidence that should inform a much more comprehensive and fair assessment of the force.
“When I joined WMP I recognised there needed to be a significant improvement in the force’s performance, the number of offenders brought to justice and the service we provide to local communities. “It was for this reason that I implemented a rapid overhaul of the operating model and in April 2023 we created seven new local policing areas. “Since implementing this new model, changing Force Contact and opening two more custody suites, our arrest rate has increased by a third, as has the number of offenders brought to justice.
This continues to improve each month.” “We have gone from being one of the worst call-handling forces to one of the best in 11 months. We answer 70,000 999 calls each month in an average of five seconds; and have improved the proportion of emergency incidents attended within our specified targets by 25%.”
HMIC said: “We are assured West Midlands police is taking steps to address these concerns, but significant and sustained improvements are required and the inspectorate will be closely monitoring the force’s progress”.
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References
- ^ PSNI (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ PSNI highlight ‘significant’ drug issue in West Belfast at public meeting (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ PSNI Chief Constable urged to “repair relations with the unionist community” (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ Co Down (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
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