The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) needs to improve
how it prevents crime and manages offenders and suspects, the
police inspectorate has said.
The continued financial pressures facing the service, if
unresolved, are likely to continue to affect the service it
provides. The chief constable, his officers and staff are clearly
determined to provide a high-quality service, and to secure the
trust and confidence of all communities.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) graded the PSNI's performance across two areas
of policing.
It found:
- the service is ‘adequate' in preventing and deterring crime,
antisocial behaviour and vulnerability; and
- the service ‘requires improvement' in managing offenders and
suspects.
HMICFRS said the service uses a range of techniques to prevent
crime and antisocial behaviour. For example, neighbourhood
policing teams have worked to build trust and confidence with
young people to divert them away from paramilitary groups and
offending behaviour. The service also works closely with
retailers to tackle crime.
However, inspectors said that the service should make sure
neighbourhood officers aren't diverted from their main duties to
cover gaps in response teams. Covering non-neighbourhood duties
means officers can't spend enough time carrying out visible
patrols, working with local communities, or doing preventative
and problem-solving work.
It is acknowledged that these decisions have been taken by the
leadership of the service reluctantly and in response to reduced
officer numbers.
The inspectorate also found that the child internet protection
team doesn't have enough personnel so can't effectively manage
its high workloads. As a result of this, it can't manage the
number of referrals it receives from the National Crime Agency.
Inspectors also said there was a lack of adequate support for
officers who managed violent and sexual offenders or investigated
offences involving children. The service didn't have
psychological screening for officers in the offender
investigation unit or the child internet protection team. It
needs to provide better support for child abuse investigators,
offender managers and their supervisors.
HMICFRS said that financial pressures are limiting what the
service is able to achieve. Inspectors said that the findings of
this inspection highlight that the service's capacity to provide
a high-quality service to the public is under great strain.
His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman
said:
”I have concerns about the performance of the service in keeping
people safe, preventing crime and providing victims with an
effective service.
“The service's leaders told us they valued, and recognised the
importance of, neighbourhood policing. But in our inspection, we
found the current resourcing picture is stark. The service often
took neighbourhood officers away from their core roles to cover
response and other policing duties.
“The service must improve how it manages the risk posed by
violent and sexual offenders. It must also make sure that it
shares safeguarding information promptly with health and social
care trusts.
“During this inspection, we found a worrying lack of adequate
support for officers who managed violent and sexual offenders or
investigated offences involving children. It needs to provide
child abuse investigators and offender managers with more
psychological support.
“However, the continued financial pressures facing the service,
if unresolved, are likely to further affect the service it can
provide. The chief constable, his officers and staff are clearly
determined to provide a high-quality service and to secure the
trust and confidence of all communities.
“The financial pressures mean, however, that the service is
currently limited in what it is able to achieve.”
