Programmed Inspections
HMIC has conducted detailed inspections in every one of the 43 Home Office forces in England and Wales covering the important policing areas.
These areas are:
- Neighbourhood Policing
- Performance Management
- Protecting Vulnerable Persons
The reports also provide updated assessments in those areas where a force received a grade of Poor or Deteriorated/Fair in 2006.
HMIC is now inspecting forces in the area of Serious and Organised Crime and Major Crime, these reports will be available in Summer 2008.
Programmed Inspections
Following the learning from Baseline Assessments in 2006, HMIC concluded that it should move from conducting high level inspections across a wide area of policing to concentrating its resources on key areas of risk. Having reached this view internally, HMIC then consulted key stakeholders, including the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Association of Police Authorities (APA). A consensus emerged that HMIC could add greater value by undertaking fewer but more probing inspections. Stakeholders concurred with the emphasis on protective services but requested that Neighbourhood Policing remain a priority for inspection until there is evidence that it has been embedded in everyday police work.
HMIC uses a rigorous and transparent methodology to conduct its inspections and reach conclusions and judgements. All evidence will be gathered, verified and then assessed against an agreed set of national standards, in the form of Specific Grading Criteria (SGC). However, the main purpose of inspection is not to make judgements but to drive improvements in policing. Both professional and lay readers are urged, therefore, to focus not on the headline grades but on the opportunities for improvement identified within the text of this report.
