Cleveland Police has made “notable improvements” since a savage inspection report branded the force “rudderless and clueless”.
But inspectors have still found areas for concern – in particular, cases involving children and how it records domestic abuse.
A bombshell report in September 2019 by the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Service (HMIC) saw the force become the first ever to be rated “inadequate” in all key areas.
It failed to prevent crime, was not investigating cases properly and was putting vulnerable adults and children at risk.
Inspectors from the policing watchdog returned in November last year to see how far it has come – and found the force, under Chief Constable Richard Lewis, had started a significant programme of work which had seen its efforts to protect vulnerable people improve.
While the force is providing a better service overall to victims of domestic abuse, it still needs to improve how it records violent crime, particularly those crimes that relate to domestic abuse.
The increased pressures on policing during the covid-19 pandemic have had an impact – but inspectors also found improvements must be made in assessing, safeguarding and investigating cases involving children.
Mr Lewis praised the dedication of his staff in helping to turn round the force, but acknowledged that more needed to be done.
He said: ““I have a solid plan and have set a clear direction on the work that we still need to do.”
(Image: Ian Cooper / Teesside Live)
Better at catching criminals – but a skills shortage
The force is much better at bread-and-butter policing such as “catching criminals, and making robust interventions and more timely arrests”.
But inspectors found the force has a “significant lack of capacity and capability, from its frontline officers to its specialist investigators, and officers and staff have to work long hours to maintain levels of service to the public”.
While new officers have been recruited, a large proportion are students investigating lower-level crimes while experienced officers have been moved back to neighbourhood policing after that department was rebuilt.
Experienced investigators have been moved to work on Operation Pandect, a historic enquiry into the murders of Donna Keogh, Vicky Glass and Rachel Wilson, while there have been difficulties in recruiting officers with the required skills due to the national detective shortage and competing for police staff investigators with the National Crime Agency, which pays higher salaries.
This has resulted in a gap in the force’s specialist investigator capability, and a reliance on untrained detectives in domestic and child abuse cases.
And the report concluded: “(The) overall quality of investigations has not improved.”
Cases involving children
HMIC said Cleveland Police needs to improve how it assesses, safeguards and investigates cases involving children.
This includes children who go missing from home, crimes involving domestic abuse against a child, child abuse and child exploitation.
The inspectorate said the force should ensure that children are not held in custody overnight unnecessarily because of delays in the arrival of an appropriate adult to look after their needs and represent them.
The force said it is reviewing custody arrangements, including an analysis of demand.
The report also found that the force is now correctly identifying 81% of vulnerable victims, and 64% of repeat victims.
But inspectors found “the standard of investigations when children are exploited, abused or exposed to harm remains inconsistent”.
One case highlighted was that of one-year-old boy who was taken to hospital with head injuries.
A social worker had raised concerns and the hospital said it believed the injuries were not accidental – but there was a delay of a further four days before officers arranged strategy meeting .
The baby’s mother admitted she had lied about the circumstances of the accident and that her boyfriend had been caring for the children when it happened, and she believed he had been using his phone at the time.
There were numerous lines of enquiry the force did not pursue, including not visiting or examining the scene, examining the suspects’ phones or following up on advice to get expert medical opinion.
The suspects were interviewed by appointment a week apart giving them opportunity to discuss what was said.
“Despite further evidence from the same hospital confirming its original diagnosis, the force prematurely closed the investigation and took no further action. This was ahead of a strategy discussion where it was agreed the children would return to the exclusive care of their mother,” the report said.
The case was reopened when it was referred back to the force.
Missing children
The report found that it is still taking too long for officers to respond to children who regularly go missing.
Response for high risk children is more prompt and a new “complex exploitation team”, led by an experienced major investigations specialist, has a dossier for each of the children it manages.
But too often there are delays in looking for children who are not assessed as very high risk and require a response within an hour.
The report also found that the language used about missing children is not always appropriate, with inspectors seeing phrases such as “he can keep himself safe” or reference children being “street wise”.
“All this suggests that officers do not yet fully understand the link between children going missing and their being exploited or exposed to other risks,” the report continued.
The force said it has introduced a review of the processes around missing people – and established a dedicated group to deal with missing children, under the direction of the Assistant Chief Constable, and work is under way to improve communication with social workers.
Call handling
Call handling was previously contracted out but the service has improved since it came back in-house in May 2019, with more staff and better training, inspectors found.
Handlers are better at identifying risk and vulnerability and domestic abuse victims, but more still needs to be done to effectively identify repeat victims.
But inspectors said call handlers also need full access to all relevant police systems to fully complete structured risk assessments.
The force said its control room has recently moved to a new shift pattern which is “better aligned to public demand and provides more time for staff to receive ongoing training and development”.
Recording crimes
The report found that the force had improved processes and increased the knowledge and understanding of its workforce which – supported by good governance – had seen it make promising improvements to its recording of crime.
It is estimated that 4,800 additional crimes have been recorded in the year covered by our inspection, as a result of the improvements made so far, compared to 2018.
But officers need to improve on recording and investigating the most serious crimes linked to anti-social behaviour.
A sample of 50 cases reviewed by inspectors saw 15 crimes missed, which “could include vulnerable victims suffering long term abuse”.
Pro-actively catching criminals
The force has improved its management of outstanding suspects and wanted offenders,” the report said.
It has also improved its use of legal powers to prevent re-offending, through an increased arrest rate and the use of conditional bail.
It has also made better use of domestic violence protection notices – a civil order allowing police to “fill the gap” and protect victims during investigations. Three times more were used in 2020 than the previous 12 months.
What inspectors said
Mr Lewis took over as Chief Constable in April 2019 after a turbulent few years of scandals for the force, and within months had to deal with the fallout from the PEEL report.
That came after separate independent probes in 2017 and 2018 raised concerns about the force’s response to missing children and young people in custody, and how it recorded crimes and dealt with vulnerable victims.
Since then, the Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger has stepped down from his role. Elections will take place in May to find his successor.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams said: “Vulnerable children and victims of domestic abuse deserve fast, effective and high-quality help from their local police force.
“Over the last few years, we have reported serious concerns about the service Cleveland Police provides to vulnerable people – that’s why we carried out this inspection to understand how the force has responded to these concerns.
“I am pleased that the force is starting to show progress in tackling these issues, and it has made significant improvements in some areas.
“However, there has been limited improvement in other areas – particularly in how the force protects children, and how it records violent crimes such as domestic abuse.
“The force still has work to do to respond to the areas of concern we have identified in the past. We will continue to monitor Cleveland Police on its progress, and I am confident that the commitment shown by the force’s leadership, police officers and staff will continue to drive progress in these areas.”
‘Positive steps are down to hard work’
Chief Constable Lewis said: “Our officers and staff have been so invested in making these improvements, and the positive steps forward are down to their hard work.
“We have reached the first checkpoint on the marathon that is our improvement journey, and we are at a steady pace. Change takes time.
“This isn’t about ticking boxes. We’re not trying to make surface level improvements, we’re making real, lasting changes that reset how we think and operate.
“Covid-19 has impacted us all, and our workforce dealt with this inspection during the turbulent months of 2020.
“Like each organisation, the pandemic has impacted upon plans that we had, but we are adjusting to new ways of working and are still on the right track.
“I know that we now have an opportunity to rebuild an organisation and service that is better and stronger, and I’m confident we have the right people to get us across the finish line.”
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