Source · HMICFRS

An inspection into how effectively the police investigate crime

27 March 2025 Thematic Inspection 11 recommendations

National — applies to all forces

Recommendations

1 Open By 31 March 2026, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, working with the College of Policing, should produce a model to help forces better assess and understand their crime-related demand. This should include an assessment of future demand. When producing this model, they should consider the complexity involved in investigations. As soon as practicable after the model has been introduced, chief constables should use it to help them determine the number of investigators their forces need to meet their crime-related demand.

10 Open By 31 March 2026, chief constables should: make sure any member of staff who has a role in supporting the investigation process completes the College of Policing ‘Introduction to investigation’ learning programme; satisfy themselves that the content of their force’s ongoing investigative training for responders is designed to develop their investigative skills and performance, and to improve outcomes for victims, and that their force gives responders protected time to complete this training; make sure their force focuses sufficiently on case file preparation when providing professionalising investigations programme level 1 training, while taking into account local procedures and case management systems; make sure their force gives officers and staff continuing professional development opportunities about preparing case files; make sure their force keeps accurate records of professionalising investigations programme level 2 accredited officers and staff, and that those officers and staff complete annual continuing professional development to maintain their accreditation, which forces should also accurately record; and review the investigative training their force gives to supervisors, making sure it equips them to oversee and direct crime investigations effectively.

11 Open By 30 September 2025, chief constables should establish and implement a process to monitor the proportion of recorded crime that their force allocates for investigation. This should include a process to make sure a decision not to allocate a crime for investigation is appropriate.

2 Open By 31 March 2026, the College of Policing, working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, should evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of different models used for recording, assessing, allocating and investigating volume crime. The evaluation should consider: the effect on bringing offenders to justice; and the service forces provide to victims. It should make the evaluation available to chief constables to support and inform future change programmes in forces to improve the service they provide to victims.

3 Open By 31 December 2025, chief constables should make sure their force has an effective and efficient end-to-end process to deal with online reports of crime. The process should remove all unnecessary delays in recording, assessing and allocating crime reports, and make sure the force consistently complies with its requirements under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.

4 Open By 31 December 2025, chief constables should make sure the end-to-end process for receiving, assessing and allocating reports of crime in their force minimises delays in the investigation process and the length of time before investigators contact victims.

5 Open By 31 December 2025, chief constables should design and operate a policy that results in their force allocating to investigators crimes that are commensurate with each investigator’s level of training, accreditation and experience.

6 Open By 30 September 2025, chief constables should make sure their force has a clear policy relating to investigation plans. They should make sure their force communicates this policy to officers and staff. As a minimum, this policy should cover: when to start an investigation plan; who is responsible for writing the investigation plan; what to consider including in an investigation plan; how supervisors should review and approve investigation plans; and how the force will monitor investigation plans to check their quality, and to make sure investigators and supervisors have followed them.

7 Open By 30 June 2025, chief constables should include in their investigation policies a direction stating that when an image exists, investigators should search it against the Police National Database and any other relevant databases before their force closes an investigation.

8 Open By 31 December 2025, the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for the Police National Database should help forces improve officer and staff awareness of the Police National Database’s capabilities, in particular facial searching.

9 Open By 31 December 2025, chief constables should make sure the first supervisory review of a crime investigation takes place early enough for the supervisor to be able to: review any actions taken, including those to assess and manage risk; make sure the investigator has put in place the appropriate support for victims, and is complying with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime; set or approve an investigation plan; review the investigator’s caseload; and set a date for a further review.