Source · HMICFRS

PEEL Assessment 2023-25: Bedfordshire Police

29 January 2025 PEEL Force Inspection 14 areas for improvement

PEEL 2023-25 inspection findings for Bedfordshire Police

Applicable forces

Areas for improvement

AFI The force needs to improve its understanding of how officers use force, including disproportionate use, and make sure it is recorded accurately In the year ending 31 March 2023, Bedfordshire Police recorded 6,621 use of force incidents. This was an 8.3 percent increase compared to the previous year. But this was still 3,688 fewer incidents than we estimate should have been recorded. This could mean that the force isn’t recording all incidents where officers use force. The force doesn’t track compliance for recording use of force by comparing this data with data on arrests, stop and search and mental health incidents. This would help Bedfordshire Police identify and monitor where it may be under-recording the use of force. The force should improve its scrutiny of use of force. Supervisors aren’t reviewing use of force forms completed by officers and aren’t checking if officers are uploading body-worn video. The force has internal and external scrutiny panels for use of force. They review four to five cases every two months. But both panels review the same incidents, which reduces the opportunities for wider scrutiny. Bedfordshire Police needs to make sure the scrutiny of use of force is robust enough to find themes and trends so the force can make improvements. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force should improve its governance of and approach to managing suspects and wanted people The force told us that in March 2024, it had 1,340 named suspects who were wanted in connection with an offence, but hadn’t yet been tracked down and arrested. We found that the force didn’t have a fully prioritised list of outstanding suspects based on risk within each department. This would give the force a clearer understanding of the risk posed by each individual so it could effectively target higher-risk perpetrators first. Senior leaders have recorded that the number of outstanding suspects is higher than they would like on the force risk register. They manage the risk through the force performance board. In the year ending 5 June 2024, there were 992 wanted suspects circulated on the Police National Computer in the force area. Following a spike in demand over the summer months, the force told us that the number of outstanding suspects went back up to over 1,300. The force introduced Operation Caged, where a team of officers carry out enquiries to find outstanding suspects. We found this team was making an impact, but would benefit from having a better understanding of the risk posed by individuals so they could be deployed more effectively. Senior leaders should have a clearer understanding of risk in each department and should use this data to make strategic decisions to respond effectively. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force needs to make sure that first-line leaders give regular, dedicated time and support to officers and staff We found that managers feel they can’t support their teams enough due to high workloads. There aren’t always enough supervisors on shift to provide support to newer officers. Some members of the workforce aren’t having regular one-to-one meetings with their line managers, and their career ambitions aren’t routinely discussed or recorded. Personnel in acting or temporary leadership roles aren’t always trained before starting. This makes it harder for them to support their team. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force needs to do more to support the development and career progression of personnel from under-represented groups Bedfordshire Police doesn’t fully understand the barriers that prevent officers and staff developing and progressing. The force has a positive action strategy, but it isn’t clear how it will achieve its aims as there is no accompanying action plan. There are some initiatives in place to support personnel from under-represented groups during the promotion process, but not all members of the workforce know about them. Some personnel have received training on how to support officers and staff from under-represented groups to progress, but awareness of the training is limited. In our PEEL workforce survey, we found that 69.7 percent of respondents (515 of 739) agreed they are given the same opportunities to develop as other staff and officers. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force should make sure it has effective data to support good governance of underperforming areas Bedfordshire Police is focused on improving performance. This is having positive results. But we still found poor performance in some areas. We found gaps in data on use of force and inconsistent recording of problem-solving activity. There wasn’t a fully established performance framework in neighbourhood policing. In the control room, we found the force isn’t always checking to identify repeat victims. And in the criminal investigation department, the force doesn’t have a clear process to monitor Domestic Violence Protection Order breaches. The force should make sure it has the information needed to scrutinise performance. And it should make sure its leaders respond to changes in performance. This will help it provide the best possible service to the public. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force should make sure it is effectively managing demand and has the right resources, processes and plans in place to keep communities safe Bedfordshire Police generally has good planning processes to make sure that the police and crime commissioner’s priorities are reflected in the force’s priorities and actions. But we also found that the force isn’t always responding to incidents and crime promptly, and that crime isn’t always investigated by sufficiently skilled officers. There has been a reliance on overtime and officers working at home during rest days to manage workloads. Innovative practice Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force needs to consistently record and evaluate problem-solving activity to monitor performance more effectively We found that the force doesn’t always use problem-solving plans to record and evaluate activity and share learning across the force. This is making it harder to promote consistency and effectively measure performance across neighbourhood policing teams. The force uses problem-solving plans for large-scale crime prevention operations. But it doesn’t consistently use the problem-solving framework to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour in local communities. We found examples of this in the rural crime team. Bedfordshire Police doesn’t oversee problem-solving plans across the force, which is preventing it from evaluating activity and sharing best practice. This is reducing its effectiveness in managing neighbourhood crime and antisocial behaviour. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force should make sure that it identifies repeat victims and people who are vulnerable, and that it records this information When we last inspected the force in 2022, we found through our victim service assessment that the force didn’t always identify repeat victims and those who are vulnerable, or record this information. During this inspection, we were disappointed to find the force has made very little progress in this area. In our victim service assessment, we found that the force checked for repeat victims in 53 out of 76 cases we reviewed. The force checked to see if a caller had a record of vulnerability in 67 out of 82 cases reviewed. The force has introduced a quality assurance process where line managers in the force control room check cases each month to see whether call takers are identifying repeat victims and vulnerable callers. But the force needs to do more so it doesn’t miss opportunities to keep victims safe. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force needs to attend calls for service in line with its attendance times and make sure callers are updated if there are delays The force doesn’t publish attendance targets, but it has an internal target of 15 minutes to respond to emergency calls. During our inspection, we found that the force isn’t always attending calls for service quickly enough. Our victim service assessment showed that the force attended 47 of the 74 cases we reviewed within its attendance time frame. It may be missing opportunities to keep communities safe. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force needs to make sure that officers and staff have sufficient skills and experience to carry out quality investigations Bedfordshire Police doesn’t have enough qualified detectives in post. This means serious and complex crimes are often managed by inexperienced investigators who aren’t detectives. As of 31 March 2024, the force needed 412 trained detectives, but only had 245. This means only 59 percent of detective posts were filled with trained detectives. The force only had 23 officers training to be a detective against a shortfall of 167. The force has a plan to increase the number of detectives, but more progress needs to be made to make sure serious and complex investigations are managed effectively. During our inspection, we found the criminal investigation department (CID) and protecting vulnerable people teams had low morale. We found examples where frontline investigators were managing crimes without the training or skills to do so. We found pockets of high workloads where personnel were investigating between 25 and 30 investigations at once. In one example, a police constable working in a detective role was investigating 29 crimes at once, 18 of which were rapes. We found that CID teams often only had half the personnel they needed on duty. This meant investigators were struggling to keep up with demand. The force should take immediate steps to make sure there are enough trained detectives on duty and that workloads are manageable. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force needs to make sure it complies with the Victims’ Code When we last inspected Bedfordshire Police in 2 22, we found that it didn’t consistently follow the Code of Practice for ictims of Crime (‘the ictims’ Code’). The force hasn’t made enough progress in this area. In our victim service assessment, we found that the force completed a victim needs assessment in 63 of the 84 cases we reviewed. We also found that the force recorded victims’ entitlement to extra support in only 22 of 44 cases we reviewed. It is important that the force understands victims’ needs so it can give them the right support. The force has made some improvements from our last inspection, but it needs to do more to fully understand and respond to victims’ needs. We also found examples where victims didn’t always understand their rights. This included victims not being told their crime number or the name of the person investigating the crime. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force doesn’t consistently achieve acceptable outcomes for victims The force isn’t achieving acceptable outcomes for victims. It has low numbers of victim-based crimes that are solved following investigations. The force needs to better understand the issue and work to achieve better outcomes for victims. In the year ending 31 March 2024, Bedfordshire Police recorded 42,175 victim-based crimes. Of these recorded offences, 7.8 percent were assigned an offences brought to justice outcome. This is lower than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales. revised since. British Transport Police and the City of London data are excluded from the England and Wales rate. Total police-recorded crime includes all crime (except fraud). For a full commentary and explanation of crime and outcome types please see the Home Office statistics. been revised since. Victim-based crimes are defined as all police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, such as an individual, an organisation or corporate body. Between the year ending 31 March 2023 and the year ending 31 March 2024, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned Outcome 1 : ‘Evidential difficulties, suspect identified, victim supports action’ by Bedfordshire Police decreased from 10.2 percent to 9.8 percent. Both values are lower than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales. Between the year ending 31 March 2023 and the year ending 31 March 2024, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned Outcome 14: ‘Evidential difficulties, suspect not identified, victim declines or is unable to support’ by Bedfordshire Police increased from 7.5 to 8.1 percent. This value is higher than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales. The force introduced an out-of-court resolutions team in August 2024 to look for further opportunities to improve outcomes. This is a positive step, but the force needs to do more. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force should increase its use of preventive orders and make sure it monitors compliance to keep victims safe During our inspection, we found that Bedfordshire Police uses Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) less often than most other forces across England and Wales. These orders aim to keep victims safe by preventing further harm caused by domestic abuse perpetrators. The figure above shows that in the year ending 31 March 2024, Bedfordshire Police applied for 44 DVPOs at court, which equated to 6 applications per 100,000 population. This was lower than expected compared to other forces across England and Wales. The force told us that domestic abuse cases make up 4 percent of CID’s overall workload. CID personnel told us they didn’t have capacity to apply for D POs. We found that the domestic abuse specialist team Emerald uses DVPOs more often. The force needs to apply a more consistent approach to the use of DVPOs and increase their overall use across all teams who investigate domestic abuse. The force doesn’t have a clear process to monitor D PO breaches. We found examples of where officers checked suspects were complying with their DVPO conditions in high-risk cases, but this wasn’t consistent practice. In the year ending 31 March 2024, Bedfordshire Police recorded 6 DVPO breaches, which equated to 0.8 DVPO breaches per 100,000 population. This was lower than expected compared to other forces across England and Wales. The force should make sure it has a clear process to check for DVPO breaches. This would help keep victims of domestic abuse safe. Bedfordshire Police

AFI The force should make sure that it quality assures safeguarding referrals and they are referred to partner agencies in a timely manner When we last inspected the force in 2022, we found it didn’t have enough personnel working in the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH). The force told us it had 964 cases awaiting a full assessment. In September 2024, we found that the force had recruited more personnel, but there were still cases awaiting full assessments. In July 2024, the force had 600 outstanding assessments, which it managed to clear in August. But, following a busy summer, the backlog of assessments waiting for a full review rose to 230. The oldest case waiting for an assessment was 17 days old. This means vulnerable people aren’t getting the help they need quickly enough. The force has a risk assessment process in place for cases waiting to be triaged. We found no incorrectly graded high-risk cases in the backlog. The force responds to backlogs through personnel working overtime. We found that the force needs to improve its backlog management. At the time of our inspection, the MASH wasn’t connected to force demand management systems, which would make backlogs visible and allow the force to deploy resources to reduce them. The force needs to improve the quality of frontline personnel’s safeguarding referrals to the MASH. In the referrals we reviewed, there wasn’t enough information to fully understand the risk associated with each case. This makes it more difficult to grade risk. The force is looking to improve the quality of primary referrals by running roadshows to frontline personnel to help share learning. The force doesn’t fully understand how many frontline personnel’s referrals have been regraded. This means the force is missing opportunities to help frontline personnel more accurately grade risk. The force has invested in a quality assurance role in the MASH. This will help the force to improve in this area. Innovative practice Bedfordshire Police