Source · HMICFRS

PEEL Assessment 2023-25: Dyfed-Powys Police

17 November 2023 PEEL Force Inspection 13 areas for improvement

PEEL 2023-25 inspection findings for Dyfed-Powys Police

Applicable forces

Areas for improvement

AFI The force needs to improve its recording of reasonable grounds for stop and search and make sure officers understand the force’s approach to improving performance During our inspection, we reviewed a sample of 187 stop and search records from 1 January to 31 December 2022. Based on this sample, we estimate that 79.7 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 5.6 percent) of all stop and searches by the force during this period had reasonable grounds recorded. This is broadly unchanged from the findings in our previous review in 2020. In the year ending 31 December 2020, we found that 85.4 percent (with a confidence interval of +/- 4.2 percent) of stop and searches had reasonable grounds recorded. Of the records we reviewed for stop and searches on people from ethnic minority backgrounds, two out of six had reasonable grounds recorded. The force makes sure it gives officers ample stop and search training and has improved its annual refresher course. It has increased its use of stop and search to target the misuse of drugs, which is a priority area for the force. The number of stop and searches has risen from 170 a month in 2021–22 to 900 a month at the time of our inspection. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force must effectively balance operational need with supporting the welfare of its officers and staff The force doesn’t consistently address staff and officer welfare. And the force doesn’t always understand the demands placed on staff and officers, which means it doesn’t always give appropriate welfare support. The force has researched staff and officer needs using occupational health surveys, a 2022 well-being survey and a Blue Light Wellbeing Framework self-assessment, for example. But many officers and staff we spoke to felt the force didn’t understand their role and the stresses placed on them. Officers and staff felt well supported by their immediate supervisors. But the force’s wider understanding and analysis of well-being trends weren’t effectively communicated to supervisors. An example of this concerns the force’s support for high-risk roles. In our last inspection, we said the force needed to make sure it was carrying out proactive welfare checks on officers and staff who work in high-risk roles and may be dealing with traumatic incidents. The force provides mandatory psychological checks for some officers and staff in high-risk roles. But we found that these checks weren’t consistently carried out as scheduled across some of the teams in high-risk roles. At the time of our inspection, the force didn’t consider teams involved with investigating abusive images of children, including child protection officers and criminal investigation departments, for psychological screening. But these roles have to deal with many distressing and difficult cases. Some officers within specialist units reported some levels of stress. Some officers within specialist units reported feeling that senior officers didn’t understand the pressures they face. We found similar feelings among officers in the vulnerability hub. To better cope with demand, the force had decided that cases assigned to the hub wouldn’t have further risk assessment unless they met certain criteria. While this did help to reduce the pressure slightly, some officers told us they still felt unable to cope with the demand. Joint investigation teams reported similar feelings, with many officers reporting having to work extra hours to cope with demand. Some supervisors said that they often took laptops home to continue working. The force should improve the understanding of the welfare needs of its officers and staff to offer better support to high demand and high-risk roles. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force must make sure supervisors have the necessary training and skills to carry out their role We talked with a wide range of supervisors of officers and staff during our inspection. Several supervisors told us they hadn’t received any welfare or leadership training, either before or since starting their supervisory role. Many said they felt ill-equipped to deal with the leadership challenges they face. This was a particular concern for constables who had been temporarily promoted to sergeant. As the promotions were temporary, they didn’t receive extra training. The force told us that as of 12 July 2023, 30.5 percent of all response policing sergeants were temporarily promoted constables. And while most officers and staff we spoke to were supportive of their supervisors, some told us their supervisors were more focused on performance than the well-being of their teams. In 2021, the chief constable committed to introducing a leadership academy. The aim of this leadership academy is to support an inclusive learning culture and improve standards and well-being across the force. This would be an effective way to develop skilled leaders, but it hasn’t yet been introduced. The force has been supplying HR masterclasses for its first-line supervisors. As of 31 March 2023, the force told us there were 215 sergeants in post. Force records show that 60 sergeants attended these classes in 2022. Some 7 sergeants attended in 2023, or 31.0 percent of its current workforce of sergeants. This potentially leaves 69.0 percent without any formal leadership training. The force also developed an authentic leadership course, which started in June 2023. The force told us that 6 sergeants (2.0 percent) had attended the course. The force developed a critical conversations training session in September 2021, designed to help line managers to have meaningful and supportive conversations. The force reintroduced the critical conversations training in 2023. As of July 2023, 12 sergeants (5.0 percent) had accessed the training. The force will be adopting the College of Policing leadership programme later this year. But it must also consider whether the plans it has in place will sufficiently and promptly address the gap in supervisory skills. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force must consider its personal development review process to make sure it is effective and valued by officers and staff The personal development review (PDR) process is used to support police officers and staff to take responsibility for their professional development and plan their career progression. It gives individuals and their line managers an opportunity to discuss a range of topics, including welfare. The information recorded can be used to support a range of development activities. The force has developed its own PDR based on feedback from staff. Most staff reported that it was better than previous PDRs. But many officers and staff we spoke to still didn’t value the process itself. Many felt that the PDR was still too complicated. And they felt it was designed to promote force objectives and not personal or professional development. This view was held across many departments and staff networks. The force has designed the system so that officers can record evidence for their PDR throughout the year. But several officers and supervisors reported that meaningful and regular PDR individual discussions weren’t always carried out due to demand pressures. And many people we spoke to didn’t believe that the PDRs were ever looked at once complete. Some officers gave examples of where they had used the PDR to correctly record the development opportunities they were seeking, but the force hadn’t followed these up or supported them with development. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force should make sure it has effective governance processes to support its performance framework During our inspection, we found that the force focused on improving performance and this was producing positive results. But officers and staff reported concerns that performance was being driven by an overly competitive process that included comparisons through local league tables. This could make officers feel that they need to carry out more arrests, stop and searches, and other activities to visibly improve their performance, rather than tailoring their approach to the circumstances. This behaviour can create an unhealthy culture between teams. The positive drive to improve performance may lead to unintended consequences, which strategic leads should monitor. We also found that there were inconsistent approaches to how performance was managed locally and how this was recorded. Some departments carry out performance audits at random, which may not be aligned to force priorities. There isn’t a force-wide, consistent approach to auditing. Many audits are stored across multiple systems in various computer programs. As such, these audits don’t always inform strategic leads effectively. This means that senior officers can’t reassure themselves that the information they rely on to make decisions is as accurate as it should be. The force should review its performance management framework to reassure itself that the framework clearly aligns with the force’s objectives. And the force should also reassure itself that the positivity of the move to a more performance- driven approach isn’t disrupted by unintended consequences resulting from a competitive culture. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force should increase the visibility and accessibility of neighbourhood policing teams and reduce the extent to which they are diverted to other duties Neighbourhood policing officers are responsible for problem-solving and getting local communities involved in crime prevention. These duties often need a continuous, longer-term approach instead of response policing (where uniformed officers answer calls). During our inspection, many neighbourhood officers told us they couldn’t spend enough time carrying out visible patrols, engaging with the public or doing preventative and problem-solving work. This was because they were diverted to other duties, such as supporting response policing teams. Some officers said that this affected community confidence and had also left the officers feeling undervalued by the force. The force sets a visibility target for neighbourhood teams to spend 75 percent of their time being visible within their local communities. This happens through duties such as patrols and activities involving local communities. The force told us that between January and April 2023, 1 of its 14 policing areas met the visibility targets. On average, neighbourhood policing teams spent 61 percent of their time as a visible presence within local communities. Locally, some officers we spoke to estimated that sometimes this figure could be as low as 10 percent, in their experience. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force needs to reduce the number of non-emergency calls that are abandoned by callers As set out in the 2020 national contact management strategy principles and guidance, forces without a switchboard should aim to have an abandonment rate lower than 10 percent. Callers who decide to hang up because of delays in answering their calls might not get the service they deserve. Between May 2022 and April 2023, the force told us that 25.9 percent of non-emergency 101 calls to Dyfed-Powys Police were abandoned by callers. The force doesn’t have a clear understanding of why callers hang up. It could be because of long waiting times or because they choose to use another contact option, such as contacting the force online. The force needs to understand the reasons why calls are abandoned and make sure that more 101 calls are answered within the recommended time periods. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force should review the understanding of risk and demand within the control room and the effectiveness of the response to incidents We found that Dyfed-Powys Police doesn’t always understand the types of demand from people contacting the force for help. The force decides how to respond to incidents by applying a grade based on a threat, harm, risk, investigation, vulnerability and engagement risk assessment. This grade sets the timescale in which the force should attend the incident. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI Dyfed-Powys Police doesn’t consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims The force isn’t always achieving acceptable outcomes for victims of crime. The number of crimes that are solved following investigations is low. The force needs to understand the issue and work to achieve better outcomes for victims. Table 1: Proportion of victim-based crimes assigned specified crime outcomes by Dyfed-Powys Police compared to forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 December 2022 Outcome types Dyfed-Powys rate England and Wales rate 1: Charged/summonsed 5.7% 4.6% 2 and 3: Caution – youths and caution – adults 1.4% 0.7% 8: Community resolutions 1.9% 1.4% 9: Not in the public interest (Crown Prosecution Service) 0.0% 0.0% 10 and 21: Prosecution not in the public interest (police decision) 1.9% 0.8% 14: Evidential difficulties (suspect not identified; victim doesn’t support further action) 4.5% 5.6% 15: Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim supports action) 20.1% 11.7% 16: Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim doesn’t support further action) 32.2% 21.9% 17: Prosecution time limit expired 0.7% 0.3% 18: Investigation complete – no suspect identified 23.3% 40.9% 20: Action taken by another body 1.7% 1.4% 22: Diversionary, education or intervention activity 0.6% 0.4% Note: England and Wales; excludes City of London data Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force must make sure that all incidents related to domestic abuse are risk assessed appropriately The force has a domestic abuse policy which states that all incidents related to domestic abuse should be assessed by specialist staff following an initial risk assessment by an attending police officer. At the time of our inspection, specialist officers in the secondary risk assessment unit reviewed medium and high-risk incidents. The decision not to review standard-risk cases was made due to the high demand within the secondary risk assessment unit. Standard-risk incidents are analysed by computer software to find out if they have previously been a multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) high-risk case or if there is evidence of an increasing or escalating risk. If the system finds that the people involved in the incident have previously been discussed at a MARAC, it refers the case to specialist staff for further review. If the system finds that the people involved have been in three incidents in the last 1 months, it will also refer the case on to specialist staff. This system’s software relies on the quality of information recorded on the system. During our inspection, we identified more than 3,000 incidents that the software had identified as not meeting the criteria for further review. We reviewed 230 of these incidents in greater detail and found several cases with incorrect levels of risk applied. Our inspection found serious assaults, threats to kill, incidents of non-fatal strangulation and rape, and an incident where a woman had been threatened with a lit blowtorch. The system had graded these incidents as standard risk. We reviewed one domestic-abuse-related rape case where the former partner (an offender) was continuing to sexually abuse and stalk the victim. The risk level wasn’t raised by the detective constable, detective sergeant or the inspector who reviewed the case. This left the vulnerable victim exposed to continued harm. Failure to identify risk and provide appropriate safeguarding and support could leave vulnerable people at risk of further serious harm. And the failure to upgrade cases from standard risk means that the opportunities to escalate actions applicable to cases graded medium risk or high risk are missed. Examples of these missed actions include referrals to partners to provide specialist support or consideration at a MARAC. These incidents were brought to the attention of the chief officer team. The force has committed to make sure that all domestic-abuse-related incidents now have a secondary risk assessment by specialist staff. The force must make sure this commitment to secondary risk assessment in all cases of incidents of domestic abuse is effective and understood by everyone. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force should make sure that all officers, especially those in specialist roles, have appropriate training to carry out their responsibilities Safeguarding vulnerable people of any age can be complex. It is important that staff responsible for this in any role have the skills, training and ability to provide a high-quality safeguarding response. Staff must be able correctly identify and reduce risk and provide appropriate support and safeguarding. We found that safeguarding and vulnerability training for frontline staff and their supervisors could be inconsistent. In 2022, the force gave mandatory vulnerability training to frontline staff and criminal investigation department officers. But some supervisors hadn’t been given any training in vulnerability and risk assessment. The force told us that there were 64 response sergeants in a supervisory role. But the force recorded that 34 had received Domestic Abuse Matters training. Each local policing area has specialist domestic abuse officers. These officers have an important role in: • giving advice and guidance on domestic abuse matters to colleagues who respond to or investigate domestic abuse; • quality assuring incidents related to domestic abuse; • making sure the correct risk levels are applied; and • making sure that appropriate safeguarding is offered. But not all domestic abuse officers we spoke to had received specialist domestic abuse training, despite being in post for some time. The central referral unit is made up of teams who triage and assess child protection and vulnerable adult incidents as well as incidents of domestic abuse. Some of the officers working in the unit hadn’t received specialist training in child or adult protection. We also found that members of the unit teams didn’t always fully understand each other’s roles. This was despite there being numerous incidents where the areas of domestic abuse and adult or child protection would clearly overlap. The force has now developed a comprehensive training plan. But the force must make sure this leads to improved safeguarding skills for all staff and officers involved in this important aspect of policing. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force should improve its governance, performance monitoring and auditing of vulnerability to effectively protect vulnerable people The force has a vulnerability strategy. But we found that its governance arrangements for protecting vulnerable people didn’t have enough focus or structure to understand the risk the force is managing and respond appropriately to concerns for vulnerable people. We looked closely at force action plans on aspects of vulnerability, such as child protection, and found that most lacked detail or timely updates. For example, the force’s child protection action plan had 22 actions listed. But the force had updates recorded for only two of these actions. We found similar results in the vulnerable adult and child sexual exploitation action plans. While these aspects of vulnerability are assigned to specific lead officers, we found that one lead was responsible for ten strands of the vulnerability action plan alone. Dyfed-Powys Police

AFI The force should make sure it completes risk assessments of registered sex offenders promptly and in line with national best practice The force should make sure that the monitoring and risk assessment of registered sex offenders is completed in their home environment and visits aren’t organised in advance. This helps to inform an accurate picture of the risk posed by the individual. and is in line with authorised professional practice from the College of Policing. If visits to registered sex offenders are announced beforehand and aren’t carried out in their homes, the force may miss opportunities to observe signs of offending behaviour. The force may also miss opportunities to observe the presence of unauthorised material or devices. We reviewed ten records of registered sex offender visits carried out by the force. In seven of these, we found that visits were pre-arranged and took place with the offender visiting police premises, rather than officers attending the offender’s home. In one example, we found that the force assessed a very high-risk offender as needing monthly home visits to best understand any ongoing risk the person might pose. Due to caseloads within the unit, this home visit was delayed by two months. As an alternative, the offender manager made an appointment with the registered sex offender to see them in the police station. After the meeting, the offender manager then delayed the next home visit for another three months. This meant that an unannounced home visit to the registered sex offender didn’t take place when it should have. Dyfed-Powys Police