North West's organised crime unit rated outstanding by inspectors

The police watchdog says the team of forces are having a real impact

Town Centre Police
Author: Olivia Davies and Adam SmithPublished 10th Nov 2023

The UK's police watchdog has graded the crime unit which tackles organised and serious crime across the North West as the highest performing in England and Wales.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (known as HMISFRS) found that the unit

  • uses intelligence techniques to disrupt county lines
  • has innovative practice, improving and using processes to map and record disruption activity and has a very good understanding of threats
  • plans its requirements for tackling serious and organised crime and sets clear expectations for its workforce
  • actively seeks to improve the expertise of its workforce

Which forces are included in the crime unit?

The north-west region consists of six forces (Cheshire Constabulary, Cumbria Constabulary, Greater Manchester Police, Lancashire Constabulary, Merseyside Police and North Wales Police) and their ROCU, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU).

Were there any areas of improvement?

Inspectors said The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit and its constituent forces could further improve how the region works together to tackle serious and organised crime, and provided a list of points to action.

Each force also received the following individual grading:

Greater Manchester - Good

Lancashire - Good

Cheshire - Adequate

Cumbria - Requires improvement

You can read the findings of the full report over on the HMISFRS website here.

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