Essex Police 'need to do more' to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour
An inspection has rated the force as 'adequate' overall
A report has found Essex Police missed opportunities to prevent and detect crime and anti-social behaviour.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Service, who carried out the inspection, say this means victims were not always given the support they needed.
Overall Essex Police have been given the rating of 'adequate.
The report states the force:
• Mostly carries out effective and timely investigations;
• Has made a considerable investment to reduce the risk of domestic-related homicide;
• Works with partners to reduce the risk of fraud and support victims;
• Is using data to identify vulnerable locations, reducing crime and the fear of crime;
• Values neighbourhood policing assets and tries to keep them visible in communities;
• Engages with the community, showing that it understands, listens and responds to what matters to its communities;
Roy Wilsher, inspector of constabulary, said he was "satisfied" with most aspects of Essex Police's work, but said some areas needed improvement.'
The force was praised for it's work and commitment to retaining staff despite financial pressures.
The one area where Essex Police was rated as inadequate was 'responding to the public'. The report says the force needs to improve the time it takes to respond to non-emergency public calls for service and reduce the abandonment rate and wait times.
Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington said: “ Essex Police remains unfairly funded in comparison with other forces and parts of the country so to be assessed as ‘adequate’ across the complex range of services we deliver is recognition of the immense work by our officers, staff and volunteers along with the strong partnerships we have across Essex.
"There are areas identified where we need to improve and, in every area, we want to get better. We are already working on these and this is acknowledged in the report.
“Essex is a safe place and crime and anti-social behaviour are down. The report has recognised that we are innovating, using data, and working hard with partners to reduce crime.
“This includes the use of hotspot policing to tackle violence and make people, particularly women and girls, feel safer.
“I am pleased it has also recognised our investment to reduce the risk of domestic-related homicides and our continual improvement in protecting victims of domestic abuse.
“It has rightly recognised that we effectively manage the risk posed to children online and our work with partners to reduce the risk of fraud and support victims.”
Mr Harrington continued: “We are the third lowest funded force in the country but still manage to put more officers responding, preventing, and investigating crime per pound of funding than any other.
“We’ve made £20 million in savings in the last two years and while the force’s finances will be an ongoing challenge in 2025, we’ve found so much in savings already.
“And all the while we’ve brought down crime with nearly 10,000 fewer offences in the last year and 22,000 fewer than five years ago, while anti-social behaviour continues to fall and is half the national average.
“In the last year my officers made 30,000 arrests and secured 13,000 charges.
“And the public recognises this hard work with around three quarters of people in Essex believing we do a good or excellent job.
“We know we need to answer the phone quicker and we’ve already introduced new ways of working in our control room, and it’s good the report recognised the improvements we have made in responding to the public since their last inspection.
“We have created a new victim portal so officers and staff can keep victims of crime updated more easily and hear their views so we can deliver a better service."