New report raises serious concerns about Lincolnshire Police
The HMICFRS report highlights major issues with how the police respond to incidents and investigate crime.
Investigators have raised serious concerns about how Lincolnshire Police investigates crime and how quickly it responds to incidents.
The HMICFRS report was published on Wednesday, and gives the force graded judgments in eight areas from outstanding to inadequate - all either required improvement or were deemed inadequate.
HMRICFC also flagged the forces continued decline of investigation standards, along with the ineffective management of sexual offenders due to capacity and capability issues.
“I have serious concerns about Lincolnshire Police’s performance in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service", said Roy Wilsher, HM Inspector of Constabulary.
"Particularly on how well the force investigates crime and how quickly it attends incidents."
Inspectors said the force has made several improvements to its control room, staffing levels, training and systems since issues were mentioned.
However, Lincolnshire police still fall short in response time, the correct allocation of resources and meeting of targets, according to the report.
Lincolnshire Police receives one of the lowest levels of central funding, "but improvements to processes can still be made despite budget pressures," said Roy Wilsher.
"we can improve"
We put these issues to Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police Paul Gibson, “I'm absolutely keen and committed to make sure every pound of public money that is spent on our force goes towards creating the most productive service," he said.
"There are some inefficiencies to be found”, but CC Gibson said that these “pale into insignificance compared to what the deficit looks like over the next three years."
“I have real commitment to make sure that we can improve, and I’m confident we can do so, but that will depend upon the level of resources."
CC Paul Gibson reassured the public he was doing everything he can to take the organisation forward evidencing improvements.
“Our response times are starting to improve, we’re also allocating resources much more quickly, we are investigating crimes more quickly, we’re now understanding victims needs in over 90% of cases”
“In terms of sexual offenders, those who prey on the most vulnerable, backlogs are coming down”
“I think we’re starting to see some real traction of improvement that I’d like to build upon, but it will take some time."