West Midlands Police has made improvements following concerns raised into their performance
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services identified four causes of concern last November.
A report out today by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has found that West Midlands Police have made significant improvements in the force around four areas of concern that was raised.
It states that "three of the four points raised has been addressed".
It relates how the force manages investigations and makes sure multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) work effectively to safeguard vulnerable people,
Concerns were also raised about how the force manages sex offenders and offenders accessing indecent images of children.
The force has been under scrutiny following inspectors finding that West Midlands Police were not effectively managing the risk to the public of registered sex offenders, or providing satisfactory results for victim.
Issues have also been raised by HMICFRS about WMP’s management of the risk posed by registered sex offenders and online child abuse offenders.
West Midlands Police said many of the issues identified developed as a result of the previous operating model, and statistical findings are largely drawn from datasets that pre-date the launch of WMP’s new operating model in April 2023.
However, when the report was first released, Chief Constable Craig Guildford said he disagreed with it and that plans were already in place to address the issues raised.
In the report it detailed the Progress against the causes of concern in three areas.
More effective multi-agency risk assessment conferences
The force has successfully addressed the backlog of high-risk cases for discussion at MARACs. The force uses criteria to determine which cases are appropriate for the MARACs and we found that supervisors accurately follow the force’s guidance for this screening process. There are clear strategic and operational governance arrangements in place to support MARACs across the West Midlands.
But we did find that the force needs to make sure that members of the MARAC from other organisations understand the force’s MARAC criteria clearly, so they can have confidence in them.
Managing risks posed by registered sex offenders
We found that the force’s operating model now supports the effective management of registered sex offenders. The force has also allocated more resources to this work.
Managers have better information available to help them manage performance and risks effectively. They allocate cases appropriately and support the well-being of sex offender managers. The force has now trained most of these staff to national standards.
The force would benefit from a better understanding of how effectively its sex offender managers use digital tools to detect offending. And it needs to make sure that all registered sex offenders who are the subject of an order that requires them to have monitoring software installed comply with this condition.
Managing risks posed by online child abuse offenders
The force has addressed the increased demand for support from its online child sexual exploitation team (OCSET). It has reduced the backlog of cases awaiting assessment, and, improved the way it manages intelligence and surges in demand. It prioritises enforcement action and uses warrants frequently to secure evidence. Officers share information with partner organisations at an early stage to safeguard children, and they follow established principles on suicide risk management. The force is now uploading more images to the national Child Abuse Image Database, and its digital forensics unit is supporting investigators and prioritising cases well. The force provides support to its OCSET staff who view child abuse images in the course of their work, but it must continue to monitor their well-being.
Now, Lee Freeman KPM has concluded in the report that the three causes of concern are now closed.
There is one cause of concern remaining. This relates to how the force carries out effective investigations leading to satisfactory results for victims.
He said: "I recognise the effort the force is making to resolve this outstanding cause of concern and will review the force’s progress later this year."