Nottinghamshire Police has now been asked to “urgently produce an improvement plan” after being put into special measures.
Nottinghamshire Police was inspected by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services between the end of 2023 and January 2024.
HMICFRS inspectors said “the force needs to improve how it manages and carries out effective investigations” and “doesn’t have adequate processes, planning or governance arrangements in place”.
The reasons behind the decision will be included in the latest inspection report due to be published later this year.
Nottinghamshire Police is now one of six forces in special measures, along with the country’s two largest, the Metropolitan Police and West Midlands Police, as well as Devon and Cornwall, Staffordshire, and Wiltshire.
Nottinghamshire Police chief constable Kate Meynell said she recognised the ‘serious nature’ of the HMICFRS findings.
She said: “I have taken urgent action to address the immediate concerns raised and have ensured that all of the initial recommendations that relate to our investigations and support for victims have been completed.
“Victims of crime are at the heart of everything that we do. The team have reviewed all of the cases identified to ensure that victims of crime are receiving regular updates and that these are being correctly recorded. Although the frequency of updates for victims is not specified in the national Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, our target is to provide updates for victims every three weeks. We achieve this in 95% of cases, but we are not complacent and will focus our efforts to improve in this area.
“I have overseen changes to help us meet our demand and ensure that we provide the best possible service to communities. These include some operational changes to make sure our officers are in the right places, at the right time, and a new process for how we safeguard victims of domestic abuse. However, we do need to improve further in this area and we are working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing on this.
She added: “I fully acknowledge that our force has work to do to achieve our vision of being an outstanding force that we can all be proud of. I am fully committed to working with HMICFRS and we will work tirelessly to address their concerns and deliver the best possible service for the people of Nottinghamshire.”
