Force Management Statement - Protecting and serving the people of Kent - Kent Police
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Force Management Statement
Protecting and serving
the people of Kent
What is a Force Management Statement? A force management statement (FMS) is a detailed self-assessment that chief constables are required to prepare and submit to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). An FMS is centred around a police force assessing its short to medium term future demand, and then stating how that demand might be met or managed. For further general information about Force Management Statements and the guidance HMICFRS give to police forces about them, please go to: https:// www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/police-forces/integrated- peel-assessments/force-management-statements/ This is an abridged version of Kent Police’s Force Management Statement.
Overview
Chief Constable Alan Pughsley QPM
Kent Police is one force serving nearly 3% of the UK population. We protect and
police 1.8 million people living and working across 3,736 square km, bordering
London and stretching to the south coast.
And our local population is only half the story.
As the force at the border of the UK’s gateway to Europe, we see 10,700 freight
movements along our motorways every day, with 34 million passengers moving
through Kent every year. Brexit will create new complexities in that space.
We are an area with a unique mix of wealth and acute deprivation. Ambitious
development plans exist: the Lower Thames Crossing, a ferry service linking us
with Belgium, the new Ebbsfleet Garden City; creating 15,000 homes, and a new
theme park, with estimates to attract 60,000 visitors every day.
Kent’s proximity to Europe presents many additional demands. Transient organised
criminality, including terrorism, drugs importation, people-trafficking, slavery, economic migrants and asylum seekers are all
regular and key challenges. Cross-border activity creates further demand, particularly London-based organised crime gangs
establishing in some towns. Maintaining excellent relationships with the Metropolitan Police is vital in countering this threat.
We are already working well with partners. Kent Police has a mature collaboration with Essex Police, providing joint serious
crime investigation as well as support services. We work with countless others at a county, unitary and district level, to
ensure adult and child safeguarding and to tackle child sexual exploitation, through formal committees and informal alliances.
A large road network Bluewater shopping centre – Canterbury Cathedral one of the oldest
providing access to London, Europe’s largest retail and leisure and most famous Christian structures in
Essex and the South East centre catering for 28 million England. It forms part of a World
visitors a year. Heritage Site.
M2
The Port of Dover, the world’s busiest
M25 international passenger port with around
M20 M2 16 million travellers and 5 million vehicles
M26
passing through each year
A2
M20
Kent is the UK’s ‘Gateway to Europe’
offering easy and fast access to the
continent using the Port of Dover as well
2 universities with over
as 3 international high speed railway
30,000 students.
stations (Ashford, Ebbsfleet and Eurostar).
4 Force Management Statement – Kent Police
In 2017/18 the force dealt with 865,873 calls for service
(999/101) – an average of 2,500 a day – and recorded
177,175 crimes. Kent Police is working towards achieving
a strength full-time equivalent (FTE) of 3,453 police
officers, 300 PCSOs and has a current strength FTE (as at
April 30, 2018) of 2,189 members of police staff. This is
supplemented by 285 members of the Special Constabulary
HMICFRS
and approximately 450 volunteers. Her Majesty’s Inspector, Zoe Billingham, gave the
following overview of Kent Police in 2017:
Our gross budget of £318m is supported by £183.8m funded
‘I congratulate Kent Police on its excellent performance
from Police Grant.
in keeping people safe and reducing crime. The force
Kent Police has been working hard to meet evolving is providing a good service to victims of crime and it
demands, to create a well-equipped organisation fit for 21st continues to improve the way it reduces re-offending.
century policing, delivering a wide-ranging programme of The force has made significant changes to its structure
work enhanced by innovation and technology. Whilst doing to enable it to sustain a good and improving service, in
this, we have rigidly adhered to the Force principles of particular to vulnerable victims and witnesses.
providing a quality service, putting victims and witnesses at It is working hard to ensure that all reports of crime
the heart of everything we do, and doing the right thing. are properly recorded in compliance with national
Supported by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) standards. It has an impressive understanding of its
Matthew Scott our recent achievements include the Mobile current and likely future demand, and makes good use
First Programme, Body Worn Video, and Channel Shift of its resources to meet this demand.
(online crime reporting). Our newly-formed team, the The force continues to be outstanding in how it treats
Innovation Task Force, will also break new ground with members of the public, and in treating its workforce
experimental criminology initiatives to tackle some of the with fairness and respect. I am impressed that it is still
biggest challenges facing modern policing. looking for ways to improve in this area. I commend
Our objectives are to use technology to offer value for Kent Police for another strong performance this year
money for the public purse and find the best way possible, and am confident that it is well equipped for this to
force-wide, to deliver a first class service to the county. continue in the future.’
Matthew Scott, Kent Police and Crime Commissioner
Association of Police and Crime Commissioners National Lead
for Performance
Transparency is crucial in creating and enhancing public confidence in policing. I’m
delighted to say that, in recent years, Kent Police has led the way in this area. It is
the only force in the country to have been judged Outstanding for its Legitimacy three
years in a row by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue
Services (HMRCFRS).
Continuous scrutiny is important but must be proportionate. HMICFRS is moving
towards a risk-based inspection regime with less frequent visits to those forces, like
Kent, which have been performing so well. This is to be welcomed, alongside the
publication of annual Force Management Statements, such as this, which should
improve the quality and consistency of data available across all police forces.
I firmly believe in placing as much data and information in the public domain as
possible. Well-run forces should have nothing to hide.
I will use the data within this document to assist me in holding the Chief Constable to
account for the delivery of my Police and Crime Plan Safer in Kent but, perhaps more
importantly and in the spirit of the Peelian Principles, I encourage local people to
take an interest in it too. Effective transparency means enabling the public to better
understand the demand Kent Police is facing, and empowering them to be able to
make their own well-informed judgements about how well Kent Police is performing.
Force Management Statement – Kent Police 5
Executive summary
Kent Police’s Force Management Statement highlights many successful projects,
started in anticipation of changing demographic, political and legal needs over the Kent Police Priorities
next four years. • Put victims and witnesses first.
It also speaks of the gaps, risks and dangers to the force, public and national • Tackle crime and anti-social
security as we: behaviour.
• Provide visible, local policing at
• work hard to deliver more with fewer resources
the heart of our policing model.
• face more complex challenges, dependent on relationships with local and
• Protect the public from harm and
national partners
ensure an effective response to
• upskill quickly, with training and equipment, in the right areas, to deliver those who are most vulnerable in
effective, efficient 21st century policing. our communities.
New types of crime and a rapidly changing demographic means Kent Police • Deliver an efficient and effective
are facing unique challenges, on land, at sea and through our ports with local, service that represents value for
national and international implications. money.
• Meet our national policing
We use modelling techniques, shared information and excellent collaboration
commitments.
with adjacent forces to deliver well, share information, predict resourcing, and
• Develop and support our
evaluate progress.
committed workforce.
We also face problems with recruitment and retention; under-representation in our
Kent Control Strategy
Child sexual exploitation Human trafficking & modern slavery DA, serious violence & sexual offences
The most common reasons for children to be trafcked are Modern Slavery is the ‘umbrella’ for the following: domestic servitude, sexual Managing sexual
1 in 4
sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation.
Source: A Strategic Assessment on the Nature and Scale of Human Trafcking in 2012
exploitation, labour exploitation, forced labour, debt bondage. Trafcking ofenders in Kent
is for the purposes of exploitation and this includes child trafcking.
• 1,600 ViSOR nominals
CSE THREAT TRENDS Women in UK compliant within
1. Grooming and Sexting and the production, distribution and 65% 35% experience our community
possession of indecent images of children, with live streaming of registered victims of registered victims domestic abuse • Over 1,500 visits conducted to
of child abuse for payment, is an emerging trend are EU citizens are non-EU citizens ViSOR nominals every six months
2. Online child sexual exploitation and abuse The top fve EU countries of citizenship for The top fve non-EU countries Experiencing
3. Contact or ‘on-street’ sexual abuse of children in the UK by lone registered victims in 2013-2014 are Romania, of citizenship are Nigeria, China, domestic abuse has Control &
(non-familial) offenders, groups or gangs. The abuse by urban street Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland Albania, Vietnam and Morocco huge impact on coercion
gangs of girl gang members/associates is recognised as a threat emotional wellbeing is now a
which has become part of street culture in some areas Human trafcking for labour exploitation within Kent is criminal Sexual ofence
and development
allegations against both
68
also encountered under the façade of businesses such as of children ofence
From what we know, adults and children have
carwashes, restaurants and takeaways, tripled in three years
people in Kent are actively
and those in the beauty industry.
INTELLIGENCE GAPS
Over 2,400 children
were victims of sexual exploitation
uploading or downloading known
Indecent Images of Children (IIOC) the
reality is expected to be at least double
In total there are 15,846 ‘registered victims’ (both identifed and presumed) of trafcking in the EU
• Trafcking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, 67%
• Females being forced into marriage
• Female Genital Mutilation: children at
Peak Times
Summer, Christmas
212
• Labour exploitation, 21% of registered victims & weekends are
in gangs and groups from In the last 18 • The other 12% were registered as victims of trafcking for other forms of exploitation threat of being taken abroad to be ‘cut’ peak periods for
August 2010 to October 2011 months POLIT • Over three quarters of the registered victims are women, 76 % • Under reporting of domestic abuse
warrants for domestic violence
Source: NSPCC have executed • At least 15% of the registered victims are children. from LGBT community
IIOC ofences
Gangs High Harm Impact Crime Counter terrorism and domestic extremism
Identifying community intelligence and open source intelligence,
On the current Gangs matrix there are particularly around ofcer safety (Operation Quantity).
Vulnerable persons as targeted victims
379 individuals, operating Ofenders prey on vulnerable victims The threat from The threat from
for fraud, theft and exploitation
Syria groups in
249 county lines • ‘Mate’ crime both in terms of
attack planning
Afghanistan
and Pakistan
Intelligence shows a strong • Cuckooing
and returning and the emerging
presence of ‘county lines’ • Courier fraud
fghters threat from
Cuckooing travelling out of London
Gangs exploit vulnerable people, such to Kent in order to sell BURGLARY • Artifce burglary
• Distraction thefts
Libya
as youngsters, addicts or adults with drugs, usually class A. Burglary dwelling ofences are one of
the most intrusive acquisitive crimes Threat posed by
other vulnerabilities eg mental health
that a victim can experience. individuals raising funds
problems.
for the PKK or travelling
There has been an
through Kent ports
INTELLIGENCE GAPS 8% reduction
in the last year and maintaining an
Drugs criminality is
associated with OCGs across The threat associated to
• Vulnerable and looked after children being enticed into gangs
88% burglary victim Kent and continues to far right Public Order
• Hospital data to enrich the picture for gang- expand. The importation anti-immigration in relation
Emerging threats
on-gang knife attacks and ‘bagging’
• Local emerging gangs
from local gangs satisfaction rate and supply of Class A protest and counter-
to Live
drugs remains a threat. protest from the
• Gang rivalries and dealing territories far left Exports
Other information required on: Digital crime Criminal use of firearms Emerging communities Mental Health
6 Force Management Statement – Kent Police
force of the community we serve, and a rise in staff seeking psychological referrals to help them deal with the nature of the incidents they encounter. This Force Management Statement provides a considered view of the current and future challenges facing our force and the thousands of people with whom we work every day. It is intended to inform careful decision-making which will affect and support us in the work we do. Kent Police has already developed and started to deliver a new policing model, to change focus on the way we work with colleagues, partners and the public. We designed the project to help us meet increasing demands with less money, and ultimately deliver the best service possible to the public. New Horizon began in September 2017 and is now moving into its third cycle, already successfully delivering: • new, agile departments • new resourcing models • better asset allocation • better service to the most vulnerable We needed to reflect Home Office operational aims to reinvest resources to counter firearms, cyber and child sexual exploitation while achieving the required £33.3m in savings over the next four years. We spoke to more than 100 community groups and an extensive range of partners and stakeholders, culminating in an event attended by more than 50 partnership agencies. Our work was also informed by a series of surveys, focus groups, engagement events and briefings where we talked to 1500 officers and staff to make sure our model was both realistic and practicable. Officers’ feedback told us the current way of working could be improved to provide a better service. We decided to develop our unique in-house Resource Allocation Model (RAM) using new data, including sickness, requirement to double crew, time spent in custody, completing casefiles, maternity leave and constant supervision of persons in custody. We then built a ‘perfect skills profile’ for each team and developed an accelerated training schedule to fill training gaps and transform our workforce to become fit for the future. Resourcing the model with the existing establishment required significant work, with over 90 positions at all ranks reinvested into the model. The accurate distribution of officers and staff relied on the accuracy of the RAM, and, after 28 iterations, the formula received positive feedback from a national resourcing expert. Before we introduced the new model, we ran a series of live test events on 12th September 2017. The testing events took place over six, 12-hour shifts on predicted high call volume days when predicted resources were mapped against real time calls for service and local resourcing requirement to ensure sufficient officers were allotted to each team to meet existing demand. Key structural changes to the model included: • Vulnerability Investigation Teams (VIT) dedicated to domestic abuse, vulnerable adult and vulnerable child investigations • Missing Child Exploitation Teams (MCET) with PCSOs and detectives investigating reports of missing children to reduce vulnerability • Specialist PCSO roles, based in Community Safety Units (CSU’s) dedicated to vulnerable adults, missing children, victims of domestic abuse and young people • Wanted Persons Bureau (WPB) to coordinate the pursuit of the most high-risk outstanding offenders • Mental Health Team to support victims and offenders suffering from acute mental illness Following the increase in precept and monies made available by the PCC, the Force was able to use the RAM, and another staff and community consultation to consider future demand requirements and understand operational gaps. Three areas of focus emerged from this work; vulnerability, visibility and contact. We have agreed a series of initiatives that are now in the design phase including: • Increased capacity to meet demand in Vulnerability Investigation Teams, Local Policing Teams, Criminal Investigation Departments, Paedophile Online Investigation Teams and the Force Crime and Incident Response Room • Investment in direct support of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s crime plan, including a Road Safety Team and increased Rural Team capacity • Improving our response to vulnerable victims and communities with a ‘High Harm Team’ and dedicated support for victims of rape. Force Management Statement – Kent Police 7
Innovation, recent achievements and future plans
• Online Crime Recording
11% of all crime was reported online within 2 months of launch, which
represented a 65% shift from 101 calls.
• The Athena crime recording system is due for implementation in
September 2018
This will allow for crime recording and information sharing with other forces and
partner agencies.
• Digital Asset Management is due for implementation in 2018
This will modernise how files are shared with courts and the CPS, moving from
paper to electronic files, increasing information security and efficiency in how we
deal with court cases.
• Mobile First programme
This will allow front line officers to do far more tasks from police issued
smartphones and tablets, reducing the need to return to the station (among
other things). It is anticipated that this will save up to one hour per officer per
working day.
• Revolutionised recruitment
There is a big recruitment drive at the moment to make jobs more accessible to
all generations and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates.
• Investigate first
This is a new Kent Police initiative to fast track new police constables to detectives.
• Sexual Offence Liaison Officers
These are brand new roles, supporting victims of rape, modern slavery and
human trafficking (MSHT) from reporting through to the court verdict.
• £90m savings have been made since 2012 with Kent Police continually
assessing, re-evaluating and re-aligning officers and staff to make sure the
people and victims of Kent are protected and served.
• We are working with the University of Cambridge, producing ground
breaking research in domestic abuse, particularly in risk management. We
genuinely believe this will alter nationwide police policies.
• In collaboration with the University of Cambridge, we have produced
a volume crime Triage System called Evidence Based Investigative
Triage (EBIT) This is likely to be adopted by many other forces that have
come to visit Kent for more details and are now independently discussing it
with Cambridge.
• We are hosting a senior commander course for the Indian Police Service
generating an exchange of ideas and an income of £250,000 over three years.
• Innovative and exciting use of Special Constables
Our SC’s have access to more roles than other police forces, including the first
qualified detective SC, advanced drivers within roads policing, trained medics,
public order, dog section and Marine Unit.
• Estates transformation
This involves an in-depth project reviewing the entire Kent Police estates
portfolio to maximise usage of the current properties and identify saving
opportunities through shared premises with partner agencies.
8 Force Management Statement – Kent Police
Section 1 – Responding to the public Requests for service come through different channels. This section describes how Kent Police organises, classifies and responds to those requests. Gap between current demand and demand Kent Police expect in the next four years Current demand In the year 2017/18 the force received: • 317,408 calls on 999 answering 312,537 (98.41%) • 548,274 calls on 101, the non-emergency number – answering 441,046 (80.44%) • 83,691 calls on the Investigation Management Unit (IMU) line to report crimes – answering 79,881 (96.08%) • 372,426 switchboard calls – answering 359,382 (96.50%) Some of the volumes may be counted once at switchboard and again on either 101 or IMU. We are working on ways to identify if, and when, that happens. The switchboard is currently open between 0800 and 2000 Monday to Friday. Outside these hours, calls route directly to the control room, which manages the switchboard function alongside dealing with 999 and 101 calls. We receive a wide variety of calls on the 101 line. Our use of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) helps callers to reach the right destination including custody and the IMU with an option to select extension numbers. The switchboard calls include those which are message handling for officers; routing to contacts across the whole force; triage of crime-related incidents before transfer to IMU and some initial triage for general control room calls. The calls that are transferred and routed into the control room are either handled by 999/101 call handlers or IMU investigators. We manage the resources for call answering and despatching via a workforce management solution called Teleopti. This system analyses historic demand in terms of volume and handling times and predicts the number of staff required to meet future demand. 999/101 Calls are received directly from BT 999 service, alarm companies, other blue light services and other agencies as well as the general public. These ‘contacts’ can come from a variety of sources, including direct phone calls, transfers from other forces/ agencies, email/online services and over the radio or phone from police officers. Calls Answered to ‘CADs Created’ for the period show approximately 60% of calls for service result in a required incident generation. This demonstrates that approximately 40% of calls are not incidents, as categorised by National Standards of Incident Recording. Historical analysis has been undertaken to understand this gap in non-recordable incident categories to inform the demand management aspect of the Crime and Incident Response Command project and identify different ways to stop this demand or deal with it differently. In the year 2017/18, out of the 516,072 CADs created within the control room, 101,523 resulted in an immediate grading, 132,579 as high grading, and 136,534 for attendance as part of planned activity or by units on patrol. Vulnerable callers and repeat callers Following feedback from a recent HMICFRS inspection, the previous marker of ‘raised service’ was replaced on August 1, 2016 with defining if a victim is considered to be either ‘vulnerable’ or subject to being targeted on a repeat basis. That means data is only available from August 2016. Force Management Statement – Kent Police 9
A person is considered vulnerable if they are under the age of 18 (in line with the victim code) or • 18 years of age or over, and may be in need of community care services by reason of mental, physical or learning disability, age or illness or • may be unable to take care of themselves against significant harm or exploitation. A victim is considered a repeat victim if they are subjected to two or more crimes or incidents in a rolling 12-month period where they have been singled out for some reason (known or unknown) or due to a certain reason (disability, race etc.). Future demand People who now contact us have a wider range of channels available: we predict this will present a 20% increase in our contact volumes over the next 3-4 years. Last year saw a reduction in 101 calls and an increase in 999 calls. The major change is that each call is taking longer to deal with as we improve our service, risk-assessment and research. In short, this equates to greater interaction with the caller/victim. This year there has been an 8.4% increase in time spent on calls. Therefore, even without any predicted increase in call volumes the same demand volume is taking more time to handle. Kent already sees 11% of its total crime reported through online services, with 65% of this being from victims who initially engaged with Kent Police via 101. Analysis has commenced in respect of population/housing growth and conversion to call volumes. Our research indicates that self-service and speech recognition will be the contact centre’s future, with speech analytics and robotics leading our solutions. Messaging apps will become mainstream and we will use channels like Skype to interact with people. We need to understand how we can use these channels while safeguarding and protecting the public. Each of these future channels presents the challenge of staffing, costs and technology as well as the need to update training and technology. The current status of the Kent Police workforce and other assets: including performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply Performance The control room operates a number of shift patterns to help us deal with different types of public contact. Where the demand is primarily by telephone, we use Teleopti to adjust shifts to meet predicted demand fluctuations. For other functions e.g. despatching, we apply the shift pattern manually, based on experience of demand fluctuations. We use performance data in monthly Service Delivery Boards to identify areas of concern and good performance and to inform management actions to improve quality, efficiency and effectiveness based on knowledge of performance influences during the reporting period. This enables longer-term sustainable change rather than reacting to seasonal fluctuations. Condition, capacity, capability and serviceability The establishment of the Command covers front counters, PNC Bureau, switchboard, telephony, radio, IMU, Team Leaders/ Supervisors, Inspectors and Sergeants as well as support services in Learning & Development, Operational Support Unit and Duty Planning and Management. The total command establishment is the equivalent of 644 full time staff. The Command is subject to regular turnover of employees, which means that the Command’s strength can fluctuate. Active recruitment is underway to address these issues, and to deal with retention levels. Staff turnover remains high within the control room, currently at 8 FTE per month across telephony/radio and 1 FTE per month across IMU. These forecasts have been included in the recruitment plan. Retention remains a concern, specifically within the telephony and radio skills and is under review. We recognise that the risk exposure associated with control room roles does not appear to be represented within the current pay grade. As a part of this work, an overview of the various roles within the FCR will be undertaken along with a review of pay and conditions. Work is also underway to forecast at what point the force will achieve a sustainable performance outcome on its 101 service. With the uplift in resource establishment and a number of proposed changes in process (switchboard triage/live chat/active review team) we anticipate that we will achieve improvements by the Summer of 2018. We are also reviewing the supervision model, which includes proposed changes to hours of working and responsibility alignments focusing attention on ‘active review’ by time elapsed on service response, with ownership and intervention at each point. A two-year project to review the effectiveness of the control room functions is underway, supported by PCC funding. The project will incorporate the channel shift and rostering proposals, and will also review new IT solutions used in the private sector and the physical location of the control room to identify new opportunities. 10 Force Management Statement – Kent Police
How Kent Police will ensure the workforce and other assets meet anticipated demand
The Command is delivering a significant change programme, to ensure the service is fit for the demands placed on it by
customers in respect of choice and efficiency.
Change Programmes
In-Train Programme Objective Anticipated timescale
Online Crime & Incident Reporting Customer self-service reporting – reducing customer Live
time on the phone and efficiencies in reporting.
Live-chat – allowing the public to Greater Channel Choice for customers, with objective to June/July 2018
contact the Control Room using maximise efficiencies on 101. Multiple contacts handling
Webchat by one operator with ambition to move 30% of contact
which are resolved without deployment to this service.
Athena – a replacement crime 9 Force collaboration system delivery. Enhancing Sept 2018
recording system information-sharing, standardisation of crime/custody/
case management. With police integrated crime
recording from mobile device.
Windows 10 System upgrade. July 2018
Microsoft 365 System upgrade to improve performance and TBC
functionality assets.
ARC ACD upgrade – a multi-channel Improve efficiency by allocating work automatically June 2018
demand distribution system. based on staff skills.
Twitter in FCR Proactive operational public messaging – live time. June 2018
Mobile First – using mobile Front line officer self-service of PNC, Crime reporting, Live (partial
technology to support front line Stop & Search etc. functionality)
officers
Teleopti Workforce Management enabling preference-based 2018/19
scheduling to maximise workforce optimisation and
staff retention.
Future Programme Objective Anticipated timescale
Command & Control replacement/ Contract renew/review. Enhancing command & control 2019
upgrade to replace the system used capability and functionality.
to record calls and despatch officers
Emergency Services Network – a National Airwave replacement programme to replace 2019/2020
replacement for the current police current police radios with modern mobile technology.
radio system
Single Online portal National digital platform 2019/20
Transformation* Exploration of enablers in contact management being 2020
fit for 2025 business needs including AI, robotics, CRM,
Digital Platforms etc.
Mobile First Phase 2* Exploration of options for ‘silent dispatch’ on non- 2019
emergency incidents.
*Business leads are supporting these programmes and delivery, and are considering workforce demographics in respect of role and capability
to identify any recruitment changes or structural changes needed as part of the transformation programme.
Force Management Statement – Kent Police 11Alongside these IT programmes we are also reviewing:
• Working practices and processes
• Supervision
• Shift patterns
• Recruitment
• Retention
• Demand Management (inbound/outbound demand)
Future anticipated demand that is likely to affect Kent Police, which
requires further assessment and planning
The answering of 101 calls has been a challenge over recent years during peak
times and will continue to pose a challenge as demand increases against static
staffing numbers: this has resulted in more calls not being answered than we
would like.
The impact of the Crime Data Integrity audit has also increased demand into the
IMU which is likely to be a permanent factor. Early tactical actions have partially
mitigated this but, if left unchecked, this would result in a significant resource
demand gap in the future adversely affecting the timely recording of crime by the
public and officers.
We continue to better understand the effect of population growth, cross-border
displacement (such as London Borough housing of social/child protection-
CP in Kent), social media/digitisation growth, and evolving crime. With finite
resources we have to consider how we can achieve our ambitions through greater
collaborative working with partners and other blue light services. Kent is already
well established in its collaborative/partnership programmes which will provide us
with the best possible chance of meeting future demands.
12 Force Management Statement – Kent PoliceSection 2 – Prevention and deterrence (neighbourhood policing) This section is about the force’s prevention, deterrence and community-based activities to reduce demand and increase community confidence. Gap between current demand and demand Kent Police expect in the next four years Current demand Kent Police recognised increasing demand in respect of vulnerability and restructured in September 2017, with new posts created to address current and future demand across the service. ‘New Horizon’ was introduced to manage this by focusing on the most vulnerable, including the creation of Vulnerable Investigation Teams (VITS) supported by specialist officers. Resourcing for local policing, including Neighbourhood Teams was reviewed, including call volume and demand profiling. Responding to future demand an additional 200 police officers are being recruited by March 2019. These will boost a number of areas including rural and roads policing, local policing, fighting cyber-crime and providing greater public protection. It will take the total number of police officers in Kent to its highest level since 2012. An additional 54 new police staff posts will go into the Force Control Room (FCR) to improve the performance of 999 calls and 101, bringing the overall FTE establishment to 642.60. Based on current predictions, using the Force resource allocation model, a minimal rise in crime allocated for investigation is expected at around 1.2% per annum over the next four years. Importantly the risk to the public from the increases in crime will potentially decrease as the force continues to improve its ability to protect the vulnerable and target prolific offenders. In terms of daily demand, we manage threat, harm and risk issues through tasking & coordinating processes at district, divisional and force level, all of which consider how to respond to demand, prioritisation of risk, and allocation of resources. A force-level Tactical Tasking & Coordinating Group meets monthly to review activity in the previous month and consider threat, harm and risk for the month ahead, which includes prioritisation of resources, funding etc. Chief Officer and Divisional Strategic away days look at longer-term trends and future demand. The Community Liaison Team (CLT) forms the bedrock of engagement with diverse and emerging communities in Kent. A professional lead at Kent Police Headquarters is supported by 10 Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) based within CSUs at District Level. Community engagement capacity has been recognised as an issue and as a result, we plan an increase to 14 CLO posts to ensure sufficient resources to manage the rise in reported hate crime and the changing demographics of Kent. CLOs review all hate crime reports to consider any threat, and risk associated with the victim or circumstances and will make a follow up call to the victim or provide tactical advice to the officer leading the investigation. All hate crimes are reviewed to ensure we take a holistic approach to the support victims receive and the impact that hate crime can have on the community, managing any community tensions to maintain and increase confidence in Kent Police. Individuals and families who generate the highest demand are managed through the CSUs. For example, through the local multi-agency engagement processes, a family causing significant anti-social behaviour (ASB) in a community will be approached by a number of partners, such as social services, education, social housing, and police to identify what support is required, any enforcement action necessary to address offending, access to education by children etc. Cases are jointly managed through the THEMIS system which provides partners with up-to-date information on a case, identified owners and the ability to update activity. Kent Police manages outstanding offenders through local processes where the threat, harm and risk posed by each person is assessed and prioritised, to direct activity to arrest and mitigate that level of risk. This process is replicated in each District and forms part of the daily management process. In addition, the Wanted Persons Bureau (WPB) oversees this local process on behalf of the force. They assess the risk of wanted persons and allocate any arrest requests to local policing teams or wider force proactive teams. Force Management Statement – Kent Police 13
The Division has four monthly boards to review the strategic issues of repeat victimisation, offending and risk which feed into the Force governance structure. These are Divisional Performance, Protecting Vulnerable People, Serious Organised Crime board (SOC) and Tasking and Co-ordinating Group. Each district uses management information to review repeat business, which includes repeat victims and offenders and enables effective planning and response to those posing the greatest threat or creating demand. Demand over the next 3-4 years The force control strategy is designed to take account of demand increase. The force has seen a significant rise in domestic abuse offending as well as rape offences. While some of this is due to recording practices, it would appear that victims are more confident to report such crimes. Gang related criminality including local and cross border, is likely to increase. As partner agencies become alive to the impacts of vulnerability, recognition and reporting of this type of crime is likely to increase such as MSHT. Hate crime is consistently seeing an increase in Kent across all strands and again this is due to greater awareness and confidence. We recognise that this is often under-reported and so as Kent Police works with local communities to improve trust and confidence, it is likely this will also see a rise in reports. The proposed uplift in staff will help to manage the issue. District Chief Inspectors are working with local Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) to tackle the changing crime profile, focusing on including issues such as MSHT, Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and gangs in Community Safety Plans to obtain a multi-agency response. A presentation was delivered to Local Authority Chief Executives across the county on MSHT and organised crime groups (OCGs) to inform and gain support to tackle the increasing demand. Districts have established plans focusing on Prevention, Protection, Preparation and the Pursing of offenders for organised crime, serious crime types and gangs to reduce offending and deal with the most serious risk to the public. ASB has consistently declined over the last decade, in part due to crime recording standards which redefined some offences but the focus is being maintained on tackling this type of behaviour and it is anticipated that this trend will continue. The main problems Kent Police face in prevention and deterrence over the next 3-4 years are as follows: • Maintaining sufficient visibility in communities to build trust and confidence and gather community intelligence to support the Prevent strategy. Due to the demand on policing services, NHP has declined in terms of numbers and time available for engagement. Increasing demand and partner agency cuts, mean dedicated front line resources will be stretched further. • Managing the need for continued development of existing staff to recognise, understand and address prevention themes, and be capable of dealing with the new and upcoming threats, while maintaining the core visibility and community engagement function. There is an increasing demand for our staff to be trained in the diversity of ‘threats’ and emerging priorities. • There is a gap in educating young people to tackle the increasing number of threats faced (i.e. educating against cyber bullying, CSE, gangs, knife crime, consent, etc.). Unless the police push, or even deliver (the debate regarding the lack of resources versus whether the police is the most appropriate agency), the gap to educate/prevention delivery will only increase further. • The changing environment in housing/housing development, creating peaks and higher peaks, filters down to how communities live and thrive. The impact of refuges/immigration will affect front line services and crime types. Domestic Abuse (DA) Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or environmental waste can be more prevalent in some communities. • Cross border criminality coming into or through Kent to commit high value crime, such as theft of jewellery from the asian community and car key burglaries. • Motorcycle-enabled crime using 2 wheeled vehicles to commit thefts has grown over the past few years. Due to the risks of pursuit, it’s envisaged that this type of crime could well continue to increase. • More emphasis has been placed on the ownership and nomination of organised crime groups. This includes joint approaches with partners and the commitment to working together. Many cuts to local government means the police is driving this agenda that could be more appropriately led by local authorities. • The continued migration of gangs out of London to the Home Counties, due to the close proximity and the ease of access and egress. • Future demand from housing developments: once completed, Ebbsfleet Garden City will house an estimated 90,000 people. This will undoubtedly lead to an increase in crime. During the construction phase there will be an increase in thefts and burglaries from the sites and an increase in ASB. • The final outcomes of the UK’s exit from the European Union are not yet clear. Our physical proximity to the European mainland may lead to increased policing challenges and associated crime. 14 Force Management Statement – Kent Police
• Changes in technology and use of social media have seen an increase of cybercrime. • We have seen an increase in stalking cases and also an increase in malicious communications being reported as stalking. Due to the serious nature of the offence, and the profile of the offender, pure crime prevention and deterrence is more difficult to predict and thus prevent. • Mental Health (MH) demands on all front line services have increased, with officers patrol time being spent dealing with MH patients. Kent Police is receiving an uplift in staff, but this is not mirrored within Health Services such as beds or community mental health practitioner’s. The PCC is fully supportive and runs a number of initiatives to provide support and reduce demand, however we believe this demand will only increase and should be seen as a health issue. • Domestic and international extremism mean demand on policing will remain for the forseeable future. • Homelessness is not a policing issue and we are not the primary lead. However, due to the issues of hardship and mental health the issue of homelessness is unlikely to disappear. • Rural crime remains an important category of crime – just like cities and towns, rural communities need a police presence. The current status of the Kent Police workforce and other assets: including performance, condition, capacity, capability, serviceability, wellbeing and security of supply Kent Police has seen demand change from the traditional serious acquisitive crime types, such as burglary and vehicle crime, to new and emerging crime based on threat, harm and risk with a core focus on tackling vulnerability. This change has resulted in a revised Kent Police Control Strategy which underpins the PCC’s ‘Safer in Kent’ plan. To meet this new direction, Kent Police has been restructured, with vulnerability as the key driver. This has resulted in a more consistent approach to the control strategy crimes and improved partnership working to reduce risk to victims. Examples of this are the development of the Multi-Agency Central Referral Unit (CRU,) which assesses risk for DA offences and allocates to the most appropriate team/agency. We created the new structure to focus on tackling vulnerability, with specialist PCSO roles to support and deter a number of groups from criminality or risk of vulnerability. • Youth Engagement Officers actively engage with young people but in particular focus on those likely to be affected by gang crime, CSE or organised criminality. • DA PCSOs were created to support victims, particularly those who are repeat victims but choose not to support police activity. • MCET PCSOs have been working with those most at risk of going missing to reduce the frequency and prevent their continued risk of exploitation. • Vulnerable Adult Intervention PCSOs now focus activity on vulnerable adults and work with partners to support and signpost as needed to reduce exploitation or demand caused by their vulnerability. The Integrated Youth Justice team seeks to deter young people from criminality, to provide a consistent approach to dealing with young people who come into police contact for low level offending. Following an internal review of the team, it was found that reoffending by children and young people in this category had reduced by 27%. The programme is being developed with partners such as Social Services, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and others to take on police charging decisions. With our greater focus on vulnerability, demand has changed particularly for Neighbourhood Policing (NHP). CSUs are now more engaged with gang-related criminality and OCGs. This has resulted in much greater partnership working to tackle some of the impacts such as CSE, MSHT and violence. The force has created a new role of OCG Coordinator. They work with local Districts to support the development of 4P plans Force Management Statement – Kent Police 15
(Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare) to tackle OCGs and gang crime where relevant. These plans link with strategic activity by the Serious Crime Directorate (SCD) to target organised crime but with a greater emphasis on partners taking the lead. In one district (Sevenoaks) the Community Safety Manager is the Lead Responsible Officer for an OCG. This is a work in progress and some districts are more advanced than others, but the central OCG Coordinator has been working with District Commanders and CSU Inspectors to generate consistency across the force. Districts have developed Serious Organised Crime (SOC) boards which look at organised crime at a district level. These boards involve Community Safety Partners and include a range of other agencies as required. The force has invested in 3 OCG Coordinator posts (1 per Division) to replicate the work of the central role and will be critical to develop a more consistent approach to tackling SOC through partnership working. Working in Partnership Kent Police supports Trading Standards as the lead agency in tackling new drugs that can affect our communities. In 2014 new psychoactive substances, also known as ‘legal highs’ had a big impact within our communities across the entire county with shops setting up to sell their products. Kent Police and partners undertook Operation Lantern. Over 20 properties were searched with 1900 items taken out of circulation and 400 substances taken for analysis with a street value of approximately £36,000. Over the last few years, the UK has seen an increase in possession of fentanyl and carfentanyl, resulting in at least 88 deaths over the past year. At a national level the National Crime Agency (NCA) is running Operation Ransel, which co-ordinates the intelligence on this subject and then shares it with Police Forces, resulting in Kent Police conducting a number of search warrants. This was not only enforcement action, but also an opportunity to conduct safe and well checks on previously unknown users. The prevention aspect is led by Kent and Medway’s Public Health teams, who work closely as commissioners of Kent’s drug treatment agencies. The impact of gang-related criminality and in particular cross boarder, also known as ‘County Lines’, cannot be underestimated, especially with regards to drug-related crime. This crime type affects most districts in Kent, with Local Authorities supporting police interventions. Work is constantly ongoing by SCD as well as Local Policing to tackle this crime and its effects locally. The Gangs Strategy, currently being drafted by Kent County Council (KCC,) will seek to deliver a coordinated county response, through enforcement, safeguarding, awareness & education and treatment using relevant partners and commissioned services. Kent Police are developing an internal strategy which will support the KCC Gangs Strategy. Kent Police is a key partner in the Kent Community Safety Team (KCST), which is a multi-agency team consisting of staff from KCC, Kent Police and Kent Fire & Rescue Service (KFRS). The KCST oversees the Kent Community Safety Agreement and the action plan, which underpins it. The priorities of the plan are taken from key stakeholders as well as from the strategic assessment undertaken by each local district. The key priorities form the action plan and each partner works towards delivering against the plan to improve community safety in Kent. Confdence and satisfaction of local policing within the community We believe that the force demonstrates excellence in the way in which officers and staff treat people with fairness and respect, acting lawfully and ethically. Kent Police has achieved ‘Outstanding’ as a force for legitimacy following HMICFRS inspection for the last 3 years. Community Policing Teams work closely with local communities, actively solving problems, and providing guardianship for vulnerable people. Kent has a well established and engaged Independent Police Advisory Group (IPAG), that plays an active role in the County. Complaints During 2017, Professional Standards Department (PSD) recorded 782 complaints. This is an increase compared to the previous year of 2016, where 679 complaints were recorded. As of 28/03/2018, PSD have recorded 174 complaints. The total number of complaints resolved by Local Resolution (locally resolved by a supervisor) during 2016 was 335 which was 49.3% of all complaints that year. Of the 782 complaints recorded during 2017, 297 of these were resolved via local resolution. This equates to 37.9% of the overall figure. Stop and Search To ensure the most appropriate applications of Stop and Search legislation, and help mitigate concerns, within minority communities, Kent Police has worked with the Independent Police Advisory Group to develop a Scrutiny Panel, to provide reassurance and transparency for the wider public. 16 Force Management Statement – Kent Police
The Stop & Search Scrutiny Panel is a public meeting, including young people and involves students from a number of schools/colleges. The Children & Young Person lead is working to develop a youth ambassador programme to ensure officers and staff consider the views of children involved in relevant incidents with which they are dealing. This scrutiny has enabled Kent Police to be transparent in the way its officers conduct stop and search procedures and also to gain the support of communities in relation to the use of this power. We listen to young people and seek the views and support of our diverse demographic. During 2016, Kent Police recorded six complaints under Breach of Code A Police & Criminal Evidence Act (PACE). During 2017, Kent Police recorded two complaints under Breach of Code A PACE. Use of Force During 2016, Kent Police recorded 90 complaints relating to Use of Force which is categorised as ‘Other Assault’, this equates to 13.2% of the complaints recorded in 2016. During 2017, Kent Police recorded 101 complaints relating to Use of Force. This equates to 12.9% of the complaints recorded in 2017. Kent Police ensures that all operational officers and front line staff receive the appropriate level of Personal Safety Training (PST) and First Aid training for their role in accordance with the College of Policing Guidance on Personal Safety. A scrutiny process, similar to that used in stop and search, will consider the use of force applied by officers’ and is in the process of being developed with support of the IPAG and others. Kent Police no longer carries out generic satisfaction surveys but focuses on force priorities. The two surveys, which are currently conducted, are in relation to Hate Crime and Domestic Abuse. The Hate Crime survey breaks down performance by division and allows the relevant district to identify gaps in service delivery to learn lessons or share best practice. The DA satisfaction survey takes into account factors such as identified level of risk, gender and location and is used to improve the quality of service to victims through Victim Support or the DA PCSOs for victims who do not support prosecution. In order to engage with diverse and hard to reach communities the force has engaged in a number of work streams to influence local priorities. Each District has a local IPAG which provides representation by communities in relation to local policing and allows for District Commanders to understand their needs and react accordingly. This process allows for feedback from communities to be considered at a local level. The local IPAG is overseen by the Strategic IPAG which coordinates their activity at a force level. The IPAGs have run a series of initiatives, such as mystery shopper and focus groups, to better understand the response to hate crime, disability reporting and youth engagement. The IPAG was recently reviewed to consider how best to develop the model and has now been taken forward to support local policing. We routinely use social media to communicate with the public and hard to reach communities, particularly around the control strategy. We also use billboards and posters in a range of languages around issues such as modern day slavery. Our website has a range of information on Stop and Search including a feed directly into our website from www.police.uk, this means information and statistics are easily available for connected communities in Kent using the format developed by the Home Office. Corporate Communications have engaged with charities and other third sector organisations to seek to promote the messages of Kent Police through social media to harder to reach communities who may not readily engage with the police. We are currently reviewing the way that the information is presented on the website and with public testing, to ensure it is easily understood. Force Management Statement – Kent Police 17
Capacity, capability and resources allocated to prevention and deterrence Local Policing Teams (LPTs) are District based with omni competent staff designed to cover a policing response function, crime and ASB investigation and calls for service. They are supported by CSUs comprised of officers and PCSOs who work with partners to provide a problem solving solution on behalf of the districts, sharing good practice and innovation. The resources for LPT are decided by the RAM, which allocates officers across districts based on demand. The 5 team shift pattern used in LPT was developed in the Kent Policing Model programme in 2010/11. This was based on the RAM at the time and used the pattern of incoming calls for service to establish the most efficient allocation of resources across the day and week. How Kent Police will ensure the workforce and other assets meet anticipated demand Kent Police continually monitors volumes and approach to demand. New Horizon is a flexible model and staffing profile which can be adapted to respond to differing demands with minimal disruption to operational business. We have a skills requirement for each role which is constantly updated in conjunction with the College of Policing. As emerging crime types evolve it will ensure that our staff are trained and equipped to respond to the demands of modern policing. Our Innovation Taskforce is constantly seeking evidence-based innovation to tackle future demand and ensure all resources are working in the most effective way, to deliver a quality service to the public. Local authorities in particular have seen reductions to their service provision, which has resulted in reduced CSP capacity. As a consequence, district-based CSUs have streamlined their working practices to enhance service delivery to the public. Working to the Force Control Strategy priorities, each district has set up a regular multi-agency partnership meeting structure which focuses on vulnerability. Additionally the same process (involving partners) has been applied to Serious Crime, including MSHT and OCG work. The aim is to ensure that we take a consistent approach to protecting the vulnerable, while targeting offenders, with partnership support at the heart of process. Within the Community Safety family, there are around 185 community safety partners across Kent, working towards shared strategies, plans and agreements. This does not include the many volunteers who work within the community safety arena, who provide support to our community safety partners. Through shared community safety priorities and plans, partners’ capability to be tasked is high, as evidenced by the numerous Partnership Tasking & Co-ordination groups and performance outcomes such as the innovative work in tackling OCGs. Future anticipated demand that is likely to affect Kent Police, which requires further assessment and planning The nature of criminality and victimisation is constantly evolving; the emphasis is clearly on understanding and reducing vulnerability in order to protect the most at risk groups and individuals within our society and deter criminality. There will always be crime types that may disproportionately affect certain sections of the community. Kent Police has an swift and agile approach to recognising emerging threats, and our track record as an organisation, demonstrates that we can react promptly and effectively when we’re aware of the extent of a problem. Crime without borders such as travelling criminality and cyber enabled crime, will remain a challenge, as will dealing effectively with organised crime. An ageing population, many of whom live alone or are socially isolated are likely to be at greater risk. Kent Police is focusing resources to understand those risks, through the introduction of the Vulnerable Adult Intervention Officer post at a local level, embedded within local CSUs and through the interventions completed by the CRU at a county-wide level. As more becomes known about the effects of behavioural and learning difficulties and the obvious links to victimisation and offending, the knowledge gap for forces in terms of providing guidance and training to their staff becomes a greater issue. To effectively serve communities, the focus on training needs to be maintained. 18 Force Management Statement – Kent Police
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