Theme 8: Role of the Chief Constable

The Chief Constable is the most senior police officer in Hampshire Constabulary, and is appointed by the Police and Crime Commissioner for a fixed term (usually five years) and can be subject to extensions. The role of the Chief Constable is a politically neutral post, which leads the organisation.

Chief constables have operational independence to direct their resources to investigate crime. Under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, the Chief Constable is also a “corporation sole”, meaning that they are the legal employer of officers and police staff. The Chief Constable must have regard to the Police and Crime Plan issued by the Police and Crime Commissioner. They are also responsible for appointing officers and staff that work directly to them, including the Deputy Chief Constable and Assistant Chief Constables / officers.

HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY’S CHIEF CONSTABLE

For Hampshire Constabulary the Chief Constable is Olivia Pinkney, who was appointed in April 2016. Mrs Pinkney previously served as Deputy Chief Constable for Sussex Police and as an Assistant Inspector of Constabulary with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary. Mrs Pinkney is also the national policing lead for Local Policing.

CHIEF OFFICER TEAM

Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney has appointed the following individuals into her Chief Officer Team to help her deliver the Police and Crime Plan and run an effective organisation:

Deputy Chief Constable Sara Glen – Ms Glen is responsible for wellbeing, force performance, ethical standards and oversees professional standards, force risk, inspection, learning and force development Assistant Chief Constable Maggie Blyth – Ms Blyth is the strategic lead for neighbourhood policing, public protection (safeguarding vulnerable people) and emergency response teams Assistant Chief Constable Ben Snuggs – Mr Snuggs is the strategic lead for all of our contact centres and the Joint Operations Unit across Hampshire and Thames Valley T-Assistant Chief Constable Craig Dibdin – Mr Dibdin is the strategic lead across all investigations teams, custody, the wider criminal justice system and intelligence Ben Pratt, Director of Communications – Mr Pratt is responsible for all internal and external communications, including digital engagement with the public

Richard Croucher, Chief Finance Officer – Mr Croucher is responsible for discharging the statutory duties of the Chief Finance Officer of the Constabulary as well as being the chief officer for Transport, Stores, Procurement and Pensions Amanda Cooper, Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer – Ms Cooper is responsible for IT and information management strategies across Hampshire Constabulary and Thames Valley Police Gemma Gair, Head of HR and Workforce Development – Ms Gair is the strategic HR lead for the force, responsible for setting the direction of all people services

OPERATIONAL STRUCTURE

The operational structure of the constabulary can be summarised into four commands:

Response and Patrol – this command provides emergency response provision across the two counties.

Investigation – this command investigates all reports of crime and maintains close working relationships with criminal justice partners. Prevention and Neighbourhoods – this command encompasses all Neighbourhood Policing Teams (including PCSOs) and Safeguarding and Offender Management departments. Intelligence, Tasking and Co-ordination – this command oversees assessment of threat and risk, prioritises resourcing and co-ordinates delivery to meet the control strategy.

PARTNERSHIPS

One of Hampshire Constabulary’s Areas of Focus is ‘Building Partnerships That Enable a Better Public Service’. Examples include:

In 2014, the constabulary agreed to share its back office delivering HR, finance and services for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and Hampshire County Council. The partnership also services Oxfordshire County Council and a number of London boroughs. As part of the South East Policing region, Hampshire has a collaborative agreement with Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Kent to provide resources for the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) and Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE). Hampshire also collaborates with Thames Valley Police through the Joint Operations Unit, Information Technology, Information Management and Contact Management.

Building Partnerships That Enable a Better Public Service has been established to a maturity beyond that in many public service agencies (e.g. co-location with fire and council services, Joint Operations Unit (JOU), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and contact teams, in addition to welldeveloped relationships with universities and third sector organisations). The force continues to deliver plans to further improve problem solving in communities. Neighbourhood teams work with partners and active citizens with the aim being to reduce crime and offending and identify and protect people in need of help. Integrated Offender Management and Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs are also partnership focused and aligned. Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) work is a core component of the force response to serious violence and protecting young people, and this is being developed and led in the partnership arena.

THE FORCE AREA

Hampshire Constabulary serves approximately two million people, spread out over 1,602 square miles. It is one of the largest police areas in England and Wales, and home to critical national infrastructure including major ports, airports and oil refineries. The contrast between large swathes of countryside and the growing cities of Portsmouth and Southampton means that the area is neither rural nor urban but a mix of both. During summer months the population swells, with tourists arriving and bringing yet more complexity to the job of keeping the public safe. More information on the Force Area can be found on Appendix 2: Demographics.

CLEAR DIRECTION AND PURPOSE

The force has a clear purpose of delivering SAFER communities. The force has identified Six Areas of Focus to deliver that purpose.

Having a clear focus has helped to drive a significant improvement in performance.

HIGH HARM OFFENCES

To achieve SAFER communities, the force has set a very clear strategic direction to prioritise tackling high harm offences. These type of offences are prevalent in the force’s Control Strategy (an evidencebased assessment of where the threat to public safety actually sits), and there is evidence presented in this document of a focus on high harm in departments across the force.

The force is highly productive, but such is the level of resourcing that it is not possible to respond to all crime. The question is: what do we respond to? This is often a very difficult decision, it can be subjective, and the higher the demand gets the more incidents that cannot be deployed to or investigated. The force therefore uses a THOR (Threat, Harm, Opportunity and Risk) model. Within this, high harm offences are prioritised. Unlike crimes such as lower level anti-social behaviour or car crime, the offenders and victims of these high harm offences (e.g. domestic abuse, sexual abuse, trafficking) can be ‘hidden’ from the eyes of society.

The force has a mature and well-scrutinised approach to this prioritisation, and risk is managed effectively with an increasing but appropriate proportion of reported incidents managed without deployment. This approach can create disconnect between public perception of where policing should direct its finite resources and where these resources are best used to deliver the greatest value, but it does serve to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.

If the force received average funding (HMICFRS assesses this would give us £43.5m more) the situation would be different, with the ‘bar’ of what can be responded to moving to accommodate investigation of more low level crime.

Chief constables have operational independence to direct their resources to investigate crime.