Lancashire Constabulary publishes Annual Report

Preventing and fighting crime, keeping our communities safe and putting victims at the heart of everything we do are the commitments made today by Lancashire Constabulary’s Deputy Chief Constable.

DCC Sacha Hatchett made the pledges as she reflected on the constabulary’s performance over the last 12 months and looked forward to some significant changes in the next six months.

Some of the highlights featured in the force's Annual Report included over 4,000 fewer victims of crime, a ‘good’ report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the launch of Op Warrior targeting serious and organised crime, the introduction of specialist Rape Investigation Teams and a commitment to visit every victim of residential burglary as part of Op Defender. We have also seen drops in anti-social behaviour of 20 per cent, a reduction in robbery of 18 per cent and a fall in road casualties of 8.5 per cent.

We also exceeded our uplift goal with more than 600 additional police officers joining Lancashire Constabulary within the last 4 years, exceeding their target to recruit 509 additional officers set by the government.

Looking ahead over the next six months we will be introducing our Target Operating Model (TOM) - our policing model that will put the resources in the right place so they can effectively respond to call for service, investigate crime and focus on victim needs.

DCC Hatchett said: “Fewer victims of crime, taking the fight to criminals through Op Warrior and making sure we visit every victim of residential burglary are all things I’m really proud to say we have delivered over the last year but it’s important to look forward and improve.

“We are introducing a new operating model and we want to ensure that every victim of crime can speak to an officer even if they don’t need to see someone. We recognise that in times of austerity all forces had to make difficult decisions around savings, looking at where they could best place officers to solve crime and safeguard the vulnerable and Lancashire Constabulary was no different.

“The uplift and the additional officers supported by the Police and Crime Commissioner has enabled us look at how we can get even better at responding to police incidents and emergencies whilst really focusing on how we reduce crime, harm and anti-social behaviour, putting victims and our communities at the heart of what we do.

“Listening to the community through Lancashire Talking and to our own fantastic officers and staff who day in day out interact with our communities in Lancashire, the changes we are introducing has very much come about from that feedback."

The TOM includes changes to Response, local policing, custody, investigations, roads policing, and crime recording.

DCC Hatchett added: “For example, we are disestablishing the current unarmed ‘Tac Ops’ model and we will have a dedicated Roads Policing Unit and a Roads Crime Team aimed at keeping our communities safe and denying criminals the use of our roads.

“We have tested this model, and you will have seen some fantastic cash and drug seizures from people who think it is ok to use our roads to facilitate their criminal activity. The message is clear, it is not ok. It is also not ok to drive whilst under the influence of drink or drugs and our roads policing officers who must attend serious and fatal collisions know only too well how this can devastate families who lose their loved ones in such circumstances.

“We have also implemented dedicated Rape Investigation Teams and we will be expanding the teams and their remit to cover Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) in the coming months. This ensures staff with the appropriate training own these often-complex investigations and look after victims who are traumatised by this type of crime.

“There are changes to the Response model which will mean we have a more efficient way of responding to calls for service and investigating crime. This will support all our staff and particularly our new recruits to get the basics right and provide the best opportunity for us to get justice for victims of crime. We are also increasing the number of neighbourhood task teams to better enhance rural crime investigation and our response to neighbourhood crime and ASB.

“We have been working on getting these changes right and we are starting to introduce them to our communities over the next few months.”

For more information about the Annual Report, go to; www.lancashire.police.uk/aboutus/our-performance/annual-reports-and-plans