Tackling
Crime, Not Chasing Statistics
By Chief Constable of Sussex, Martin Richards
If
you judge Sussex Police by those league tables that certain newspapers
publish once a year, then the police force for which I'm responsible is
doing pretty well.
If you judge us by the number of crimes that we solve, then the numbers are looking very good indeed. They have improved dramatically over the last couple of years - with more offenders being arrested, record numbers of crimes being detected, and more offences being brought to justice than ever before.
So, with detection rates improving all the time, you may well ask why - in my first full year as Chief Constable of Sussex - I decided that now was the time to stop setting an overall target for detecting crime.
What sort of message does that send to people about my priorities - and, more importantly, the priorities of the police officer who deals with you - if you are unfortunate enough to become a victim of crime?
That is why I welcome this opportunity to explain the changes I have made.
Sussex Police has achieved real and continuing performance improvements over recent years. Not only have detection rates risen, but crime numbers have fallen.
More than 13,000 FEWER people became victims of crime in Sussex last year as a result. Burglaries from people's homes have more than halved over the past ten years, and are running at historically low levels.
Sussex Police Authority has invested heavily in our call handling arrangements - and that means we are now better able to answer all your calls, not just the 999 emergencies, more efficiently than has been possible for a very long time.
So it is from a position of some strength that we are now able to look a little more closely at our 'performance culture' and check that it doesn't sometimes get in the way of providing the service you want . . . and that we want to provide.
I have been widely quoted as saying that I don't want my staff to be 'chasing numbers for numbers' sake'. So what do I mean?
Well, the first thing to say is that crime detection still matters, and it matters to me a lot. It was because we wanted to catch criminals that I and many of my colleagues joined the police service in the first place. To catch criminals - and to provide an outstanding public service.
So our Force targets this year still challenge us to improve our detection rate where it matters most. They are designed to encourage my staff not to be tempted to focus too much on what might be seen as 'easy' detections, but to concentrate on the crimes that people really care about - like burglary, domestic abuse, and serious violent and sexual offences.
They also challenge us to go on reducing levels of crime in Sussex - all crime - and to play our part in reducing the number of people that are killed or seriously injured on Sussex roads this year. Tackling anti-social behaviour remains high on our agenda too.
Our targets do something more. Like all professional organisations, public and private, we have increasingly sophisticated ways of measuring what people think of us and the service we provide. In policing, are people satisfied with the action we take when they call us to report a crime or emergency?
Do we do enough to keep people informed about the progress of our inquiries afterwards? Most of all, do people have trust and confidence in our police service - because we know that, if we were ever to lose it, we would be much very less effective in our work?
We look closely at all these targets too because the quality of the service we give is just as important as the quantity of the work that we get through in pursuit of what could sometimes be overly bureaucratic targets.
Here's an example. There are - at least - two ways of dealing with drunken and rowdy behaviour on the streets.
One is to arrest every late-night reveller we come across who is clearly the worse for wear after a heavy night out on the town. If we were so minded, we could focus all our efforts on handing out fixed penalty notices to them. All would count as crime 'detections' and our detection rates would go through the roof. And there is obviously a place for robust police action whenever drunken behaviour becomes oppressive or there is a danger of disorder breaking out.
But how much better for us to be working with licensees and door staff, not to mention bus and taxi companies and local authorities, to minimise the amount of late-night drunkenness.
Officers out and about, using their discretion to nip problems in the bud and prevent ugly confrontations happening, can be so much more effective in helping make our town and city centres more welcoming places for all of us.
We will continue to fight crime and deal robustly with anti-social behaviour. But there must be a common-sense approach. I do not want my officers to be hamstrung by an over-zealous obsession with chasing numbers and performance targets.
Their service to you is what really counts, and I see it as my role as Chief Constable to provide them with the leadership and direction to do so. And part of this is to do what I can to remove any unnecessary and bureaucratic obstacles that stand in the way of their doing what remains a difficult, challenging and sometimes dangerous job to the very best of their ability.
We detect crime by thorough investigations that earn the confidence of the victims and witnesses we deal with. We reduce crime by tackling the criminals who harm our communities.
That's why catching criminals and cutting crime are two sides of the same coin. We must do both, because we want to keep Sussex safe, finding lasting solutions to local problems.
And not because we're chasing statistics.
Martin Richards,
Chief Constable
Sussex Police
