WEST Mercia Police needs to improve the way it assesses the risks faced by domestic abuse victims and the way it responds to the risks faced by missing children.
That’s the verdict of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabularies Wendy Williams in an HMIC assessment of the force’s effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy in keeping people safe and reducing crime.
However she praised the force’s alliance with Warwickshire Police in helping to drive efficiency.
“The force is good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, and works well with partner agencies. The investigations undertaken by the force are of high quality and well-supervised,” she said.
“I am pleased to see the force is addressing all of the issues raised in HMIC’s domestic abuse inspection in 2014, and the service it provides to victims is improving.
However, I remain concerned about the way in which the force assesses the risks faced by domestic abuse victims…and responds to the risks faced by missing children. The understanding of, and response to, serious and organised crime is also in need of improvement.
HMI graded West Mercia Police as follows:Effectiveness – Requires Improvement, Efficiency – Good, Legitimacy – Requires Improvement.
Its alliance partner, Warwickshire, received the same ratings and was told it needs to improve in the same areas.