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Derbyshire Constabulary’s response to incidents that involve children is poor, the police inspectorate has said.

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Derbyshire Constabulary: accelerated cause of concern

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said the constabulary doesn’t adequately recognise risks to children and it doesn’t always respond to those risks effectively.

HMICFRS has therefore issued Derbyshire Constabulary with a cause of concern. This process can be accelerated when a police force’s failures raise concerns about public safety – as is the case with Derbyshire Constabulary.

To address these concerns, HMICFRS has recommended, within the next three months, that Derbyshire Constabulary makes sure:

• officers and staff responsible for assigning risk grades to cases involving children are sufficiently trained and can accurately assess risks to children;
• its risk assessments for children are appropriate in all cases;
• supervisors in the centralised contact management centre (CCMC) routinely review all incidents involving children;
• its response is proportionate to the level of risk;
• it carries out risk assessments at appropriate intervals when unattended incidents involve children and it contacts victims and/or their carers to tell them about delays;
• investigations into cases that involve children are effective from the first point of contact to make sure children are safeguarded; and
• officers and staff routinely use crime recording systems to carry out necessary checks of children, so they can make informed decisions about levels of deployment.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Roy Wilsher said:

“I have issued an accelerated cause of concern as Derbyshire Constabulary doesn’t adequately recognise, or respond to, risks involving children.

“During our inspection, we found the response to incidents that involve children was poor. Officers and staff in the centralised contact management centre didn’t always recognise risks, and we found examples of the constabulary grading risk inaccurately, which negatively affected its response to incidents that involved children.

“For example, we found the initial response was inadequate in 27 of the 48 case files we audited – with long delays in officers attending incidents and, in some cases, children left at risk of harm because additional safeguarding measures weren’t considered.

“The constabulary needs to make sure its risk assessments for children are appropriate in all cases, supervisors    routinely review all incidents involving children, and investigations into cases that involve children are effective from the first point of contact. I will be closely monitoring its progress.”

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Derbyshire Constabulary: accelerated cause of concern

Notes

• For further information, please contact the HMICFRS Press Office on 0300 071 6781 or HMICPressOffice@hmicfrs.gov.uk.
• If our inspection identifies a serious or critical shortcoming in a force’s practice, policy, or performance, it will be reported as a cause of concern. A cause of concern will always be accompanied by one or more recommendations.
• When we identify causes of concern during our inspections, we normally provide details in the subsequent force report. In some cases, such as when we discover significant service failures or risks to public safety, we report our concerns and recommendations earlier. This is called an accelerated cause of concern.
• This accelerated cause of concern was identified during a National Child Protection Inspection (NCPI) of Derbyshire Constabulary, and the full report will be published later this year.