This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Grampian police – review inspection
11/12/2003
Grampian Police has demonstrated positive progress in
its work according to a report published today by Her
Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).
The report of the First Review Inspection focuses on the
current activities undertaken by the Force, including
action taken in response to the recommendations and
suggestions made in the HMIC's Primary Inspection of the
Force in 2001.
The Primary Inspection of Grampian Police identified a
total of 11 recommendations and 34 suggestions for the
Force to consider in relation to a number of areas
including performance monitoring and reporting, processes
and resources, and people management.
Significant progress has been made within all areas with
4 recommendations and 26 suggestions now considered to have
been fully discharged.
As part of the inspection process HMIC also took the
opportunity to examine a number of other areas including
race relations, community planning, preparation for
Airwave, the new digital radio system being adopted by all
Scottish police forces, reorganisation of policing
arrangements for Aberdeen City, aspects of the police use
of firearms, crime prevalence and detection and sickness
absence. HMIC found that the Force was addressing each of
these in a robust manner
• a significant action plan was in place in relation to
diversity matters and useful progress has been made
• there has been a committed response to community
planning with sound structures having been developed
• clear progress has been made to prepare for the new
Airwave communications system
• the merging of the two Aberdeen city policing
divisions offers useful enhancements to resilience,
flexibility and collaborative working arrangements
• the force has responded strongly to the updating of
the nationally endorsed Manual of Guidance in the Police
Use of Firearms
• significant progress has been secured in regards to
the reduction of crime, and
• sickness absence is consistently lower than other
forces
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Roy
Cameron, said:
"Grampian Police has responded positively to the Primary
Inspection Report of 2001 and has made significant progress
not only towards implementing the recommendations and
suggestions contained within that report but also in
relation to a number of key areas such as community
planning, crime reduction and operational
restructuring."
Following a review in 2002, HMIC introduced an
enhanced inspection schedule. This is a continuing cyclical
process comprising a primary inspection and two successive
risk assessed follow-ups. It can be summarised as
follows:
(i) A Primary Inspection of each police force and common
police service is made every 5 years. This comprises a
comprehensive examination of all aspects of a force or
organisation's activity at a strategic level. There is also
subsequent field work focusing on areas of business which
attract particular attention due to performance levels,
variations from common practice or concerns identified
about the approaches followed. The process also seeks to
identify good practice form which other forces or common
services could learn. A report is placed before the
appropriate Police Board/Authority, published and placed on
the HMIC website.
(ii) In the intervening years, two Review Inspections
take place at 18 month intervals. These focus on a range of
issues including progress against recommendations made in
the preceding primary inspection, progress made against
recommendations made in recent thematic inspections,
national developments in policing and events or
developments relevant to the particular force as identified
through HMIC's environmental scanning process. Reports of
these inspections are also presented to the Police
Board/Authority and a copy posted on the HMIC website.