This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Fife Constabulary inspection
18/05/2006
Fife Constabulary has been praised for the good level of service it provides to the local community in a primary inspection report published today.
Despite 2005 being one of the most demanding years in the forces history, with the G8 Conference, the graduation of Prince William and the Open Golf Championship running consecutively throughout the summer, HMIC found the force has earned a strong reputation for:
- Its enthusiastic and motivated police and support staff - reflected in a commitment and loyalty within the force to make Fife a safer place to live, work and visit
- Strategic leadership - where the Chief Constable, his deputy and assistant drive forward improvements in force performance through local accountability
- Partnership working - highlighted by the effective working relationships with the police, voluntary and private sector and support from local communities
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has made number of recommendations to add value and support further improvements. In particular, the force should:
- Consider the introduction of a three year planning cycle to improve partnership working and forward planning
- Create a policy and processes to encourage the transfer of officers and staff between divisions, to support better learning and developmental opportunities
- Review the role of community police officers and develop a generic force job description for such officers that better focuses their activities through clear measurable objectives linked to the Policing Plan
- Introduce an armed response capability as a matter of urgency in the interests of safety to officers and public
HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andrew Brown said:
"Fife Constabulary provides a good level of service to its residents and visitors and in return enjoys significant support from local communities and partner agencies. The inspection team also found a high level of commitment and professionalism among staff of all ranks and roles throughout the force. There was also a genuine desire to make the force area a better place to live, work and visit.
"HMIC also found many examples of good practice including the use of seconded officers to improve communication between services provided by partners, the use of peer group reviews in major crime enquiries and the use of CCTV in custody vans for the protection of officers and the individuals concerned.
"HMIC also took an early opportunity to examine how the force had responded to issues raised by SWIA and HMIC during their joint review of the police and councils handling of the Colyn Evans case - which itself was subject to a separate report published in December 2005. HMIC found that an action plan had been put in place to address the issues raised and there was clear evidence of changes being put in place. HMIC will examine this progress further at the review inspection.
"Overall, while finding the force to be effective and efficient, HMIC has made a number of recommendations to ensure the force builds on the positive work which is already underway. We have also identified a number of important areas of work in which the force is currently developing its procedures.
"These will be monitored at the next inspection and include the development of collaborative working on antisocial behaviour, the Safer Neighbourhoods Team, the use of lap top computers to record information from crime scenes and call handling."
The report relates to a primary inspection of Fife Constabulary carried out in November 2005. A primary inspection of each police force and common police service is conducted every five years.
Fife Constabulary is responsible for policing the Fife local authority area. It serves a population of around 352,000 and had a budget of 58.2 million pounds sterling for 2005/2006. At the time of inspection, it had 1029 police officers, 547 support staff (497 full time equivalent) and 120 special constables.