Derbyshire Constabulary has prepared a document which provides an overview of the force, its partners and its achievements over the period of 2011/12, and also compares this period with previous years.
Chief Constable Mick Creedon is immensely proud of the fact that, together with those partners, the force achieved a ninth consecutive year of crime reduction, with more than 41,000 fewer victims of crime than in 2002/03.
The document contains a list of impressive stats, and it's hoped that by reading it, you will gain extensive knowledge of the good work that is being done to make Derbyshire the safest county in the East Midlands, as well as one of the safest in the whole country.
The document also gives you chance to see who's at the helm of the Constabulary, from the top level with introductions to the force's 5 Chief Officers and what they're responsible for, to the Divisional Commanders and their roles.
It also underlines the challenges faced by the force, and explains the objectives and targets that have been set for the next year and beyond.
To download the entire 31-page document, see the Related Documents area to the right. Below is a summary of what is contained within it.
Serving Derbyshire
Derbyshire Constabulary serves an area of more than 1,000 square miles, and a population approaching one million.
The county is renowned for its diversity, from the High Peak, Derbyshire Dales and Derwent Valley, where tourism thrives, to the culturally diverse city of Derby, not forgetting its rural mining villages and market towns.
The county is split into 3 divisions and is policed by 1,914 officers (soon to rise by 60 this year), 171 PCSOs (increasing by 11), 1,220 police staff and 373 Special Constables.
Far-reaching Police Services
Through changes in society and technology, the way we deal with crime increasingly evolves and becomes more complex.
Neighbourhood policing involves Safer Neighbourhood Teams (more details on those later) who work closely with agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour and community crime.
Public Protection looks at protecting those who are most vulnerable; the economic crime unit is based around the seizure and confiscation of ill-gotten gains via the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), while operational policing provides specialist support including armed response, roads policing and the helicopter search teams and dogs unit.
The most serious of crimes and organised crime are investigated across all five force areas (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire); The High-tech Crime Unit deals with forensic examination of computers, hard drives and other digital devices, while terrorism - although not as serious in our county as others - is never overlooked.
It's also worth remembering the vital role of police staff and contact management centre operators, the latter of whom deal with over 350 emergency 999 calls and over 2,000 non-emergency calls via the 101 number on a daily basis.
Every Community has a Safer Neighbourhood Team
Safer Neighbourhood Teams play an invaluable role in the policing of every community across Derbyshire. SNTs provide a visible and accessible service and work closely with neighbourhood panels via meetings and surgeries to establish the growing concerns of their community before proactively setting about ways to promote a safer environment.
They are the heart of the community, and 95 of them exist throughout the county, made up of police officers and PCSOs supported by police staff and partners.
The Special Constabulary
The Special Constabulary are in integral part of the force, supporting SNTs and reactive patrol officers.
They are trained volunteers who have the same powers as police officers and are therefore able to play a crucial role in fighting crime and making the county safer.
In 2011/12, new recruits were trained ahead of the Olympics, and the campaign is set to continue into the next period.
Reducing crime and anti-social behaviour
Crime in Derbyshire continues to fall, and we've just witnessed our ninth consecutive year of crime reduction in the county. Indeed, since 2002/03, when National Crime Recording Standards were introduced, there have been 41,000 fewer victims of crime in Derbyshire, an overall reduction of 40%.
The following graph illustrates the crime reductions over the last nine years.
Hover your mouse over the chart to reveal the figures
The graph below charts the reduction in anti-social behaviour, which has fallen for a 4th consecutive year.
Hover your mouse over the chart to reveal the figures
We are detecting more crimes
In addition to preventing crime, we have significantly improved the percentage of crimes detected. 37% of all crimes are solved, one of the best performances nationally.
The following graph shows the proportion of offences that have been detected either through the Criminal Justice System or by restorative justice options.
Hover your mouse over the chart to reveal the figures
We continue to face considerable policing risks
Derbyshire Constabulary is committed to providing a high quality policing service to everyone in Derbyshire. We work in partnership with other relevant organisations to address crime and community safety, adhering to five guiding principles:
-
Protecting the vulnerable
-
Attacking criminality
-
Providing reassurance
-
Preventing and reducing crime
-
Delivering value for money
Each year Derbyshire Constabulary hosts a risk and threat seminar with partners and key stakeholders. This process, recognised nationally as best practice, ensures the force and its partners fully understand and assess the risks to Derbyshire and how to meet or reduce these risks effectively.
Collaboration
Derbyshire is one of five collaborative forces working together in the East Midlands region, along with Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.
The aim of the programme| is to save the five forces nearly £70 million during the next four years while maintaining our efficiency and resilience.
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice was introduced to the force in April 2009 as an alternative resolution to local issues.
Its aim is to bring victims, offenders and communities together to decide on how to deal with low-level crime and anti-social behaviour in the community.
It is about finding positive solutions and encouraging offenders to face up to their actions, making them understand what they’ve done wrong and giving them an opportunity to do something to repair the harm.
Partnerships
Derbyshire Constabulary works well with a number of partnerships called CSPs (Community Safety Partnerships).
These consist of representatives from the police, the local council, and the fire, health and probation services.
In total, there are nine community safety partnerships in Derbyshire, all with one aim: to develop and implement strategies to protect local communities from crime and to help people feel safe.
Safeguarding Children
Protecting the lives and welfare of children is paramount when it comes to the policing of child abuse and exploitation.
The Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Boards are multi-agency forums which ensure that children and young people are kept safe and have their needs met.
Public confidence and satisfaction
We strive towards protecting the public and gauge confidence by engaging with people to gain vital feedback. Methods include a Victims of Crime telephone survey, ongoing Have Your Say events and the British Crime Survey.
We're pleased that public confidence and satisfaction is improving, with 87% of victims surveyed satisfied with the service they received, and 89% of the public declaring they are confident in their police force.
Hover your mouse over the charts to reveal the figures
Savings
In 2010 the Government announced substantial funding cuts for the whole of the public sector, including the Police. Derbyshire Constabulary needs to save some £20m over four years to make up for this loss of funding.
In this time we have - and will remain - an efficient force, and have taken the opportunity to make us even more efficient; we have made some tough decisions regarding force personnel, and, fundamentally, we have remained reliable through times of national austerity and are now well on track to close our budget gap.
Breakdown of income and costs in 2012/13
Hover your mouse over the piecharts to reveal the figures
The future
We are doing well but still have more to do. We are now at a stage at which we can begin to recruit more police officers and PCSOs, and we are continuing to invest in our SNTs, whom we feel are invaluable assets to the force.
Major changes at a national level have to be considered and negotiated. Both the introduction of Police & Crime Commissioners and the Winsor Review of pay, terms and conditions will have a real impact on the way policing is delivered across Derbyshire.
We know that we cannot be complacent about the fantastic reductions in crime that we and our partners have delivered over the last nine years.
It is becoming ever more challenging to maintain these reductions as well as improving the service we deliver to the public, but we will strive to reach our targets and continue to be a successful, efficient and reliable force.