Police aiming to regain public’s confidence after targets missed

The force’s policing priorities for the next four years will be discussed at a meeting of Humberside Police Authority on Tuesday, and they include:

• Improving trust, confidence and overall satisfaction;

• Reducing anti-social behaviour;

• Reducing crime;

 Improving performance through the “best use of resources”.

A separate report for the meeting shows the force is missing 11 out of 15 confidence and satisfaction targets for this year.

The biggest gap between aspiration and performance related to the proportion of people – 37.2 per cent – who feel the force can be relied on to deal with minor crimes, way down on the target of 44.7 per cent.

Other areas where the force is not meeting confidence and satisfaction targets include: being there when they are needed; treating people fairly; understanding issues that affect a particular community; and satisfaction with action taken by police.

The number of people who were satisfied with the overall service provided by the force was 84.3 per cent, above the target of 83.5 per cent.

A total of 51.3 per cent of people think the force is doing a good job, above the target of 47 per cent, and it also recorded above target ratings for the number of people who think they would be treated with respect by police, and for satisfaction in progress updates given by the force.

Performance figures show that overall crime fell across the force area by 6.1 per cent between April, 2010, and February this year compared to the same period in 2009/10.

There were 69,446 recorded crimes between last April and February this year, down from 73,921 in the corresponding period for 2009/10.

The number of burglaries rose by 5.6 per cent to 4,305, above the target figure of 3,976.

Reducing household burglaries is one of the strategic aims that will be outlined by Chief Constable Tim Hollis at next week’s meeting.

The performance report concluded: “A number of performance improvements are being seen during 2010/11, particularly in relation to recorded vehicle crime, assault with less serious injury and criminal damage.

“Performance areas which are not yet seeing improvement will continue to be monitored and, where necessary, focused upon for scrutiny at the deputy chief constable’s performance conference, which is held on a monthly basis.”

The priorities have been arrived at following a series of workshops and consultations with the business community, the public and community safety partnerships.

It will be the first time the force has had a strategic policing plan for a four-year period, which mirrors spending cuts it has to make in this time.

Despite the impending cuts the force plans to set itself challenging targets over the next four years.

It wants 90 per cent of people to have confidence in the force, up from the 85.4 per cent level now, and wants 90 per cent of victims of crime to be satisfied with the service provided, up from the 84.3 per cent rating now.

It also wants 75 per cent of people to believe the police will be there when they are needed, up from the 64.2 per cent of people who think that now.

The force plans to make savings of £22.5m over the next four years in response to Government spending cuts.

It will shed 259 officer posts and 124 staff jobs over the period.

The biggest hits will come over the next year, when £7.5m will be slashed off the budget and 162 jobs will be lost.

The force currently employs 1,999 warranted officers and 2,112 staff including PCSOs.