HMIC finds Essex Police is an efficient force
I welcome the HMIC report and the finding that Essex Police is ‘Good in respect of the efficiency with which it keeps people safe and reduces crime’. These are core responsibilities for any police force.
I am pleased that the Inspectorate also identified that Essex Police has ‘developed a sophisticated understanding of new, emerging and hidden demand… and regularly and effectively challenges itself to identify inefficient activities.’
The HMIC report emphasises the need for community policing to prevent crime and ensure local people remain connected with Essex Police. The people of our county, both during my election campaign and during our recent engagement about the Police and Crime Plan, have clearly expressed the importance they place on this work. More local, visible, accessible policing will be a key priority in the new Police and Crime Plan for Essex.
One means of delivering this will be the new mobile devices which are being rolled out to all front line police officers to help enable them to spend more time visibly patrolling our communities, rather than having to return to police stations to complete administrative tasks.
I am also pleased that HMIC recognised the importance of the mental health triage collaboration between Essex Police and the health service, finding that in 2015-16 this may have prevented 192 people from being inappropriately detained in police custody under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act.
This is an encouraging report, and I welcome its findings.
Roger Hirst, Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex
