APCC response to HMICFRS spotlight reports
Responding to the PEEL spotlight report - Shining a light on betrayal: Abuse of position for a sexual purpose, APCC Transparency and Integrity Lead, Julia Mulligan PFCC said:
“Public confidence in policing is paramount and any abuse of position for sexual purpose is totally unacceptable, damaging, and must be rooted out. The public rightly expect the utmost integrity from our police, and whilst this form of corruption is rare, any kind of abuse of this nature totally undermines the service.
“The victims of this kind of abuse need to be front of mind. These people have put their trust and faith in policing only for it to be horrifically taken advantage of and we must not let this happen. Police and Crime Commissioners will be working with Chief Constables to ensure more is done tackle this form of abuse and corruption.
“Whilst there has been progress in ensuring that the correct processes are in place to protect the public, particularly vulnerable victims, there is clearly some way to go. Issues highlighted in this report around vetting, capacity in counter-corruption units and ability to detect misuse of ICT systems need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
Responding to the PEEL spotlight report: A workforce under pressure. Emerging themes from the second group of 2018/19 PEEL inspections, APCC Performance Lead, Matthew Scott PCC said:
“HMICFRS’ PEEL assessment programme provides a useful measure of overall performance, and it is pleasing to hear that most forces are performing well. The PCCs of the 15 forces whose reports have been published today will be going over their local findings and holding Chief Constables to account where areas of improvement have been identified.
“In many areas, PCCs have been funding increases in police officer numbers to assist our forces in addressing the challenges they face. Currently, we are all looking forward to hearing how the Government-funded 20,000 police officers will be distributed. Many forces stand ready and eager to ratchet up their local recruitment efforts even further.”