Lancashire's police force is highly praised
Lancashire Police is the only force in the country which is "excellent" at solving local crimes and neighbourhood policing, a report by the police inspectorate says.
The county's force won high praise after maintaining its status as one of the top performers in the country.
Inspectors from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary awarded the force a string of top grades as part of a new annual report card which is produced for each of the 43 forces in England and Wales.
It was judged as "excellent" at reducing crime and solving crimes and as "exceeding the standard" at neighbourhood policing.
Lancashire also got a "good/excellent" mark for the confidence the public have in the force, as well as for the satisfaction levels shown by members of the black and ethnic minority communities.
Roger Baker, HM Inspector for the Northern region, told the LEP: "It has reputation for being one of the top performing forces in the country with very strong leadership both in the force and authority.
"A lot of forces try to emulate the performance of Lancashire."
Lancashire's performance compares well against its neighbour Greater Manchester Police, which was given a "poor" rating for both "local crime and policing" and "confidence and satisfaction."
HMIC said there were "concerns" about GMP's performance but added that the force had "solid plans" for improvement.
The police inspectorate said that an urgent action must be taken by senior officers across the country to improve understanding of the toll anti-social behaviour is taking on their communities.
Chief Inspector of Constabulary Denis O'Connor said the recording of information about harassment, criminal damage and verbal abuse is "inadequate" and must be improved immediately.
He said the "bulk" of the forces in England and Wales cannot automatically identify repeat victims, leaving officers in ignorance of some of the most vulnerable people who need help.
A snapshot survey found officers did not turn up to almost one in four (23%) anti-social behaviour complaints and as a result almost all those victims were unhappy with police.
Steve Finnigan, the Chief Constable of Lancashire Police, admitted that despite his force's high performance, improvements could still be made to the monitoring of anti-social behaviour complaints.
"I do not think our processes are as tight as they could be, but we are working on that," he said.
Reacting to the force's report card grades, he added: "I am pleased and there is some really good news for people in Lancashire yet, as you would expect me to say, there is no complacency.
"There is no silver bullet but it's about focusing on what matters to people."
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 29 July 2010
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