Scrutiny meeting looks at police performance

On Monday 19th February, Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer held the final public scrutiny session of his term.

The meeting looked at Cheshire Constabulary’s performance in achieving the objectives in the Police and Crime Plan – which was set by the Commissioner in 2021 following consultation with the public.

One of the priorities in the Plan is to prevent and tackle crime. The county has seen a reduction in overall recorded crime of 3.1% compared to 2020/21, along with a significant increase in arrests and ‘action taken’.

The public need confidence that their police service will be there for them when they need them most. To achieve this investment was made in the Force Control Centre. Operators are responsible not only for answering calls but for the management of incidents and this investment has resulted in over 90% of 999 calls being answered within 10 seconds, compared to 82% in 2020/21. Non-emergency (101) calls are now answered within an average of 5 minutes 30 seconds with significantly fewer calls being abandoned as waiting time continue to reduce.

In 2023, officers attended over 91% of Grade 1 emergency incidents in 15 minutes, an increase of 6% on 2020/21. Meanwhile, 87% of Grade 2 non-emergency incidents were attended within 60 minutes, a 9% increase on 2020/21.

This has also been made possible by exceeding recruitment targets, meaning Cheshire Constabulary has more officers than ever since modern times.

Police and Crime Commissioner, John Dwyer said:

“The Police and Crime Plan was created in consultation with the public when I came into office. Over the term it has been refreshed so it remains up to date and the public’s priorities are consistently being fed back into the senior leadership team at the Constabulary, ensuring they reflect the policing needs of the communities they serve.

“People expect their police service to pick up the phone quickly, get to them promptly when needed, and to have more officers out in the community. It’s my job to hold the police to account where they can improve and so I have constantly impressed this upon the Chief Constable. I am pleased to see the public’s needs reflected in improved performance.

“The fact that our recorded crime figures have reduced over the lifespan of this Police and Crime Plan is a testament to the hard work of everyone in the policing family. It demonstrates the resilience of the force as it navigated its way out of the pandemic and through to today.

“Residents of Cheshire should rest assured that this county is hostile to criminals and protective of our law-abiding communities."

Pictured - Cheshire Constabulary officers on the beat.