Question 4 cause of concern

Question 4 Cause of concern in the HMICFRS report stated that Wiltshire Police is failing to understand and promptly identify vulnerability at the first point of contact​ with the recommendations to:​

• Improve the process of risk assessing callers to identify those who are vulnerable or at risk​
• Make sure that call handlers are skilled enough to identify vulnerability and warning signs of hidden vulnerability​
• Make sure that repeat callers (and others in their household who may also be vulnerable) are routinely identified and recorded​
• Make sure that call takers give appropriate advice on preserving evidence and preventing crime

Our response so far:

Activity & Outcomes: Milestone 1 (Jul-Sep 2022)

• We have carried out comprehensive new training in THRIVE (Threat, Harm, Risk, Vulnerability, Engagement), Golden Hour, Crime Scene management/preservation of evidence) and wider career professional development (CPD). ​
• We have introduced a new Quality Assurance process in our Crime and Communications Centre (CCC): 3 calls per call taker, per month​
• We are adopting best practice from peer reviews led by Dorset Police, the National Police Chief’s Council and Durham Constabulary. We are engaged with the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP)​
• A new Grading and Deployment policy with a THRIVE+ template has been embedded in incident logs

Two charts showing a) increasing rates of Thrive and Repeat Victim checks and b) numbers of people trained and untrained in aspects of Thrive compliance

Performance trends

Forward Plan: Milestone 2 (Oct-Dec 2022)

Activity​

• Training – Dedicated Crime and Communications Centre trainer, career professional development bespoke training in crime prevention​
• Development of a Contact Management video with focus on vulnerability and repeat victims ​
• A new telephony system is now in place to support repeat victim identification​
• Continued audit and review of performance, specific focus in quality, vulnerability and advice given.​
• Best practice – implement insight from Dorset / Durham / Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme 

Expected outcomes​

• Further continued improvement in the quality of THRIVE+ assessments​
• Improved vulnerability assessments​
• Increased & more accurate identification of vulnerable people​
• Sustained increase in appropriate crime prevention advice and crime scene preservation delivered​
• Refreshed grading policy​
• Reduction in complaints specific to responding to the public​
• Improved quality of missing persons reports and identification of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) offences​