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Chief Constable fortnightly update to the Police and Crime Commissioner
23 June 2023
Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,
This letter unfortunately starts with a stark reminder of the continuing issues we are seeing around serious violence within Wiltshire. On Sunday 18 June, a violent disorder occurred in Swindon whereby three individuals were assaulted by a group of people. We have now made a number of arrests for offences in connection with this incident. This was a swift response by my teams and supported by significant reassurance and high visible presence in the local areas. However, it shows some of the ongoing policing challenges in Swindon. In addition, over the same weekend, there were numerous issues relating to rival gangs from Bristol and Devizes further to recent offences committed in Bath. This also resulted in some significant community tensions and worries of violence across county, particularly in the Devizes. Once again, my teams responded swiftly with a combination of activity, including:
I want to commend the outstanding work of my officers, staff and volunteers including the Special Constables who took immediate and proactive steps to safeguard our communities. We are continuing this proactive work, working with your office and other stakeholders, to make sure we have a holistic response across all partnerships. I remain firmly of the view that it is only with all partners working together that we will support our communities through our current challenges.
This week, we also saw the incredible policing and partner response to the Summer Solstice celebrations. This was the first time I had ever experienced this incredible and joyous event, and it was a real pleasure to join my teams, partner colleagues – including English Heritage and Wiltshire Council - and visitors in Avebury for sunset on the Tuesday night and continuing to Stonehenge for sunrise. I was delighted to meet so many members of the public enjoying such joyful and peaceful festivities, with only two people arrested for public order offences. There was lots of news coverage, and I remember in my interviews that I reflected that every day I pinch myself as I feel so fortunate to be the Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police. The Solstice was an extra big pinch for me, as I felt so very proud of my teams as we thoroughly enjoyed supporting the celebrations.
Remaining on an operational theme, a recent update for Android mobile phones has resulted in a significant number of accidental 999 calls being made on these devices. This is not the fault of the owners of the phones. However, as a result in May alone we saw an additional 1,210 silent 999 calls compared to the same month last year, with silent 999 calls accounting for a quarter of our overall 999 calls in May. Whenever we receive a 999 call, even if it is a silent call, we will always undertake a range of activity to make sure we understand the true nature of the call to make sure we are keeping people safe. For these accidental 999 calls, this is taking in the region of six minutes per call and is therefore having a significant impact on how quickly we are currently able to deal with 999 calls at this time. We have already sent out some reassurance requests for our communities – but please allow me to repeat it here. If their android – or any – device has accidently dialled 999, then please speak with us and explain. We are noticing a tendency for people to hang up the phone as they are worried about making the accidental call, but we would much prefer to speak with the caller to make sure they are safe and well. This means we will spend less time on these accidental calls and more time on those callers who really need our help. We accept that this is a situation we all find ourselves in until the expected Android ‘fix’ is rolled out, but we ask our communities to help us manage this increased call demand.
In closing, I would like to update you on my recent touchpoint meeting with HMICFRS. These meetings take place regularly to monitor our work to improve our services as part of the ‘Engage’ process. On Thursday, I was able to update HMICFRS colleagues on our progress in rebuilding the foundations of Wiltshire Police, including ensuring we have the right resources in the right place at the right time. This is supported by significant innovation and improvement work to improve our efficiency and effectiveness, and also an audit and inspection regime to ensure that the changes we are making are genuinely improving our service to the communities of Wiltshire and Swindon. As you are aware, I have wanted our improvement journey to be as transparent as possible for the OPCC, our communities and stakeholders, including publishing the updates of the formal HMICFRS review meetings and also our annual ‘Plans on a Page’, which will drive our business forward. We currently remain in the Engage process, which in my view is quite right at the current time. However, I feel confident that we are beginning to see progression in both the strategic and tactical improvements that we must make to reassure our communities that they can have absolute trust and confidence in our service to them in Keeping Wiltshire Safe. I will provide a further update on this journey after the next formal HMICFRS review meeting in September.
Kindest regards,
Catherine Roper
Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police