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Sussex Police have 'poor' record of solving crime

9:02am Thursday 11th March 2010 in


Police chiefs in Sussex have come under fire for their “poor” record on solving crime.

A report card published today by independent inspectors says the force’s overall performance is “variable” and warns “remedial action” may be needed in some areas.

The report, by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), accuses local police of failing to sufficiently reduce deaths and injuries on the county’s roads and failing to address persistent complaints about antisocial behaviour.

However, HMIC also found Sussex Police is “excellent” at preventing offences from occurring in the first place and reducing gun crime.

Overall, Sussex is rated “fair” when it comes to local policing, protecting residents from serious crime and boosting public satisfaction.

Zoë Billingham, who led the HMIC’s inspection said: “The force is performing poorly in solving vehicle crime.

“The number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in Sussex is higher than in similar places. The force also needs to improve its ability to identify quickly members of the public who repeatedly call the police about antisocial behaviour, so they can offer them the best possible service.”

Sussex Police said the report was based on data stretching back to 2007 and said it expected future reports would show that the force was “already improving”.

Deputy Chief Constable Giles York said: “Several areas of strong performance have been recognised by HMIC, including our excellent rating for reducing crime.”

Comments(19)

Geoffrey Madden says...
9:51am Thu 11 Mar 10

You seem to have received a report which is not yet available on the HMIC website, on which the latest report is dated January 2010.

You say 'the force’s overall performance is “variable” and warns “remedial action” may be needed in some areas'.

The HMIC January report, on the Policing Pledge, says that 'The overall grade for Sussex Police remains: FAIR', and that the grade of FAIR 'is used when performance fails to meet an acceptable level. Immediate remedial action is needed.'

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scthetruth says...
10:26am Thu 11 Mar 10

Whatever the statistics show, the only way for policing to have a real impact is for Police Officers to walk the beat (or cycle) and be in close contact with local residents on a daily basis. Leave the paper work to civil station workers. Simple and effective.

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Original Nutter says...
10:41am Thu 11 Mar 10

Our tax payers money is going to a police service that rating is fair?! Poor show, although I think all locals, or any one who has had any dealings with the police would already know this.

They are by far the worst police force I have had dealings with. Can not even remember to call you when they say. In fact I had one going through cctv footage to try and find me in it. After a day and a half I get a call back asking if she can have a photo so she knows what I look like, What were you doing the previous day and a half and who the hell were you looking for, plus they took photos of my injuries so surely you had photo's of me on file!! Sussex Police are shockingly poor

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Norma Snockers says...
10:44am Thu 11 Mar 10

scthetruth, Right on the button. The Police Service lost its way in the late 60s when the beat men were put into cars to patrol whole areas instead of 'their' patch which they knew microscopically. It was a senseless act of vandalism which has led to situations such as taking an hour to get to the scene of an ongoing burglary! Modern technology can take the grief out of the paperwork (two fingered manual typewriter in my day) leaving officers where they can do the most good, out on the streets. Or in the case of traffic officers out on the road instead of relying on the revenue raising cameras!

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Geoffrey Madden says...
10:50am Thu 11 Mar 10

Correction: I was too hasty, and apologise for misquoting HMIC. The end of my previous comment should have read, 'FAIR is awarded where performance is variable and falls short of the required standard. Remedial action is needed.

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Mrs Newcastle says...
11:14am Thu 11 Mar 10

Just before christamas on Dec 11th 2009 , I was assaulted by a 15 year old male youth, at a bus stop in Patcham Villiage.I reported my crime to the poilce and to date i have not heard back from the police other than to confirm the crime number of my case, Since then this this young person continued when seeing me in the villiage at Patcham with verbal abuse and ASB behavoiur, I contacted the ASB team and i found out that this young person already had a behaviour contract with them and that the police had not passed on to them information about the assault crime even though information like this should be shared.The family intervention project officer who was working with this young person and his family had no idea about the incidents in Patcham villiage even though i had been reporting them to the police

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kayotic says...
12:16pm Thu 11 Mar 10

I used to think they did a fair job but only last year I caught a shoplifter bang to rights on my CCTV and knew where he hung out during the day. I made a copy of the incident in question and handed it to the police only for them to ring me up a couple of weeks later to say they had lost the video tapes. I now have the shoplifter walking past most days putting his finger up to me. Very nice!!

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stan bailey says...
12:49pm Thu 11 Mar 10

watched several police staff at the illegal travellers site on the Ditchling Road, Oh good I thought, they are doing something. Well more caravans have turned up and they have been given a huge blue wheelie dustbin. However the area is strewn with loo paper

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Granny says...
12:54pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Well said scthetruth. My late husband did exactly that during his 25 years as a policeman. Nowadays, the only thing the Sussex Police excel at is giving out crime numbers to you and then forgetting all about it. I cringe when I think about how things have changed, and not for the better. I don't blame the ordinary pcs but the desk wallers in charge who make the rules.

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Original Nutter says...
1:00pm Thu 11 Mar 10

No Police officers on here bigging themsleves up as per usual. Perhaps the bosses have told them to saty away from the Argus and to do some proper police work

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scthetruth says...
3:33pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Mrs Newcastle wrote:
Just before christamas on Dec 11th 2009 , I was assaulted by a 15 year old male youth, at a bus stop in Patcham Villiage.I reported my crime to the poilce and to date i have not heard back from the police other than to confirm the crime number of my case, Since then this this young person continued when seeing me in the villiage at Patcham with verbal abuse and ASB behavoiur, I contacted the ASB team and i found out that this young person already had a behaviour contract with them and that the police had not passed on to them information about the assault crime even though information like this should be shared.The family intervention project officer who was working with this young person and his family had no idea about the incidents in Patcham villiage even though i had been reporting them to the police
I'm sure everyone here sympathises with you concerning the attack by this person. It is unacceptable that people like this are allowed to walk our streets and physically attack people going about their business.

Of course you will get NO sympathy from the liberal classes including the current government because they only care about the criminals.

The only way to make our streets safer is for many more prisons to be built. Those for adults and younger offenders. If Britain has to cage 1 million more convicted criminals then so be it as long as the decent law abiding majority can go about their business in peace. Criminals have NO RIGHTS and they should rot in jail.

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Brightonscouse2 says...
3:51pm Thu 11 Mar 10

I was appalled at the two week not so thorough invetsigation when i got burgled last year. The police seemed to have a complacent attitude towards the crime aswell as thinking they'd only solve it if i had caught the people in the act.

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Tye says...
4:50pm Thu 11 Mar 10

funny how such a hard nosed right wing company that owns the argus is so anti the fuzz
is it the children/students/re
porters having to pay to work at the argus get their dig against their owners - sorry - employers ?

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anonymous coward says...
4:57pm Thu 11 Mar 10

I think it's so brilliant that so many commentards are so willing to increase their tax contributions to pay for all these extra police.

It's amazing really, when you consider the amount of effort / research political parties go to to get voted in, that they've failed to realise that all they have to do is promise to raise taxes!

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Norma Snockers says...
8:37pm Thu 11 Mar 10

anonymous coward. Policing was done properly even in Victorian times, so why can't it be done now? It doesn't need extra resources. It just needs doing properly!

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Dirk Von Roden says...
10:30am Fri 12 Mar 10

I lost faith in Brighton Police , they can not be bothered to investigate a crime properly, its easier just to say well its one persons word against another!! Even when you are attacked in your own home by a druggie!!!!

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stan bailey says...
7:34am Sat 13 Mar 10

stan bailey wrote:
watched several police staff at the illegal travellers site on the Ditchling Road, Oh good I thought, they are doing something. Well more caravans have turned up and they have been given a huge blue wheelie dustbin. However the area is strewn with loo paper
More caravans, now two industrial wheelie bins.

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seagully says...
12:11pm Sat 13 Mar 10

I think the big issue with Policing in this day an age is that Policing has been taken away from the PC's doing the footwork.
With cases only being prosecuted on CPS advice and Youth intervention projects etc no wonder people are not getting the results they rightly expect.
CPS don't seem to except witness or Police officer accounts nowadays and if there is no forensic or CCTV evidence they wont proceed.
As said above when prosecution does happen then because of full prisons sentences are always deferred.
More Police are not needed, they are already employed. They are just stuck in their stations doing more and more requests for those who are supposed to support the Police.

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another village idiot says...
6:52am Tue 16 Mar 10

Meanwhile elsewhere in this paper a restaurant owner is prosecuted for resisting intruders in his premises. Police advice - ' Ring 999 and wait, do not challenge them - or risk prosecution ' So then, when the masked gang bursts through the door and try to abduct your kids, just relax, ring 999, wait for them to arrive, and avoid arrest yourself. I wouldn't work as a police officer if this was he best service that could be offered. Disgraceful. I'd expect better in the slums of South America.

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