SUSSEX Police has admitted it may sometimes misjudge decisions on whether to attend a crime – but is working to do better.

Criminal justice inspectors said last week the force’s decision-making was “poor” on occasion when deciding whether to resolve a crime on the phone.

Like most police forces in England and Wales, Sussex Police does not have a policy that officers will attend all reports of crime.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: “The force assesses attendance on the basis of threat, risk and harm assessments and calls are graded accordingly.

“Sometimes it is difficult to fully assess the information coming in from a call and the threat, risk and harm may be misjudged.

“We have an ongoing programme to ensure that those who take and assess the calls have the best training available to enable them to be professional and efficient in their roles.”

He said the sorts of crimes investigated from a desk rather than in person were fraud and computer crimes, for example.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary inspected all forces in England and Wales between January and April this year.

Inspectors also raised questions over Sussex’s lack of “overarching” crime prevention strategy and management of offenders in the community (IOM).

The police spokesman said “preventing crime runs as a golden thread through everything we do” and the offender management process was “constantly evolving” with several agencies involved.

He said: “The inspection did feedback to us that IOM is improving and recognises that we have some very dynamic and dedicated staff on it.”