Members of an independent group established by Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis are shining the spotlight on the forensics service given to burglary victims.
The Ethics, Transparency and Audit Committee was launched under the new dawn of transparency by Mr Ellis who is aiming for Staffordshire to be the most open and transparent police force in the country, an ambition which is shared by the Chief Constable.
An independent body, the panel is made up of local people and is one of the Commissioner’s drivers that opens the police to even greater public scrutiny. It has been provided with wider powers by the PCC and a greater remit than the audit committee it replaced, putting decisions by Staffordshire Police under the spotlight, as well as those made by the PCC.
After shining the spotlight on crime recording, committee members have turned their attention to whether burglary victims are getting the best response regarding forensic examination. Police forensic examiners attend around 50 crimes scenes a day in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent – focusing on scenes where there is the greatest possibility of recovering evidence such as fingerprints or DNA.
The committee scrutinised police decision-making on burglary reports which didn’t get a forensic response, listening to victims’ calls to police and reading the police crime logs. It will release its findings in the next few weeks.
Mr Ellis said: “This is another valuable piece of work by the ETA and is exactly what they are here for – to open up the police to even greater public scrutiny.
“Honest and independent scrutiny by the public is crucial as we strive to set the bar higher and create a new dawn of transparency in policing.
“This new added rigour and a bigger remit that has been given to the ETA has already helped scrutinise crime recording to make sure decisions made by the police are correct and in the victims’ best interests.
The committee is holding Staffordshire Police, and myself as the PCC, to account and ensuring actions taken and decisions made are open, honest and transparent. We’re looking for more members of the public to step forward and help with this.”It’s about making sure things change where change is needed, so that public confidence is increased.”
Staffordshire’s Chief Constable Mike Cunningham added: “Forensics play a vital part in our crime investigations and we strive to get the very best outcome from the contribution these highly specialist staff make every day. We aim to deliver outstanding service to victims of crime and the results of forensic examination support that aim. We welcome the additional rigour and openness the Ethics, Transparency and Audit Committee brings to this important area of our work.”
The committee recently reviewed records from wide-ranging crimes including rape and other sexual offences, affray, anti-social behaviour including those marked for no further action. Out of a sample of 80 crimes only three required further explanation, two needed clarification and one was re-examined.
Members concluded that recording and auditing methods were robust and the public should be reassured that Staffordshire Police have a high degree of accuracy and quality in their crime recording systems.
More details about the committee are available at www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/eta
