Research also highlights that only 13% of recorded stop and search incidents were on the basis of strong reasonable grounds.
By Rebecca Wilks. Cover Image by Tom Davies
Use of force by North Wales Police officers is being under-recorded, a scrutiny body report has suggested.
Concerns have also been raised regarding the force’s emergency response times, its treatment of crime victims, and officers’ use of stop and search.
The findings were made during a Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) assessment carried out by HMICFRS, the UK government body responsible for scrutinising the performance of police and fire services in Wales and England.
“[North Wales Police] can’t yet show that it has a full understanding of how often and how fairly its officers use force,” HMICFRS said.
“This was an area that was highlighted in our last inspection, and it is disappointing to see that it remains an issue.”
When a police officer uses force against a member of the public, they are required to complete paperwork that explains the type of force used, and why – but HMICFRS found that these records were often incomplete, with supervisors failing to monitor them for accuracy and quality.
Just 2,052 use of force incidents were recorded by North Wales Police in the year ending March 2021, though more than 16,000 arrests were made by officers over the same period. It is expected that arrests will often involve some amount of force, meaning that thousands of use of force incidents are likely to have gone unrecorded.
“The current degree of under-recording means that the force doesn’t have a complete picture of how its officers and staff use force in the course of their duties,” inspectors noted.
“This means it can’t complete an accurate analysis to see where policies, systems and practices need to be improved.”
Similar information gaps were found in cases where police officers used stop and search powers.
By law, police should only search a member of the public if they have “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the person is carrying prohibited items – drugs, for example, or a weapon.
HMICFRS found that strong reasonable grounds were recorded by North Wales officers in only 13% percent of the stop and search incidents they assessed, with 25% of the stops relying on weak grounds, and 20% conducted with no reasonable grounds recorded at all.
These statistics, however, were described by inspectors as an “important improvement” to the force’s previous performance.
Black people were three times more likely to be arrested than white people, while people of other Minority Ethnic backgrounds were four times more likely to be arrested.
North Wales Police fell below national standards on the time staff took to answer both emergency and non-emergency calls, and checks to establish whether the caller was vulnerable and/or a repeat victim of crime were not always carried out.
“[Police] attendance wasn’t always within recognised force timescales,” HMICFRS said.
“Victims sometimes weren’t informed of the delay and their expectations weren’t met.”
It was found that assessments of victims’ needs were sometimes not completed, and the use of protection orders for victims of domestic abuse was not always considered by the force.
The comments made in today’s report echo concerns identified by HMICFRS assessors last year, following a surprise inspection of North Wales Police custody suites.
“We found that force was often used in custody, and often to forcibly remove clothing from detainees,” inspectors noted at the time.
“It is difficult for North Wales Police to show that when force is used in custody, it is necessary and proportionate.
“In some of the cases we saw on CCTV, it is our view that it wasn’t.”
The inspectors also found that NWP sometimes did not explain to detainees the reason for their arrest and detention, and further failed to advise detainees on their rights and entitlements.
Provisions for vulnerable and/or disabled people in custody were described as “inconsistent” – a significant number of those who come into contact with police are disabled – and the force was criticised for its “poor” approach to complaints.
Responding to a request for comment, North Wales Police Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman said: “We recognise that there are some improvements to be made following the findings of the inspection, including aspects relating to improving the fair use of ‘stop search’ powers, and promoting multi-agency working to ensure that vulnerable people are safeguarded effectively.
“Our vision is to be the safest place in the country to live, work and visit, and in some areas of crime, we have amongst the lowest crime levels nationally.
“We are pleased that the HMICFRS has identified that we are good at preventing crime and antisocial behaviour, with some very positive observations about how we are solving problems in communities.”
