'My Police' Website Welcomed

Thu, 11 March 2010 Courtesy of: Police Oracle

Commenting regarding the new HMIC website launched today ,  ACPO lead on performance management Chief Constable Steve Finnigan said “Ensuring that the public we serve understand what we do and why we do it is crucial for the police service. The information set out today by HMIC attempts to show the breadth of activity that the police service is inspected and assessed against, across thousands of daily interactions between the police and the public. The nature of that demand can vary from providing a visible and responsive presence, to other activities that often place police officers in danger. Whatever it may be, the police service is determined to focus relentlessly on where we can improve.

“Today, HMIC has taken a significant step forward in its new role as fierce advocate of the public interest by launching the MyPolice website. The site aims to present judgments of police performance and indicators of risk to the public, whilst taking account of the demands and challenges of each police force area.

Achieving a clear picture of performance that represents the full complexity of policing continues to be challenging, but I am hopeful that further refinements of this assessment framework will be informed by the wealth of knowledge and experience that exists within the police service, its partners and the public.

“There can be no doubt that the task of the police service today is more complicated and varied than ever before. To offer an accurate representation of contemporary policing is therefore irrefutably in the interest of both the public and the service.”

On behalf of the Police Federation of England and Wales, Simon Reed, Vice-Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, commented “The police are accountable to the public and it is therefore right that the public should be able to scrutinise and hold their local force to account. To that end, we welcome the introduction of the HMIC My Police website which will allow the public to see the broad performance of their force, how money is spent on local policing and engage with their force regarding priorities should they wish to do so. “