The Commissioner has set up a scrutiny programme to hold Derbyshire Constabulary to account and provide the public with assurances around its performance.
There will be 6 of these Public Assurance Meetings each year, with each meeting shining a spotlight on one of the Commissioner’s six priorities to establish progress and identify any areas of concern in the Constabulary’s performance.
Firstly, the Chief Constable is required to provide the Commissioner with a formal written report detailing achievements and actions within the six priority areas, to be reviewed and scrutinised and subsequently published on the OPCC website.
Secondly, the Commissioner then also holds a Q and A session with the Chief Constable to highlight areas of concern raised by residents of Derbyshire.
Below, you will see both Part One: The Formal Report and Part Two: The Discussion around the priority area and the Q&A Session.
Part One
The Formal Report submitted for this PAM are available to view.
Part Two
Public Questions
There were 16 questions submitted from the public on Serious Violence including VAWG. Some are being answered via our casework process and will be answered outside of this Public Assurance Meeting. Questions have been split into three categories: General Serious Violence, Violence Against Women and Girls and Knife Crime.
General Serious Violence
1, What are you putting in place to support officers to assess the level of threat to support them to protect the victim? Bolsover
Police Response
In the last year and beyond there has been extensive and ongoing training and resources provided to staff force wide in relation to risk assessment of incidents and crimes. This starts from the first point of contact into our call centre (CCMC) where officers assess incidents and crimes using a THRIVE+ process, namely: Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigation, Vulnerability, Engagement and extending THRIVE beyond just first contact. This training has also been rolled out to investigators across all departments over recent years.
Officers and staff have additional risk assessment frameworks to use when dealing with a wide variety of incidents, relating to Serious Violence and Violence Against Women and Girls including domestic abuse, stalking and harassment risk assessments. This includes an initial assessment by the attending officer, then further independent reviews by a dedicated team with additional training in assessing and grading such cases.
The force also has a stalking Coordinator who reviews and assesses the risk level for all non-domestic related stalking. This includes safeguarding arrangements, referrals to stalking advocates and ensures that the most appropriate investigative resource is assigned.
During the investigation, officers also have access to other risk assessment frameworks to consider throughout the lifecycle of their investigation based on the victim, suspect and location of the offence. There is also other offence specific risk assessment frameworks available dependant on the crime type and level of risk posed to enable officers to manage risk with the appropriate oversight and governance from managers.
Our internal intranet system contains a range of guidance to officers and links to College of Policing material to support with their continual professional development and management of investigations.
2, Why are laws so lax despite record high crimes, and why does nobody seem to care about making stricter punishments for criminals, especially for serious crimes (Stabbings, rapings, paedophilia, etc)? The scale of what victims suffer during crimes is a hundred times greater than what criminals get as punishment for their respective crimes, is there any appropriate explanation why punishments for criminals are so friendly to the criminals in comparison by crime scale? Why is the UK one of the leading countries in the western world for crime rates, while other third world countries with higher punishments for criminals don’t have as much crime as the UK? Derby City
Police Response
Derbyshire Constabulary does not have the authority or power to set the level of punishment for any crime. This is set in law by Parliament. The role of the police is to investigate crime and if appropriate put it to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) so a charging decision can be made. The courts are bound by sentencing laws and must abide by the sentencing council guidelines. The punishment is decided in each case by a Magistrate, or a Judge based on the facts of the case, the harm to the victim and the level of responsibility of the offender.
3, Although potentially not currently considered serious violence, the upsurge in violent/aggravated/destructive shoplifting in broad daylight must surely be expected to lead to violence against shop staff/owners as they try to protect and retain their property. What steps can the police take to stop this burgeoning crime and empower shop staff to intervene? Amber Valley
Police Response
Derbyshire police take positive action against offenders who commit retail crime and use or threaten violence, also using civil orders and working in partnership with Councils and Community Safety Partnerships to target those people causing the most disruption and harm on our high streets and retailers.
The force would not advocate shop staff or other members of the public to intervene with offenders who are committing or threatening violence towards others or property. Our advice would be to contact the police on 999 in such circumstances.
We would advise retailers to look at prevention methods to deter such behaviour and assist in bringing offenders to justice. The National Business Crime Centre also offers a wealth of advice and support around crime prevention and shopworker safety.
4, When a serious crime has been committed seems there are things which have led up to this act, so my question is what is being done to look into the “petty” crimes, the drug problems, threatening behaviour and previous evictions of people in north east Derbyshire. North East Derbyshire
Police Response
The response to this question would depend on the individual circumstances, in particular the nature of the crime/intelligence and any patterns.
All incidents that are reported are assessed based on the level of threat, harm and risk, this is a continued assessment that is applied throughout the investigation, we must also consider the seriousness of the matter to ensure the best use of our resources.
Our call takers have been trained to utilise systems undertaking necessary checks to ensure we recognise repeat and vulnerable people, this allows a more tailored approach to tackle the issues that are escalating.
There are mechanisms in place to ensure where a crime is alleged it is recorded in line with national crime recording standards. Whilst there are limited resources the appropriate crimes with viable lines of enquiry are allocated to an officer, there are many outcomes available to officers to allow an incremental approach to tackle ongoing issues that start at a low level. Additional training has been provided in relation to a problem-solving approach to tackle ongoing issues and there has been investment in managing offenders.
In relation to drug problems, we rely on intelligence and would actively encourage members of the public to report matters via 101 or online via the force website, alternatively, anonymously via Crimestoppers.
We are committed to working with partners to resolve community issues and dealing with offences, such as drug dealing Intelligence is used to develop patrol strategies and look at enforcement opportunities.
In addition, there is ownership from Local Policing Inspectors who review data and information to identify trends and subsequently hold fortnightly meetings with partners to ensure that hotspots/trends are identified, and an appropriate response is provided.
Violence Against Women and Girls
5, Drug dealing brings a lot of violence against women. Why is it allowed to deal freely, and they step all over you if you decide to report it? If you are with a man nothing happens if you are on your own. You will pay dearly. North East Derbyshire
Police Response
The very nature of those involved in the supply of drugs means that violence is commonly used against both women and men. Within Derbyshire Constabulary we take any violence against women or girls under these circumstances seriously and ensure a robust response is taken. We encourage the community to report any drug dealing activity that is affecting them or their community through a variety of different methods, some of which are completely anonymous such as Crimestoppers. We take the identity of those reporting such matters very seriously and protect the identity of those willing to give information to the force to ensure there is no impact, and where the identity is known will ensure that we consider the necessary safeguarding measures are implemented to protect those involved.
6, What is the local police force doing about excluding police officers who engage in sexist behaviour, sexual harassment and use sexist language? Amber Valley
Police Response
It is unacceptable for officers or staff to engage in sexist behaviour, sexual harassment or use sexist language. Training and guidance is provided to all officers regarding the expected Standards of Professional Behaviour and the Code of Ethics, with ‘Line in the Sand’ inputs having been delivered across the Force to reinforce these messages.
There are a number of confidential reporting mechanisms for employees and the public to report alleged misconduct to the Professional Standards Department, including, Bad Apple, Integrity Helpline and Crimestoppers, as well as the force encouraging officers and staff to stand up to unacceptable behaviour or language.
A victim focussed approach is taken to investigations, with positive action taken when dealing with reported misconduct and unacceptable behaviour. Professional Standards with the support of the wider force are proactively working to raise awareness and prevent future issues, acknowledging the impact that sexist language, harassment and behaviour has on trust and confidence.
7, I want to know whether you intend to give community leaders a local single point of contact to raise concerns over the safety of women and girls, particularly schoolchildren, brought to them by the communities they represent. High Peak
Police Response
If a particular matter is raised that requires an urgent response then this should be reported in the normal manner to our control room, depending on the circumstances this can be done via 999, 101 or online – Home | Derbyshire Constabulary
If general concerns are raised that do not involve any immediate risk, then all beat areas have dedicated named Safer Neighbourhood Officers who can be contacted via the ‘what’s happening in your area?’ section on the above link.
Community leaders are encouraged to contact the officer for the area who will be happy to assist.
8, Will you stop religious groups preaching and distributing leaflets that contain anti-women’s rights messages in Derby? Derby City
Police Response
This will very much depend on what is being preached and what is contained specifically within the leaflets. Neither of these things in themselves are illegal and each incident would be judged on its merits at the time. Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are specifically covered under The European Convention of Human Rights which allows people or groups to hold opinions that may differ from those of other people. It also allows them to express those opinions verbally or in writing to others in public without interference by public authority, even if their opinions offend, shock, or disturb others. There are occasions where words, spoken or written, may cross into being a criminal offence or constitute a breach of the peace but again each case would need to be looked at individually at the time. Unless an offence is being committed the force have no legal power or justification for preventing people voicing their opinions be it verbally or via leaflets.
9, I am keen to know what steps are either in place already, or planned, to ascertain the extent (if any) of grooming gangs in the relevant local authorities. South Derbyshire
Police Response
Derbyshire Constabulary have a dedicated Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Team who sit under the Serious and Organised Crime Department and are led by a Detective Inspector and a Detective Sergeant. That team deal with CSE offences by working together with our partners across the City and County to identify children at risk of exploitation and proactively work to prevent any incidents, while sharing any information to assist. They also deal with any offences reported through safeguarding those children concerned and investigating further offences that have been identified. Front line officers are trained to spot the signs of exploitation and how to deal with it in the initial stages. This includes any offences which relate to ‘grooming gangs’. The wider picture covering ‘grooming gangs’ is known as Group Based CSE. Group based CSE is defined as “two or more individuals (whether identified or not) who are known to (or associated with) one another”. The question specifically relates to ‘gangs’ however ‘group based’ offences include more than persons linked to ‘gangs’.
The force recently completed a CSE profile to give a detailed picture of CSE offences within Derbyshire. This profile specifies that in the year from August 2023 to September 2024. There were nine ‘group-based offences’. Of those nine, five had familial links i.e. the perpetrators were family members and not linked to any sort of gang. None of the offences had any links to Organised Crime Groups (OCG). One of the offences related to a historical offence from the lates 1990’s which although not linked to an OCG related to grooming by a number of men, some of whom may have been known to each other. This is being investigated now with a Senior Investigating Officer leading the investigation. The data tells us that of those offences reported, 78% of victims were female and 22% male and 75% of perpetrators were male with 25% female. This follows the general national trend regarding CSE.
It can be difficult to identify if offenders are known to each other where more than one offender is reported if the victim does not know who one or more of the males is. Regardless of this, the offence would be investigated by the CSE team and all efforts made to identify any perpetrators.
The CSE profile will be refreshed annually using both Police and Partnership data to ensure we have an accurate picture of CSE offending in Derbyshire to ensure we continue to work together to protect children.
10, If a crime has been alleged, a rape, is there a maximum length of time before this must be decided on court action? What support is available to the victim and the family of the victim? South Derbyshire
Police Response
Rape is an indictable offence meaning there is no time limit on prosecution. The length of time taken to investigate a rape will vary in each individual case depending on the amount of evidence there is to consider. The evidence will then be put to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision to be made, and this may take several weeks to review, sometimes longer depending on the amount of evidence or other complicating factors. The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, commissions support services for victims of current and historical sexual abuse and violence. Once a referral has been made the victim will be contacted by an Independent Sexual Violence Advocate (ISVA) who will offer support to the victim. An ISVA can offer emotional and practical support to anyone who has experienced sexual abuse or violence.
11, How can you guarantee that women and young girls are safe in the current climate of crime perpetrated against women from men who have ‘gone under the radar’? High Peak
Police Response
Tackling serious violence and violence against women and girls is an area of importance for the force. We regularly produce educational material to highlight the signs to spot relating to coercive behaviour. A campaign showcasing a victim telling her story about being in a coercive relationship, and the signs to look out for is currently running across the force’s social media channels, website, and advertising across parts of Derbyshire. We recently launched our campaign titled ‘Who is in control?’ (Who is in control? | Derbyshire Constabulary) to increase awareness for both those suffering domestic abuse, those perpetrating it and for friends and family to help recognise signs of domestic abuse. Schools’ inputs are also delivered by Neighbourhood Policing teams targeting a younger audience, however giving them the information to take steps to identify coercive behaviour and take action. We publish court results for some Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Serious Violence offences on our website and social media channels as a deterrent to help reduce or prevent offending.
Internal performance and governance structures are also in place, overseen by senior officers and key stakeholders to continue to improve our response to Serious Violence and VAWG offences. This includes processes to identify and deal with those posing the most risk to our communities at the earliest opportunity.
12, More training needs to be provided to women so they are able to detect. Coercive behaviour earlier before they enter the relationship also relationships involving other family members to stop violence against women and men. Derby City
Police Response
Tackling violence against women and girls is an area of importance for the force. As a force we regularly produce educational material to highlight the signs to spot relating to coercive behaviour. A campaign showcasing a victim telling her story about what happened when she was in a coercive relationship, and the signs to look out for is currently running across the force’s social media channels, website, and advertising across parts of Derbyshire, to give information. Schools’ inputs are also delivered by Neighbourhood Policing teams targeting a younger audience, however giving them the information to take steps to identify coercive behaviour and take action.
Knife Crime
13, What plans are there to change the way officers patrol the streets and how can stop and search be introduced to tackle knife and drug crimes across Derbyshire. And what can be done to improve sentences for people carrying knives to ensure maximum punishments given for anyone found to be carrying a knife. There have been many examples of people being caught with knives and drugs and are not sentenced. But then continue to deal drugs and also murder others with knives. This needs to stop. And stop and search on a continuous large scale is the only way to fight this. Also. Anti-social behaviour and drug crimes close to the Shipley lakeside development is completely out of hand. To be honest. Ilkeston Heanor and Langley mill is out of hand in general. The operations carried out by the police in the past has only been short term. Allowing this activity to continue as soon as the police leave the area. What is planned to stop this once and for all. Amber Valley
Police Response
The force has the power to stop search someone if we have reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual may be carrying a weapon. Stop Search is a power that is being used to target individuals where we have the grounds to suspect they are carrying bladed articles. This is ongoing work to develop the intelligence, and it is important that communities update us if they believe someone in their community is carrying a weapon.
Fortnightly Partnership Serious Violence Tasking Group meetings are held where joint discussions take place around individuals who we believe may be carrying weapons and a targeted approach is agreed. It is important we consider the wider context of why a young person may be carrying a weapon and we work with other agencies to ensure that safeguarding considerations are covered, and young people are not being exploited for criminal means.
We recognise how important it is that residents see their local policing teams tackling Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) and knife crime, both of which have a huge impact on how safe people feel in their communities. Our local policing teams and Safer Neighbourhood team work closely to reduce ASB in the area and we have seen a reduction of 11.7% of incidents from the previous twelve months to the twelve months prior. The introduction of our Youth Engagement Team Officers in Erewash has been instrumental to reducing ASB through education and early intervention. Repeat offenders are robustly targeted with a view to changing this pattern of behaviour.
Erewash has unfortunately seen several attacks involving knives over the last year, most notably the murder of a teenager on Heanor Road, Ilkeston in December 2024. We seek to tackle knife crime through stop searches and acting on intelligence provided by the community. An example of one of the results from this stop search is seen here: Teenager charged after police find large machete in Ilkeston – BBC News.
Police continue to use a mixture of hi-visibility patrols alongside plain clothes operations which gives a balance of deterrence versus catching offenders who are committing crimes in the area. Recorded knife crime in the area has reduced by 39% for all of Erewash over the last twelve months, however it is recognised that there will be individuals who carry knives that aren’t on the radar of the police. We continue to work with partner agencies and the public to understand these information and intelligence gaps and act on them quickly and decisively. Our increase in positive outcomes for knife crime in Erewash over the last twelve months is indicative of our determination to arrest and charge those who carry knives.
The Safer Neighbourhood team continue to organise events where the public can speak with them to share information and understand local community concerns. We also recognise that some people prefer a more discrete approach to reporting crime or concerns and encourage the use of Independent UK charity taking crime information anonymously | Crimestoppers for reporting. Sentencing decisions fall within the jurisdiction of the Court system, who will have sentencing guidelines to adhere to. The force can contribute by providing the best available evidence in order to support any potential prosecutions and sentences.
14, In light of recent information about knife carrying youths not being taken seriously and various social services not sharing information properly and promptly – what steps are being taken to develop an information register for everyone capable of or showing obsession towards violence to be logged on to after first incidence – whether the case went to court or not ? Clearly available for professionals such as the police, social workers, senior school managers, parents; not the general public. Derby City
Police Response
Derbyshire police host a bi-weekly meeting, for North and South division. These meetings are titled ‘North/South Division Serious Violence Tasking’. These meetings include representatives from each local policing area along with partner agencies, including local councils, education and health.
Intelligence or offences committed involving a juvenile involved in serious violence and / or carrying a knife are discussed between the partners to formulate a plan to educate and / or mitigate the information. Respective tasks are allocated by the Chair.
In force, we have an Intelligence officer dedicated to Serious Violence, who will assess the information and liaise with Safer Neighbourhood Teams for proactive engagement / preventative visits and completion of Public Protection Notices which are shared with partner agencies. Relevant juveniles will be referred to partners such as Safe and Sound and Catch22 for support and engagement.
An information sharing form was created in August 2024 to improve information sharing between police and partners and standardise the way in which information is received in force.
All offences involving juveniles using knives are referred to the Youth Offending Team. A Prevention and Diversion Partnership meeting is then held between police and partners, along with Remedi (restorative justice provider) on behalf of any victim(s). This panel will discuss each individual case and agree a disposal outcome, best suited to the circumstances, which may include an out of court disposal, where appropriate. A record is kept by the force and shared with partners, if applicable
15, What are you doing to tackle knife crime in Derbyshire? Chesterfield
Police Response
Derbyshire Constabulary actively works towards reducing knife crime at a health-based level. We work towards changing societies attitude towards knives and the dangers of carrying them. This is done primarily through our Youth Engagement Teams, educating many hundreds of school age children every year. We work with innovative tools such as the Shattered board game, which has been designed and developed within force to make anti-knife work interesting and engaging.
This work goes on throughout the year, and if areas are flagged as having increased hotspots of serious violence, then local schools can have extra attention from the Youth Engagement Teams.
Test purchase operations are carried out in partnership with trading standards colleagues to ensure that shops are not selling knives to under 18s. Officers also attend shops and give advice and information around the safe sales of knives, ensuring that staff training is being completed.
The Constabulary also engages with new legislation that comes through regarding the banning of different types of knives. This work is led by the Serious Violence Co-ordinator. We have recently run an operation around zombie knives and a change in legislation which tightened the parameters of what constitutes a zombie knife. The operation involved training and enabling Enquiry Office Staff to receive surrendered knives from members of the public and to advise them on how to claim compensation if applicable.
Further details relating to the force’s response to knife crime and Serious Violence in Derbyshire can be found on the Police and Crime Commissioner Performance Assurance Meeting report relating to Serious Violence and Violence Against Women and Girls.
16, When will the police start stop and search under 21’s to mitigate knife crime? Amber Valley
Police Response
We have the power to stop search someone if we have reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual may be carrying a weapon. We do currently carry out stop search on under 21’s with 599 stop searches carried out last year on 10–17-year-olds and 860 on 18–24-year-olds. Whilst these stops searches can be completed for several reasons, they do include possession of a bladed article.
We also hold a Partnership Serious Violence Tasking group where joint discussions take place around individuals who we believe may be carrying weapons and a targeted approach is agreed. It is important we consider the wider context of why a young person may be carrying a weapon and we work with other agencies to ensure that safeguarding considerations are considered, and young people are not being exploited for criminal means. Training is given to all our officers on the use of stop search. It is important that officers understand the grounds that are required to detain someone for a search and that the powers are used effectively and pro-actively to reduce crime and prevent harm.