SOUTH Yorkshire Police officers should be proud of themselves for receiving such a positive report from the police inspectorate, the Federation has said.<\/p>\n
His Majesty\u2019s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) today published its latest inspection of South Yorkshire Police, and congratulated the force for its performance in keeping people safe and reducing crime.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police\u2019s performance was graded across nine areas of policing and was found \u2018outstanding\u2019 in three areas, \u2018good\u2019 in five areas, and \u2018adequate\u2019 in one area. The outstanding areas were preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, protecting vulnerable people, and operating efficiently.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said the results were \u201castonishing\u201d considering the lack of resources available to the force, and were an \u201cabsolute testament\u201d to South Yorkshire Police officers.<\/p>\n
Steve said: \u201cA lot of officers are understandably a bit cynical about the way forces are measured by HMIC, as it can sometimes create extra bureaucratic processes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we need to take an enormous positive from this. South Yorkshire Police is one of the poorest-funded forces in the country, and yet we have come out in this report as one of the best-performing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the grades we\u2019ve received are astonishingly good, considering the resources that we have within South Yorkshire Police.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that we\u2019ve achieved this is an absolute testament to everybody in South Yorkshire Police, who are absolutely working their socks off. It\u2019s great that this has been recognised.\u201d<\/p>\n
HMICFRS singled out for praise the force\u2019s focus on vulnerable people and the \u201cremarkable results\u201d it had achieved in its approach to domestic abuse victims. It also said that the force was \u201cexcellent\u201d in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour through neighbourhood teams.<\/p>\n
Steve continued: \u201cRather than the negative PR that we so often see, which is so often unfair, the public of South Yorkshire should really be celebrating that they\u2019ve got one of the best police forces in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolute credit to everybody in South Yorkshire Police who have achieved this. Even though morale is really low at the moment, I\u2019d like to think that there will be a bit of a smile on officers\u2019 faces today and they will feel proud of what they\u2019ve achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the report, His Majesty\u2019s Inspector of Constabulary Roy Wilsher said: \u201cThis is an ambitious force that we have seen progress over the years, and it is now achieving some outstanding grades through the hard work of its officers and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n