Hampshire Constabulary

We are one of the biggest forces in the country delivering policing services to the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We’ve retained a strong neighbourhood policing approach and have more police officers in frontline roles than average.

Our purpose is to deliver SAFER communities and the scale of this challenge includes:

• policing across 1,500 square miles, land which is largely rural but with densely populated cities.
• the changing face of crime, with similar trends to those nationally in terms of increased reports of cyber-crime, child sexual exploitation and domestic abuse.
• a significant transport network including the M27 and M3, key rail hubs and two international airports.
• critical national infrastructure sites to keep safe such as the ports in Southampton and Portsmouth and crucial oil refineries.

Partnership, innovation and technology

We are independently recognised as efficient, with innovation in partnership and technology playing a key part. We are innovative in our partnerships including a shared headquarters with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. This is important because public services that work together are more effective and cost the public less money.

Our HR and finance teams are shared with Hampshire’s council and fire services, a number of neighbourhood policing teams are located with councils, we have a well-developed partnership with Thames Valley Police, and benefit from close working with criminal justice partners.

Other innovation includes our award-winning forensics partnership with Portsmouth University.

We are developing further partnerships with new approaches to tackling cyber-crime and as we tackle the increased reporting of crimes such as child sexual exploitation and domestic abuse.

We were the first force to issue body worn video cameras to all frontline officers and have been recognised for the quality of our demand analysis, something which is helping us build strong plans for the future.

What we cost

Our cost to the public is the second lowest in the country, which means it’s great value for money, but we need to try new approaches to keep within our budget.

Two-thirds of our budget comes from national government. £80m of efficiency has been delivered since 2010, and the force was graded ‘outstanding’ for short- and long-term financial sustainability in 2015, and in 2016 was recognised as having good plans to address future demand on services.

The force now employs 5,000 people, having reduced its workforce by 23%, against a national average of 15%.

While being efficient and operating at a lower cost is good for taxpayers, there is a point at which further efficiency cannot be achieved without compromising the effectiveness of local services.

For us this point will be reached by 2021 unless the residents of Hampshire receive a fair national funding formula. Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney outlined the case for fair fundingin early 2017.

Scrutiny and accountability

It’s important that all police forces are held to account for their activity. We are scrutinised by a wide range of formal and informal bodies, ensuring that we deliver in a professional manner that is in line with the College of Policing’s code of ethics.

As well as our own internal learning teams, widespread performance tracking and analysis and internal audit, we also benefit from being scrutinised by a number of other bodies. These include:

The Police and Crime Commissioner
Mr Michael Lane is accountable to the public. To read more about the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner in scrutinising the force and Mr Lane’s Police and Crime Plan, please visit his website.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary
Inspects on a variety of issues each year with a major focus on an annual review known as PEEL. This looks at the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of police forces. To read about our performance in this respect, please visit their website.

Independent Advisory Groups
Provide us with a vital view through the eyes of the public. As well as a force-wide group, there are also groups with specialist knowledge and insight about local geographical areas and communities within the force, including groups who advise on diversity and inclusion.

These are not decision-making bodies but they play a vital role helping us to better understand the perspective of all communities.

Ethics Committee
Members of the public, staff representative groups and leaders within the police force provide guidance on matters that impact trust and confidence, and our ability to embed the College of Policing’s code of ethics.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)
This formal body has responsibility for impartial investigations and decision-making on the most serious concerns about the standard of the policing service.

If you have a concern you should contact our Professional Standards Department first, as the IOPC does not have the power to record complaints. If you’re unhappy with our response, you can ask the IOPC to investigate.

Our force is run by a team of experienced chief officers with a wide range of experience gained from careers within and outside of policing. For details of our local commanders – the police officers who lead day to day activity in our neighbourhoods – please visit our Local Commanders page.

For information on Michael Lane, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, please visit his website.

Olivia Pinkney

Chief Constable

Sara Glen

Deputy Chief Constable

Accountable to the Chief Constable, DCC Glen is responsible for force performance, ethical standards and oversees professional standards, force risk, inspection, learning and force development. She is responsible for holding Assistant Chief Constables (ACCs) and Assistant Chief Officers (ACOs) to account for the operational delivery across the force, as well as planning, resourcing and delivering transformational change within the force’s allocated budget. Mrs Glen holds the national portfolio for charging standards and out of court disposals.