Beds Police is 'Top of the PIPs'

Bedfordshire Police has received national praise and recognition for the way it has delivered and evaluated its 'Professionalising Investigation Process' - the national learning and development training programme behind the recent improvements in the force's performance.

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) visited Bedfordshire at the end of January to review the skills based training programme being delivered to front line officers and the assessment of it. It says the force is the only one in the country so far (to date 25 of 43 have been reviewed) to have produced such an in depth level of evaluation.

All forces are benchmarked against key 'PIP' areas of assessment including knowledge, systems, people, facilities, professional development, training, assessment, and quality assurance. There are three different levels of training depending on the rank of the officer.

Bedfordshire's success story was highlighted following an in-house survey. It showed that of the 200 staff members who have been through the 'Professionalising Investigation Programme' questioned, there has been a 28% increase in the number of offences being 'taken into consideration' and 72% greater confidence in dealing with legislation under the Proceeds Of Crime Act. In addition the number of charges and summonses has increased by 19%, the number of offenders being cautioned is up by 21% and sanction detections increased by 28%.

Bedfordshire's use of the eNVQ and Level Three of the PIP programme has also been highlighted as best practice across the east of England. John Ryan, PIP and Crime Training Co-ordinator for Bedfordshire Police, said: "In short the NPIA has said that Bedfordshire Police has shown a considerable improvement in progress since we were last reviewed in 2007. There are clear noticeable differences in practical skills, confidence and competence and they are looking to promote the force to our colleagues regionally and potentially on a national basis."

The NPIA report concluded that on present statistical trends Bedfordshire Police will succeed in achieving its goals linked to improving how it deals with volume crime, such as house burglaries and car crime and professionalising investigations. The NPIA review of forces against PIP also goes towards the next HMIC baseline assessment.

The Bedfordshire Police evaluation assessed performance data three months prior and three months after PIP training was introduced.