Initial Police Contact October 2019

“I am pleased to publish my review of Initial Public Contact with Dyfed-Powys Police, which is the third review of this level undertaken by my office. The review included public consultation and I am pleased that over 800 responded to the survey, which shows how much interest there is in the topic.

I wanted to address how and why you contact the Police, and in making contact, whether you have found a service which is easy to access. Thank you to all those who took the time to complete the survey.

One of the priorities I set out within my Police and Crime Plan is to ensure that you receive an accessible and responsive service from your police force. Therefore, crucially, I want to identify if any improvements are needed.

This review’s findings show us that Dyfed-Powys Police cannot maintain the status quo in relation to public contact management. Whilst the future is set to bring new digital changes to the culture of initial public contact, which will have its benefits, I am clear that Dyfed-Powys cannot disregard the high percentage of its residents who are not ready to depend solely on digital contact. I believe that the strong appetite for a more personal contact approach needs to be fully explored and adequately catered for.

I fully appreciate that the mounting pressures of increasing calls to the Force Communications Centre need to be addressed urgently, and I am pleased that significant work is being planned to address this issue.

I am committed to monitoring the Chief Constable’s progress against the recommendations set out within the report through quarterly reviews of progress with the aim of providing greater assurance to the public. I am satisfied from our initial discussions that my recommendations will be implemented”.

Dafydd Llywelyn, Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner