Kent Police praised for improvements in crime recording

The force's approach to crime recording had previously been graded as inadequate

Kent Police has improved the way it documents crime, recording an estimated additional 25,400 incidents a year.

The force's rating was raised from inadequate to outstanding by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

Between April and June last year the force recorded 96.6% of crimes compared with 83.6% for the same period in 2017.

Chief Constable Alan Pughsley said it was "testament to the hard work and commitment of our officers".

He added: "We will continue to make further progress and build on the improvements we have made so far to provide the best service possible to the people of Kent."

About three-quarters of police forces around the country have been inspected and of those, two-thirds were rated as either "inadequate" or "requiring improvement".

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HMICFRS said Kent Police had "substantially improved its crime-recording accuracy" since the last inspection in 2017.

The watchdog said "extensive improvements" had been made in the recording of violent crimes and serious sexual offences, supervision of crime-recording decisions and use of feedback, and crime-recording governance and audit arrangements.

As a result of its improvement, victims had received an improved service and been offered additional support, it added.

The watchdog found that Kent Police had made excellent progress in how it records violent crimes and serious sex offences

Under the previous inspection in 2017, Kent Police was given an overall judgment of inadequate for "unacceptable" crime-recording arrangements.

However, it was found to have been good at recording modern slavery offences and correctly cancelling rape crimes due to insufficient information.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoë Billingham said the force had "gone above and beyond to fix the problems we found".

"To go from inadequate to outstanding is proof that a force can really excel with the right focus and some hard graft."

She added: "The people of Kent can rest assured that when they report a crime, their local force will record it quickly and accurately."