Police are praised for their record-keeping (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Police are praised for their record-keeping

5:51pm Tuesday 31st January 2012 in News By Chris Gregory

HAMPSHIRE Police has been praised for the way it records crimes and incidents – but officers need to keep victims of crime better informed of the outcome of their investigations, a report has stated.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) looked at 120 incident records created by the force – just a fraction of the 2,777 calls it receives on average each day.

While it found 11 records had been closed without a crime being properly recorded, the watchdog, said the force “generally records crimes accurately as required by the crime recording standards”.

It added: “Hampshire Constabulary generally keeps victims of crime updated throughout the course of the crime investigation, although further work is needed to ensure victims are informed of the final outcome of the investigation.

“The Constabulary also needs to develop processes so that, on every occasion, it identifies repeat and vulnerable callers (such as those who are disabled and elderly) so they can get extra support if needed.”