Time taken for Wiltshire Police to charge for crimes doubles in a year

The time it takes for Wiltshire Police to charge people for a crime has doubled in one year, a new performance report states.

The force takes 36 days on average to bring charges compared to 18 days last year.

The report shows the length of time it takes for police to take action is also the cause of most complaints.

Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said work is being done to improve things.

He said: "Many of the areas mentioned in the current performance report are consistent with what has been raised during regular internal, and external, performance scrutiny sessions and have been highlighted in the Force's HMIC PEEL inspection report.

"I have seen evidence that work is underway to address these and my priority is to ensure this translates into sustainable performance improvements that can be tangibly seen and felt by our communities."

The report shows that complaints have risen 23%, with delays to police action bringing the most dissatisfaction.

Victims are also dissatisfied with police efforts following burglary and violent crime.

The crime taking the longest for charges to be bought is sexual assault which takes on average 151 days, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In response the force said it was because stalking and harassment had become more complex.

"In-depth analysis is required to identify the causes, but high-level drivers have been identified in the rise of more complex stalking and harassment and other sexual offences," it said.

The force has said an analysis workshop is being done to understand what areas can be improved upon.

"The analysis will also look to identify serial complainants and how to address the issues posed," the police said in a statement.

A police spokesman said the force has been making improvements in other areas, including in the response time to 999 calls.

The constabulary received a total of 9,190 calls to 999 in November and the time to answer these calls averaged at around four seconds, which was a reduction from five seconds in October.

Since September they have seen a 27% reduction in time to answer 101 calls, with almost all of them being answered within 30 seconds.

Wiltshire Police along with five other forces were placed in special measures in June, as inadequacies were found.

Additional reporting by Emma Elgee

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