Our Inspections

During 2008, in light of our new role as working in the public interest, we have fundamentally reviewed the way we work.

We visit police forces and organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, carrying out inspections or reviews ranging from individual functional areas – such as performance management or roads policing – through to force-level performance and leadership. We also look at critical national issues and themes, across the Police Service as a whole. These reports can be found in the Thematic Inspections section of the website.

We inspect and regulate other major policing bodies such as the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the British Transport Police. We also inspect HM Revenue and Customs, and the Police and Guarding Agency, including those at the Sovereign Base in Cyprus. These reports and specially commissioned reviews can be found in the Specialist Inspections section.

We are working to provide a citizens’ window on policing, which provides a rounded assessment of performance that is relevant, accessible and forthright in highlighting success or weakness. We will make available new information on police responsiveness, comparative crime risks and confidence in 2009/10.

Our inspections increasingly emphasise the importance of value for money. It is important that police authorities and forces prove their commitment to enhanced productivity for the public.

To find reports on your local police force use the Force Finder search on the right hand side of this page and then choose All Reports.

What we publish

We publish the majority of our inspection reports on this website, together with other corporate documents (such as our business plan, and public consultations). Sometimes, information is published on other, more appropriate, government websites, such as the website of one of the other criminal justice inspectorates when we have worked with them on a joint inspection. Occasionally, our reports are not published: for example when they contain sensitive information about individuals or national security.

What to do if you can't find a document

It's not possible to publish every document on our website - some information may be considered sensitive or inappropriate.

If you can't find what you are looking for, please email haveyoursay@hmic.gsi.gov.uk with your query, and we will try to help.