More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Kent police officers faced a disproportionate pressure to achieve performance targets that stopped them from "just gettting on with the job", an internal force report has concluded.
The report, released to the KM Group under the Freedom of Information Act, echoes criticisms made by a separate investigation by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, published in June.
That said there was institutional bias towards chasing targets rather than solving crimes.
This new report, published this week, was commissioned by chief constable Ian Learmonth in January.
It was triggered by claims of irregularities into the way crime was recorded by Kent Police following the arrest of five police officers last year.
It found that, while there was no evidence of unlawful conduct or corruption, "what was abundantly clear within parts of the organisation was a disproportionate pressure."
It added: "Equally clear were instances of such pressure leading to skewed activity which hindered some officers and staff from 'just getting on with the job' and ultimately 'doing it right first time.'"
The review also highlighted "a lack of trust and discretion" among officers, saying "there is a feeling that old-fashioned commonsense has been removed in the pursuit of positive performance."
"In some cases, the constant scrutiny of performance data manifests itself in a distortion of activity for fear of not meeting targets," it said.
At the same time, the review found no evidence that police officers were not properly complying with the rules for recording crimes, saying there was "no evidence of lack of integrity."
That conclusion differs from the HMIC report, which said the force was misrecording one in 10 crimes.
In a statement, Kent Police said: "The Chief Constable accepts all the findings of the report and is confident that the groundbreaking work that Kent Police is doing will allow the independent HMIC (Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary) to reassure the public further, upon future inspections."
It added: "All of the recommendations, both from the internal review, as well as the HMIC, are being implemented."
