Damning report shows multiple failings at Wiltshire Police

Wednesday, 29 October 2025 10:41

Wiltshire Police have been told that their standards of service need to improve.

A report out today from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) judged that Wiltshire Police requires improvement all three areas assessed.

Those areas are the vetting of police officers and staff, upholding standards of professional behaviour and tackling potential corruption.
Following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer in 2021, HMICFRS under section 54(2B) of the Police Act 1996 assessed Wiltshire Police’s ability to detect and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour.

Today’s report shows that the recommendations made in 2022 have not yet been implemented.

The force has been told by His Majesty’s inspectors that it “needs to improve how it explores and records adverse information in vetting decisions”.

According to today’s report, Wiltshire Police employs 2,513 police officers, special constables, police staff and police community support officers.

The force was also told it needs to improve its management of complaints and allegations of misconduct.

In 7 out of 20 complaint cases Inspectors examined, they found handling decisions didn’t even comply with statutory guidance. The report also shows that Wiltshire Police is slower at finalising investigated cases than the national average.

Complaints data for 2024 that showed that the force took an average of 352 days to finalise a case by investigation. This is much longer than the national average of 210 days.

The report further shows failing with the ways Wiltshire Police tackles potential corruption and protects information it holds on people. Recommendations for improvement were made in 2018/19 and again in 2022. The Inspectorate concluded, "We are disappointed to see that Wiltshire Police has still not implemented these recommendations."

Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkson this morning responded to the report saying, "The public rightly expects their police force to operate with integrity, transparency and accountability. This report makes clear that Wiltshire Police must do better to meet those expectations."

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