Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

This week the College of Policing published an update on the Police Barred List, which was introduced in 2017 by the Government as part of their commitment to improving police integrity, transparency and accountability.

The update shows that locally, Wiltshire Police placed five Police Officers and six Police Staff on this list between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, compared to three officers and four staff the year before. The national position in the same time period shows an increase of almost 50 per cent of Police Officers placed on the national list over that same time period, equating to 593 Police Officers from Forces across England and Wales.

Whilst we know the vast majority of officers and staff working within policing adhere to the standards rightly expected of them, there are sadly a small minority who do not. The Police Barred List helps ensure that small minority do not find their way back into policing once dismissed and ensures necessary safeguarding to protect the professionalism and essential standards of policing. This is imperative as we seek to build trust and confidence in the service. I remain absolutely committed to leading a force which delivers the very highest of standards, and I will not hesitate to tackle poor behaviour.

Moving to an operational update, National Rural Crime Week ran at the end of October. Whilst we have seen a decline in Wiltshire of just over 23 per cent in the volume of rural crime year on year, we know that Rural Crime remains a significant issue for our county with, on average, 14 crimes per month. 

During the week of action, officers from Wiltshire - working alongside multiple other key partners and other forces in the region - carried out a series of proactive operations. Some results of this targeted activity were: 

These are excellent results and complement the work that the Rural Crime Policing team do daily to disrupt rural crime and safeguard rural communities across the county – with eleven arrests having been made for rural crime offences since the end of September. I am sure you will join me in thanking all the teams involved. Our focus remains on two key Rural Crime areas - Hare Coursing & Poaching and Theft of Agriculture Farm Equipment and Plant.

Rural crime will remain an absolute priority for the force, and we will relentlessly pursue those who seek to cause harm within our rural communities.

Changing topic, there are some recent celebrations I would like to share with you.

Since July 2024, we have seen officers graduate from the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship - a three-year academic programme studied for alongside a full-time policing career. As part of this they are required to undertake extensive end of programme assignments. I was delighted last week to hear that a number of new officers completed their final assessment stage, all to a high standard, and received their qualification. This is a fantastic result, and I am sure you will join me in congratulating these Police Constables in successfully completing their apprenticeship programme. As I have said many times before, policing is a career like no other and I wish these new officers the very best in their next steps in policing.

I was also delighted to attend, alongside your good self, the Wiltshire Police Awards ceremony on Thursday evening. At this event, we had the pleasure of listening to stories of bravery and sacrifice, recognising the public service, good conduct and amazing achievements of officers, staff, and volunteers who were so very deserving of praise. I was also delighted to have the opportunity to recognise some members of our community who had stepped forward in the most extraordinary of circumstances to assist people in need. Huge congratulations to everyone who received an award on the evening.

In closing, this is Remembrance weekend. I will be attending the Cenotaph in London, which I will do with honour as we take a moment to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice made by our military personnel. My Chief Officer team colleagues will be representing the Force at Remembrance Services around the county on Sunday as we seek to share this very poignant time with our communities and honour the memory of those who, for our tomorrow, gave their today. 

We will remember them.

Kindest regards to you,

Catherine Roper 

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police