CLEVELAND and North Yorkshire Police forces have been rebuked for failures in the way they record crime.

Both forces were not fully compliant with national standards on crime reporting according to findings published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

In May this year HMIC said it was “seriously concerned at the picture which is emerging” in relation to weaknesses in police crime recording in England and Wales, particularly the under-recording of crimes.

The findings from the body’s crime data integrity inspections will increase fears that police recorded crime statistics are not always accurate and therefore cannot be fully trusted by the public.

In Cleveland HMIC said there were “material issues regarding the conversion of incidents to crime”.

The recording of offences, including violence, against vulnerable adults were a significant cause of concern and the process of authorising a so-called ‘no crime’ outcome for reports of rape was also not sufficient. A number of areas requiring improvement were found and nine recommendations made.

Meanwhile, HMIC said middle managers at North Yorkshire Police were still looking to numerical crime reduction targets as a measure of their performance.

It said chief officers needed to provide reassurance that rising levels of crimes – linked to what it called ‘ethical’ crime recording – would not adversely affect any assessment of their personal performance.

The force was given 13 recommendations to improve crime recording, of which it said seven had already been implemented.

HMIC, which conceded that it was only able to examine a small sample of crime records for each force so far inspected, has yet to reveal findings from audits of Durham and Northumbria Police undertaken between November 1, 2012 and October 31 last year.

Cleveland Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Simon Nickless said: “We’ve taken immediate action to review all the decisions made on no-crimes and also improve our decision-making process, with a higher level of scrutiny applied to ensure that decisions are accurate and compliant.”

Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger said the report raised some “serious concerns” and he was monitoring the situation.

Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “There is no suggestion that we have ever deliberately attempted to under-record or mis-classify crimes. However, we acknowledge there is more we can do to enhance our recording procedures.”

North Yorkshire PCC Julia Mulligan said: “Taking proper care around how we record crimes is extremely important and we must get that right. But it is how we deal with people that matters and this is where I am looking to make a difference.”