‘I could not be more proud of the brilliant service our frontline officers and staff deliver day in, day out’
Humberside Police’s Chief Constable, Chris Todd(Image: Humberside Police)
Chief Constable Chris Todd has marked his 12-month anniversary at the helm of Humberside Police by issuing an open letter to Police and Crime Commissioner, Jonathan Evison, saying “frontline delivery by officers and staff has been, and continues to be, impressive”. He specifically highlighted that call handling performance is “among the best in the country”, with 999 calls answered in an average of three seconds and 101 calls in six seconds.
Meanwhile, the force has maintained response times within national targets for over 90 per cent of the year and holds one of the highest detection rates in the UK, particularly for shop theft. The Chief Constable’s letter also addresses the social and geographic complexities of the region, noting that while deprivation in urban areas can lead to exploitation by organised crime, the force’s approach was recently graded as ‘Good’ by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue (HMICFRS).
He praised the coastal activity surges and the “envy of other forces” marine units, alongside the Rural Task Force, which he described as one of the best and most well-respected in the country. However, the Chief Constable was candid about the internal difficulties he faced upon arrival, acknowledging that leadership needed stabilising and that there were significant gaps in strategic leadership, long-term financial planning, governance, and policy compliance. With an HMICFRS report expected soon, the Chief Constable indicated that the findings would likely reflect the work that was necessary when he first arrived, though he stressed that the force has not waited for the report to begin addressing these issues.
A major focus of the past year has been the force’s financial sustainability and organisational shape. The Chief Constable said that, when he took office, finances were being balanced by drawing upon depleted reserves and the workforce was no longer an affordable size to meet shifting demands.
By bringing in an external partner to drive momentum, the force has addressed £2.5 million of required savings for 2025/26 and is on track to realise £5 million in 2026/27. Despite these financial pressures, the Chief Constable said that the future of neighbourhood teams is secure, with plans to increase these teams by 66 officers by the end of the next financial year. He also highlighted the professionalisation of these units through new technology, including a new fleet of drones and 21 trained pilots.
Regarding investigative successes, the Chief Constable pointed to the high outcome rates and the “formidable” nature of his teams when facing complex cases. He cited the successful conviction of Russian captain Vladimir Motin following the fatal North Sea shipping collision in March 2025 and the recent justice delivered for 250 families affected by the atrocities at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors.
To build on this, a new safeguarding command has been established to support the most vulnerable, leading to 14 convictions for rape and serious sexual offences in the first two months of this year alone.
The Chief Constable concluded: “Our focus on victims and communities will be unwavering, and I will ensure our workforce focus remains equally strong to keep our people in the best possible shape to deliver this.”
The Chief Constable’s letter in full
Dear Commissioner,
Today marks twelve months since I took up the post of Chief Constable here at Humberside Police. Coinciding, as it does, with the start of a new financial year, it therefore feels like an ideal opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved in those first twelve months and to look forward to the year ahead.
I have been incredibly fortunate to inherit a force where frontline delivery by officers and staff has been, and continues to be, impressive and where further improvements are being continually sought. Our call handling performance is among the best in the country (of the 1,300 calls we receive every day, 999s are answered in 3 seconds, 101s in 6 seconds). Our response times are amongst the best in the country (rural and urban response times within national targets of over 90% every month for the entire year). Our outcome or ‘detection’ rates are also some of the best in the country (top 4 in the UK overall, and higher again for shop-theft).
In some urban communities deprivation levels can be challenging which can lead to exploitation by organised crime groups, but our approach to this is robust and relentless and was recently graded by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue (HMICFRS) as ‘Good’. Our coastal communities experience unique challenges. We surge activity every season; our marine units are the envy of other forces; and our neighbourhood and specialist teams stand side by side when dealing with tragedies such as those recently witnessed in Withernsea and Bridlington. Our rural communities also face specific challenges, but our Rural Task Force is one of the best and most well respected in the country, within those communities. At the recent ValeWatch AGM I heard nothing but praise for their work.
I could not be more proud of the brilliant service our frontline officers and staff deliver day in, day out.
But continued delivery of performance at such levels has not come without its own challenges. When I arrived twelve months ago, a team of inspectors from HMICFRS were already here collecting data and information. This week I expect them to publish their final report. You appointed me at a time when the leadership here needed stabilising and clarity in strategic direction was necessary. Therefore it will come as no surprise if the HMICFRS report reflects now, what needed to be done then, as was evident to me when I arrived. These were gaps in strategic leadership, long term financial planning, governance, policy and compliance. We knew these areas needed addressing so have not waited for the HMICFRS PEEL report to be published to get started. We are already seeing the fruits of our work in these areas, but the report this week will be a welcome reminder of what we have had to address and a useful baseline to help us focus on exactly what more needs to be done.
To be clear though, our communities and partners should be confident that day to day services impacting them have not dropped and we are committed to maintaining this. The work that does need to be done is for me and my leadership teams, to tighten up our governance arrangements and provide the best possible environment for our workforce to thrive, so that risks to service degradation do not materialise.
I was clear when I arrived that I intended to refresh our strategic plan. Our vision and mission is to be an outstanding, globally acclaimed, locally trusted police force that is victim focused, community focused and workforce focused. This is now firmly in place and detailed strategic and operational delivery plans underpin it.
When I arrived, I identified that vulnerabilities were evident in our ability to balance all investigations effectively and to adequately address safeguarding, and that there were pressures in our ability to meet the increasing demand of digital forensic capabilities in a data driven world. More detailed analysis confirmed not only this, but that our entire workforce was no longer in the right shape to meet the shifts in demand that developed over recent years, and the size of our workforce was no longer affordable. The force’s finances had been balanced in the years before by drawing upon reserves (savings, in lay terms) and those reserves had now been depleted.
Recognising the significance of this, I brought in an external partner to drive momentum in our planning; an investment that has paid dividends. We are now self sufficient in our ongoing work and have addressed £2.5m of required savings in 2025/26 and are on track to realise £5m in 2026/27. In parallel we are rebalancing the force to ensure we have the right people, in the right place, doing the right things to meet demand and improve performance, but with a workforce of the right size so that we are affordable and sustainable. The future of neighbourhood teams will be assured in our future operating model. These teams will increase by 66 in number by the end of the next financial year, from where we started when I arrived. The professionalisation of these teams continues as well, with technology supporting their work, such as the introduction of a new fleet of drones and the training of 21 drone pilots.
Evidence is accruing already that areas likely to be identified by HMICFRS in this week’s report, in need of redress, have already improved. We have just re-run our internal staff survey (Great Place to Work). In the last twelve months we have seen an improvement, not only in engagement through completion rates of the survey, but in margins of between 5-10% in practically every area measured by the survey. Humberside Police absolutely is a great place to work. The series of Roadshows that we drew together have helped rebuild the necessary trust and camaraderie and we now regularly hold Q and A sessions with our whole workforce online, to ensure transparency remains at the heart of our leadership.
Since HMICFRS visited, our custody facilities have already been reinspected by the Health and Safety Executive. While we now await their report, we know from the debrief meeting that they were impressed. We are one of very few forces that have provided body armour for our detention officers and people who find themselves detained by Humberside Police can be assured that they will be well looked after and kept safe. Next week we will host suppliers to scope how we might make better use of technology in our custody facilities to keep people even safer.
We were told by HMICFRS last time around that our investigations needed to improve and they have. Our outcome rates are amongst the highest in the country and when faced with complexity our teams are formidable. I aim to influence future national Police Reform by highlighting the important synergy we benefit from, through our local teams and community focus, into complex major crime investigations. We recently saw the successful conviction of a Russian Captain responsible for the fatal North Sea shipping collision. The decisive action, professionalism and commitment of all involved saw justice delivered for the Pernia family in circumstances that drew global geo-political attention. Last week we saw the successful conviction of those responsible for the atrocities discovered at the Legacy Funeral Directors. I will say little more on that for now whilst sentencing is pending but 250 families, in this investigation, have been supported and have seen justice delivered through the careful work of our teams. To build on the brilliant work that is already evident, I have separated out those investigative teams that support the most vulnerable and established a new safeguarding command. In the first two months of this year we secured 14 convictions for rape and serious sexual offences with sentences of up to and including life imprisonment. We have also invited the national Operation Soteria team in to review our latest practices and they reported back last month. They describe us as an ‘adopter force’ in a good position with consistently high levels of engagement and they have acknowledged the extent of our transformation plan.
So I would submit, Commissioner, that in my first year we have achieved a great deal. But this is only the start and as HMICFRS will no doubt point out there is more for me to do.
But I would ask everyone to recognise that front line delivery from officers and staff across North and North East Lincolnshire, Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire has been and continues to be impressive, and we are committed to being even better again. Our focus on victims and communities will be unwavering, and I will ensure our workforce focus remains equally strong to keep our people in the best possible shape to deliver this.
I am incredibly proud to be Chief Constable of this brilliant force.
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