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Listen

Narrowing The Gap

CHAPTER 3 Visibility and reassurance

Introduction

Having examined public expectations and police resource issues, this chapter will assess current methods employed by forces in relation to visibility and reassurance. The survey perceptions outlined in Chapter 1 are also obviously relevant to this discusssion.

Community Consultation

There are many existing examples of police community consultation processes being integrated into the Community Planning Consultation Process of Local Authorities. However, the legislative proposals for introducing a duty of community planning in the current Local Government Scotland Bill should provide a firm foundation for enhancing consultation mechanisms. This in turn, should assist in managing public expectations of service delivery from the police and focus awareness on where responsibilities lie, in particular, within local authorities.

The People's Panel and Citizens' Juries

In its commitment to listening to people rather than imposing solutions, the Scottish Executive introduced 'The People's Panel', comprising a 5000-strong nationally representative group, to find out what people thought about public services. Following on from this were other local initiatives such as Citizen's Juries. This concept, derived from experience in America and Germany, consists of 12-16 members of the public brought together to consider a local issue posed by the commissioning body. The jury sits over 3/4 days and is assisted by 2 or 3 neutral facilitators. During this time they are given written information and hear evidence from expert witnesses. At the conclusion, recommendations are made which are normally advisory rather than binding.

South Lanarkshire Council was the first local authority in Scotland to introduce Citizen's Juries. At the first South Lanarkshire Jury police officers were called to give evidence and recommendations were made, supported by the council, on policing policy and deployment in a specific area. This was a process whereby the public were consulting the police as opposed to the police consulting the public. It is suggested, however, that the checks and balances built into this model assisted in achieving a realistic expectation level on the part of the public, and while demands were made on the police, recommendations were also made affecting other agencies, notably council departments. Partnerships were encouraged and evaluated as part of the process.

If properly constituted and managed, there are advantages for the police in becoming partners in such a process.

Current Methods of Engagement

In general, forces make use of public surveys as a means of gauging community opinions and while there are examples of this process extending into the wider public arena, the tendency is for this type of survey to focus on individuals who have had contact with the police.

In addition, forces make frequent use of public meetings at a local command area level as a means of public consultation. However, the effectiveness of this medium obviously depends on levels of attendance and the range of representation present. Another method of assessing community concerns has been for forces to use experience from partnership arrangements to interpret public opinion. This approach can mean that direct views are not obtained in terms of service expectation.

Examples of Noteworthy Practice

There is no benchmark against which forces can be judged in respect of community consultation ,and any position statement at present consists of identification of various areas of noteworthy practice which currently exist, including:

• In September 2001 Grampian Police established a Citizens' Panel in the Queen Street Command Area, the first of its kind to be conducted independently by a Scottish Police force. The panel is representative of the wider community in factors such as age, sex, employment status, geographical area and ethnicity.

An independent research company, George Street Consultants, based in Edinburgh, were commissioned by Grampian Police to recruit the panel. Sponsorship for the project was provided by the local City Centre Traders Association. The panel consists of 515 members who have agreed to be consulted on a quarterly basis over a 3-year period by a postal survey. The initial survey carried out in October 2001 attracted a response rate of 62%. Details of this panel are included on the force's website ( www.grampian.police.uk ).

One area of good practice arising out of this project is the creation of a Citizens' Panel Newsletter which included the police response to issues raised by the panel members. HMIC considers this method of community consultation to be worthy of consideration in other areas. It represents a good example of partnership working in this arena with the involvement of the Local Traders Association and the independent researchers.

• A need to consult with hard-to-reach groups has been emphasised. ACPOS has, following on from the introduction of the ACPOS Racial Diversity Guidance Manual, established multi-agency alliances at all levels in an effort to address community problems. The Scottish Police and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Liaison Forum launched in February 2000 was formed through the efforts of Outright Scotland, which promotes LGBT issues in a Scottish context. Given the potential to assist in shaping and informing the ACPOS response to LGBT issues, the Association was supportive and provided representation. The initial successes of the forum have surpassed expectations and work completed so far includes the drafting of a standard Scottish police definition of a homophobic incident, the preparation of national guidelines regarding transgender people who come into police custody and the development of LGBT performance indicators due to come into effect in 2003.
• In Fife Constabulary a number of initiatives have taken place to improve consultation with hard- to-reach groups. Partnership working has assisted in this process. A survey called 'Homophobia Kills' is an example of the strength of commitment to partnership working in Fife and was conducted to gauge concerns regarding the type of crimes which affect LGBT groups. Following on from this survey a remote reporting facility was introduced for these groups. In addition a link has been established to the 'Fife Men Project' from the Fife Police website ( www.fife.police.uk ).
• Lothian and Borders Police 'partners' survey' originated in 1998 and has evolved since then. It aims to ascertain opinions and experiences of the public, staff, local authority groups, businesses, educational bodies and community groups. It is a genuine attempt to identify policing priorities, customer expectations and areas of service failure.

In the most recent phase, between September and December 2001, a total of 21 focus groups were organised throughout the Lothian and Borders area. This involved 1,100 members of the public, and a variety of community representatives being invited to the focus groups with 290 members attending. The main objective of the process was to identify public perceptions of crime and fear of crime levels within local communities to inform the wider survey. The feedback received during the focus groups assisted in the formulation of questions to be asked within the partners' survey itself.

The partners' survey in 2001-02 represented the largest most comprehensive part of the force's consultation process. A 35.1% response rate representing 2,950 respondents was achieved by the survey.

Effective Community Consultation

On many occasions the consultative process can provide significant advantages for operational policing. All forces use the community consultation process to inform their objective setting and annual strategic planning cycle. There is, however, a clear variation in the degree to which community consultation has been developed and incorporated into individual force strategies. To a greater or lesser degree this impacts on the level of influence which community opinion has on the strategic planning process.

The police service is far from unique in its need to gauge public perceptions and ascertain service needs. 'Out of the Ordinary - The Power of Ambition in an Uncertain World' (Scottish Council Foundation 2001) indicates, as part of the wider debate on government and governance, that:

'it is possible that the ways in which we engage communities in the policy process in Scotland could consciously and measurably increase social capital and hence the wellbeing of the populations involved'

This report goes on to indicate that if community is to be truly at the heart of policy making and engagement then it is imperative that the realities of the communities with whom the engagement is taking place are explored along with the reality of the people who live in them - not the assumed conception of how they 'must' or 'ought to be'.

The Scottish Council Foundation suggests that the key elements of public engagement are:

Passive engagement - Informing the public who are passive recipients.
Active engagement - Asking the public to tell decision makers their views.
Interactive engagement - Engaging in a dialogue with the public.
Participatory engagement - Involving people directly in decision making processes.
Independent engagement - Action taken outside decision making processes.

The existing mechanisms for engagement are outlined in the following table. Whilst these mechanisms are already well known and widely utilised it is suggested that there is a case for greater coherence and strategic direction in their use.

Mechanisms for Engagement

Towards a More Strategic Approach

Overall, across the spectrum of methods used by forces to consult with communities there is scope for wider consistency in application and more direct contacts to inform objective setting. Within the wider democratic process, HMIC would encourage well structured, widely-based surveys as a method of gauging public opinion.

Whilst there is undoubted evidence of meaningful dialogue with communities, there is a case for examining the need for 'an overall statement of strategic intent' - what the service is aiming for in respect of consultation and participation with communities.

RECOMMENDATION 8
HMIC recommends that as part of the commitment to community consultation ACPOS and the Scottish Executive undertake a review of existing practices, with the aim of establishing relevant performance indicators particularly in respect of the effectiveness of problem-solving policing systems in addressing fear of crime. This would enable improved evidence based policy and allow performance benchmarking in this critical area.

The National Intelligence Model

The negative impact of international events, particularly post September 11 2001, and public perceptions regarding serious and organised crime also influence the reassurance levels of the general public. In Scotland, as elsewhere in the UK, the police reaction to serious and organised crime is focused through the National Intelligence Model (NIM).

The National Intelligence Model, pioneered by the National Criminal Intelligence Service, was introduced to the Scottish Police Service in February 2000. The Model, which introduced standardised processes and products, was quickly recognised as offering a blueprint, bringing together all of the best practices in intelligence and policing to aid the development of strategy and tactics. In this regard, the Model received early endorsement by the Association of Scottish Chief Police Officers (ACPOS) and in consequence a NIM Project Board was established to co-ordinate and direct implementation throughout the eight Scottish police forces and the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA).

The model has been designed to impact at three levels of business: local, cross border and serious and organised crime.

• Level 1 - Local issues - usually the crimes, criminals and other problems affecting a local command unit or small force area. The scope of the crimes will be wide ranging from low value thefts to crimes of great seriousness such as murder. The handling of volume crime will be a particular issue at this level.
• Level 2 - Cross Border issues - usually the actions of a criminal or other specific problems affecting more than one local command unit. Problems may affect a group of local command units, neighbouring forces or group of forces. Issues will be capable of resolution by forces, with support from the SDEA, National Crime Squad, HM Customs and Excise, the National Criminal Intelligence Service or other national resources. Key issues will be the identification of common problems, the exchange of appropriate data and the provision of resources for the common good.
• Level 3 - Serious and Organised Crime - usually operating on a national and international scale, requiring identification by proactive means and response primarily through targeting operations by dedicated units and a preventative response on a national basis.

Recently, work has continued to progress the development of the National Intelligence Model in Scotland, and to ensure a focused and co-ordinated approach to this. To examine and provide direction to Scottish forces on issues such as IS/IT implications, intelligence, 'Gap' analysis and implementation of two force pilot schemes, the Crime Standing Committee established an implementation team based at the Scottish Police College. This group has now concluded its work and throughout its tenure provided valuable advice and assistance to the pilot forces, Tayside Police and Grampian Police. Following the conclusion of the Implementation Team, the NIM Implementation Forum for Scotland was established as a means of ensuring that a clear Scottish perspective was maintained throughout the roll out of the system to all Scottish forces. In addition, this Forum provides an opportunity for NIM practitioners throughout the country to meet on a regular basis to identify and share best practice and to resolve any practical difficulties which arise.

The Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA), with the support of the ACPOS Crime Committee, has taken the lead in driving the introduction of the NIM to Scottish policing. This is perhaps exemplified by the fact that the Agency is responsible for the management of the Scottish NIM Implementation Project Team, that the Director and Crime Co-ordinator had, until recently, responsibility for chairing the Scottish Strategical and Tactical Tasking and Co-ordinating Group (now passed to the Chairman of the ACPOS Crime Standing Committee) and that the Director chairs the SID Project Board.

The commitment to a Scottish Intelligence Database (SID) is a significant step for the Scottish Police Service and the first in UK terms. When introduced, it will facilitate speedy access to criminal intelligence on a Scottish-wide basis; the adoption of common intelligence practices and procedures; a method to aid the introduction of NIM principles in Scotland, and will provide Scottish police forces and the SDEA with the technological means to make an even greater impact on crime at a local, force and national level.

During the Thematic Inspection process it was observed that there are indeed various stages of implementation across the country in respect of the NIM. Encouragingly, the concept of Tactical Tasking and Co-ordinating, an integral aspect of the NIM, has developed separately across all forces and has become generally well established in advance of the NIM roll-out programme. Forces have utilised varying temporal frameworks in developing models for Tasking and Co-ordinating varying from 1 week to 5 week intervals. The development of Tactical Tasking and Co-ordinating has facilitated individual force approaches to Level 1 intelligence gathering. At this level there is now recognition that the two aspects of intelligence, namely crime based and community based, must be approached holistically via the Tactical Tasking and Co-ordinating process.

Community intelligence (the assessed product from sorting all of the information gleaned from communities which gives insight into policing issues) from a variety of sources provides the foundation for policing crime at a local level, but is viewed by the SDEA as a platform for the development of intelligence at the force, regional and national level. Whilst awareness of the importance of community intelligence is increasing there is a need for consistency of approach in respect of the methods used by forces to collate such intelligence and further, to dictate how it informs the Tactical Tasking and Co-ordinating process. There appears to be an uneven approach to process management in respect of community intelligence in forces across the country. However, the early stage of implementation of the National Intelligence Model meant that little firm evidence could be gleaned during the current inspection and HMIC will further report on this issue as part of the planned thematic inspection on crime management.

Recommendation 9
HMIC recommends that ACPOS as part of its commitment to achieving consistency of approach to mainstreaming the National Intelligence Model develop a project plan, with specific tasks, a timescale and evaluation criteria to support developments in this important area.

Recommendation 10
HMIC recommends that forces examine and develop the opportunities which exist to optimise community intelligence, firstly to provide a foundation for the higher level intelligence framework within NIM and secondly to act as a catalyst for meaningful problem-solving within Tactical Tasking and Co-ordinating.

Case Study: Central Scotland Policing Management Unit

As part of the force's commitment to the rollout of the National Intelligence Model which is still at an early stage, Central Scotland Police has developed a Policing Management Unit. This builds on the success of its three Area Crime Management Units formed in 1995 and is based on a model from Kent Constabulary. The Policing Management Unit (PMU) is a centralised unit based at force HQ in Stirling. It comprises 21 members of police and support staff drawn from Uniform Operations, CID and Road Policing. A number of Area Intelligence officer roles have been created within the three Area Command Units in the force which feed into the PMU, providing a local link. Primary aims of the PMU are to:

• Manage crimes and offences in conjunction with Area Commanders and Crime Managers, encapsulating investigation, quality of service and victim care issues.
• Research, develop and analyse information with a view to identifying trends and providing analytical direction to frontline officers and managers alike by turning local information into action
• Assist Area Commanders to carry out their policing business.

With its analytical capability and IT support, the PMU is regarded as the engine room of the force, providing strategic and local level managers with a range of intelligence-based products to inform decision making and assist deployment. The Chief Constable, in recognition of the impact of the PMU, has identified its continued development as one of the force priorities.

During the Inspection process the PMU was visited and its processes examined. HMIC found that one of the main strengths of the Unit was the quality and currency of intelligence and information produced. These include daily briefing reports for Area Command Units which in turn include information on persons liberated on bail from local courts with the bail conditions and recently issued warrants. Where possible, colour photographs are provided. The operational officers spoken to indicated an increasing level of satisfaction with PMU following on from a period of suspicion over the relatively high staffing level. Overall, the Central Scotland Policing Management Unit, with its synthesised approach to crime management and intelligence, appears an area of good practice particularly suited to a policing unit of that force's size.

Problem Solving Policing

Problem Solving Policing or Problem-Oriented Policing are terms which can currently be found in the operational policing vocabulary of most, if not all, Scottish police forces.

Problem Solving is a term used to describe the adoption of an evidence-based approach to reduction of crime and anti-social behaviour. In practice, this means:

• making use of data to establish the existence and extent of a problem, to analyse its nature and source, to plan intervention measures to reduce it, and to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the selected response (whether the interventions have worked, whether they have produced their effects in the expected way, and whether there have been any significant (positive or negative) side effects);
• drawing on findings from existing research to inform data analysis and choice of responses;
• applying informed lateral thought in developing innovative solutions; and
• using feedback in decisions to adjust, expand, abandon, and maintain initiatives.

The Problem Solving Policing approach has clear affinities with Intelligence-Led Policing and can be synthesised into the tasking and co-ordinating process without difficulty.

While some forces in Scotland have attempted to manage the implementation of a problem-solving approach by training groups of officers in the relevant techniques, there has been an inconsistent approach to this. This has resulted in a policy-practice gap in many instances in respect of problem solving. In a positive light, most forces who have adopted the approach are linking it into the Tactical Tasking and Co-ordinating process, using this medium for the initial identification and tasking and also for monitoring and feedback of problems identified as suitable for being addressed by this process. From a negative perspective there is a tendency not to involve relevant partners in the problem solving process and to focus on issues capable of being addressed by the police in isolation. Without doubt the partnership aspect of problem solving is crucial. There are several examples where forces have made excellent use of the problem solving process including the partnership aspect.

RECOMMENDATION 11
HMIC recommends that ACPOS encourage further enhancement of problem solving policing as a means of addressing local issues and consolidating the community-planning ethos.

Case Study: Q Division, Strathclyde

A Problem Solving Co-ordination Unit has been created at Hamilton Police Office in Q Division, Strathclyde Police, staffed by an inspector, sergeant and three shifts of three constables. They are supported by six part-time switchboard operators who will be responsible for screening incoming calls. The initial aim of this unit will be to reduce operational workloads and demands by screening out non-essential calls and also recording certain categories of crime report by telephone. Crime recording and attendance policy criteria have been established. By removing the switchboard from the operational control room, controllers will be tasked with the organisation of resources to live incidents, thereby increasing overall efficiency. They will also direct resources to areas of recurring complaint as identified in the problem-solving process. It is anticipated that reductions in overall workload of patrol officers generated by call screening will be used for proactive patrol and problem solving. Staff within the problem-solving co-ordination unit will also perform an incident analysis function to identify recurring issues which in turn will drive operational activity.

Later this year, four additional analysts and increased information technology will become available to the division as the NIM is rolled out forcewide. The problem solving co-ordination unit has been designed to accommodate the strategic analysts under the NIM and the local intelligence officer, thus providing a conduit to the divisional intelligence office and uniform shift briefing processes.

The problem-solving co-ordination unit will co-ordinate and drive both the national intelligence model implementation and problem solving in the division, initially utilising existing IT systems until the increased analytical capability comes on line.

At the time of the Inspection, the scheme was not operational. There had been, however, a significant amount of preparatory work done before the launch date of 1 September 2002, with a particular commitment to partnership working already in evidence. A presentation on the problem solving approach has been made to elected representatives and a training video explaining the concept of problem solving and enhanced partnership working has been created, with messages from both the Council Chief Executive and Police Commander.

Additionally, a video for public marketing has been produced to be used at community meetings. Joint training is underway for police personnel and council staff and around 400 council staff have been involved in this training process. These measures enhance an already robust partnership approach between the police and South Lanarkshire Council. The progress of the project will be monitored and evaluated throughout by independent assessors working in tandem with Strathclyde Police with a view to potential introduction of this policing model forcewide.

In tandem with the introduction of the problem-solving policing model, a model of geographic responsibility for inspectors within division has been introduced to assist in the problem identification process.

Case Study: Turning New York Around - Compstat; Myth and Reality

The reputation of New York has been completely re-engineered in the last decade, from bankruptcy and a horrendous reputation for crime to apparent prosperity and a claim to be 'the safest large City in America'. This success has been variously ascribed to demographic change, economic recovery, additional investment in policing, and an accountability and performance regime for its public services.

In policing terms, public accountability has taken the form of Compstat, a data-driven approach to performance review. However, this system is mirrored throughout New York's public services, known as the 'Citywide Accountability Programme, where statistical data for each public service are used to manage performance are made available to the public through the City's Internet Website ( www.nyc.org ) and is the means by which public bodies are held accountable for performance.

At its simplest, Compstat is a weekly meeting (held at 0700 hrs each Thursday) at which a small number of Borough and Precinct staff are held accountable for operational performance by the Force Executive. Compstat is, however, within NYPD a primary mechanism for linking effective tactics to control crime and the framework for business planning.

The policing philosophy on which Compstat is based is 'The Four Steps to Crime Reduction', which are:

Accurate and timely intelligence;
Effective tactics;
Rapid deployment; and
Relentless follow-up and assessment.

Each Monday managers are provided with a computer-generated report showing the crime, arrests and 'summons activity' for NYPD as a whole, each of the eight Boroughs and each of the 76 precincts. Page one lists the best and worst performers as regards overall crime falls or rises over the last week, showing also the last 28 days and calendar year to date.

As regards crime the report highlights the eight crime types considered most important, namely murder, rape, robbery, felony, assault, burglary, grand larceny (i.e. theft from the person or valued over $1,000) and grand larceny auto (i.e. car theft).

Compstat usually focuses on crime related issues on a borough and precinct level, but on occasions precincts throughout the city with emerging problems of a similar nature will be called up together for a 'thematic' review. In the words of one member of the Force Executive:-

'Compstat is not a meeting you prepare for, it is a way of doing business' (Dep. Commissioner Garry McCarthy)

In considering what lessons can be learned in a Scottish context, HMIC felt that previous discussions in the UK in relation to Compstat have founded mostly on the accountability aspects of the weekly meeting rather than its underlying philosophy. It is important to recognise that the NIM and the Tasking and Co-ordinating processes developing in Scottish forces effectively mirror the 'four steps to crime reduction' on which Compstat is based, with a more holistic Community Intelligence/Crime Intelligence-based risk assessment process supplementing the data driven model in use in New York.

NOTE: It is worthy of note in this context that the much publicised successes of the New York Police Department, whilst achieved in a climate of social, environmental and political change, involved an increase in funding to a level which allowed deployment of 5,000 extra officers equating to a 12% increase in the notional establishment of the merged City Police Department.

In a Scottish context a similar increase would approximate to an extra 1800 officers at an annual cost of 45 million, necessitating an increase on the 753 million GAE allocation for 2001-2002 of 6%. This increase in staffing would be greater than the individual force strengths of six of the eight current Scottish police forces.

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