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Partners in Crime - Solving and Reassuring
A Thematic Inspection of Crime Management in Scotland
executive summary
This HMIC report is a study of the management of volume crime. It reflects on incident handling, crime recording, investigation, police reporting, the use of technology, and the needs of victims. In some respects the recommendations may be seen as aspirational. They are certainly challenging in terms of prioritisation of resources. However, they offer a foundation for practical progress.
The work is complementary to that undertaken for 'Narrowing the Gap' which emphasised police visibility as an important element of public reassurance. 'Partners in Crime' confirms the need for balance in police deployment to ensure there is sufficient investment in the support infrastructure essential to sustained crime detection as a measure of public reassurance. The police role is not simply one of visible street presence. The capacity for quality investigation is a fundamental component of effective policing.
The main findings highlight the following:
- Over the past decade, a greater focus on the management of crime by all Scottish police forces has contributed to a generally sustained downward trend in reported crime and a consistently increasing detection rate.
- Imminent changes to the crime recording standard will result in more incidents being categorised as crimes and bring the level of crime recorded by police forces closer to that recorded by the Scottish Crime Survey.
- Scottish forces eagerly embrace change designed to improve service delivery. Adoption of the National Intelligence Model with its attendant professional analytical support, expansion of forensic science capability and creative partnership working with procurators fiscal are examples of this. Further investment in these important areas will undoubtedly deliver even more benefits.
- Victims of crime are quite properly occupying a more central position within the criminal justice system. Scottish forces are responsive to victims and have worked hard to ensure key services such as Victim Support are made available to many people. Particular emphasis has gone into the identification and supporting of repeat or vulnerable victims. Building upon initiatives such as 3rd party reporting schemes, the service currently has an opportunity to exploit emerging technologies to enhance the ease with which victims and witnesses can report crime.
- Some forces have experienced benefits by exploiting the Crime Management function to control and support the investigation of crimes. By centralising expertise, forces can increase overall quality and compensate for any inexperience in an individual investigator.
- Technology is central to many recent advances in service delivery by forces. Accepting the importance of technology being driven by strategy rather than vice-versa, it is apparent that developments within and outwith Scotland now collectively offer vast opportunities to support the processes that solve crime and reassure victims.
- The system by which police report alleged offenders to the Procurator Fiscal has been automated and standardised but scope exists to both reduce the number of cases reported and also the level of bureaucracy associated with many of the remainder.
Conclusion
These findings point to the need to ensure effective joined up working within and across forces and the criminal justice process. This kind of sustained partnership in addressing volume crime has the potential to make significant strides in both solving reported crime and reassuring the wider public.
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