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Listen
Partners in Crime - Solving and Reassuring
A Thematic Inspection of Crime Management in Scotland
chapter 2: reporting and recording
2.1 How to Report
Once a victim or a witness has decided to report an incident to the police, the next stage is how to make contact. Research conducted for this inspection10 suggests that a majority still consider the telephone to be the most effective way. It also confirms that, in general, people know when it is, and is not, appropriate to use the '999' system. Most people also have ready access to the telephone number of their local police office.
However, with developments in technology new issues arise, for example;
- How does a stranger to, or someone just passing through, an area, particularly if they are using a mobile phone, establish the local police telephone number?
- What steps are being taken to capitalise on the increased use of e-technology as a means of reporting non-urgent crimes to the police?
2.2 A Single Non-Emergency Number
The advisability of, and development towards, a 'single non-emergency' telephone number for the Scottish Police Service is examined in some detail in 'Narrowing the Gap' 11.
All Scottish forces have recently completed, or are conducting, reviews of customer contact arrangements, with most favouring a call-centre, or virtual call-centre, approach to handle initial telephone contact from the public. During the inspection HMIC noted discussion on whether or not to operate a single non-emergency number within each force, as an interim measure to the implementation of a national non-emergency number. There was little argument that a force-level non-emergency number could be simpler for each force to address in the short term; avoiding the need for the formal protocols and technical solutions required to transfer calls from one force area to another. It is recognised that a direct move to a single non-emergency number for Scotland would provide a testing challenge for the police service, both in terms of linking telephony and in harmonising call-handling procedures.
Notwithstanding the challenge, HMIC considered anything less than a single national number would not maximise the ease of accessibility and other advantages available. It is therefore heartening to note that the potential interim step of individual force numbers is no longer being considered and HMIC would encourage Chief Constables to exploit any opportunity available for early implementation, particularly in view of the exponential rise in the use of mobile phones.
2.3 E-Technology
The advancement of e-technology in both the public and private sector will undoubtedly affect the way in which the Police service deals with many issues, including the management of crime and as such the subject will be dealt with, in depth, in Chapter 4.
With the developing focus on the victim in the criminal justice system, the police service will become more involved in playing a part in the overall thrust towards keeping victims informed about the progress of inquiries, and with the changes in the crime recording standard more incidents will fall into that category. There is a clear need for police IT systems to be configured in future to facilitate this increased public information provision, with as much automation of the process as is needed to strike the balance between the information and reassurance needs of individual victims.
2.4 The Kent Constabulary Call Centre
Kent Constabulary in England are at quite an advanced stage of development in this field, having recently opened a new Force Communications Centre housing several integrated departments, designed to assist in the handling of public contacts in an efficient and timely manner.
The Centre incorporates call handling, help desk and crime recording functions with all calls to the Centre being timed and the subject of a management information audit. Modern management techniques coupled with the latest technology produce an effective operation in which all staff are continually updated, via large plasma screens, of key messages and current operational information.
Kent's experience suggests victims are content to be dealt with through a call centre rather than a local police office so long as the overall quality of service provided meets or exceeds reasonable expectations.
2.5 Recording of Incidents by Police
When victims make initial contact with a police officer or member of support staff, they will generally explain in some detail what has transpired. How much of this information is captured at that time is questionable. In busier offices, the story is likely to be summarised to a single line e.g. 'reports theft from vehicle' or 'housebreaking at location'.
The most obvious implication of this is that the next representative of the police service having contact with the victim is likely to be unaware of the detail already provided. Does this hamper the investigation process? Does it adversely affect reassurance of the victim?
It is also the case that in most forces in Scotland incident data is stored on one computer application whilst crime data is stored on another with no electronic linkages between the two. Staff, anticipating that full details will subsequently appear in the crime system may understandably be reluctant to spend valuable time updating the incident system with such detail. This becomes problematic if the information is ultimately recorded in neither system. Some Scottish forces already possess combined incident and crime systems in which data need only be entered once but it is somewhat ironic that at least one force is planning to replace this with standalone incident and crime systems.
Several of the English and Welsh forces visited during this inspection have adopted a single database system which avoids duplication of entry and encourages detail to be recorded as soon as it is available. Some forces have ventured towards mobile data with appropriate force IT systems being available on a vehicle based or hand held portable laptop/palmtop. One force refers to this policy as 'self-service' - the officer can select the information or data whenever or wherever this is necessary.
While mobile data systems, in a UK policing context, are in their infancy, the potential in relation to crime management appears to be significant and will be fully discussed in Chapter 4.
2.6 Incident Classification
In general when a report of an incident is made to the police, it will be recorded on the force Incident or Command and Control system, including details of the incident and subsequent actions taken, such as the deployment of officers to the scene. At this early stage an initial decision is often taken as to whether the circumstances constitute a crime or should be treated as, and recorded as, some other type of incident.
In addition, following initial assessment by a police officer at the scene, the first classification can be amended, more often from crime to incident than vice-versa. Studies of policing frequently point out that the vast majority of calls for police service are not directly crime related. Although these proportions may change slightly under the revised recording standard there will always be a large proportion of contacts with the public which quite properly do not become part of the crime management process.
2.7 Impact of the National Crime Recording Standard for England and Wales
In April 2002 the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) was introduced to all English and Welsh forces, its main purpose being to achieve consistency in crime recording throughout the 43 forces. The NCRS changed the emphasis from the recording of evidential or established crimes, to perceived or prima facie crimes. This resulted in some forces reporting an increase of over 25% in recorded crimes although the totality of incidents recorded by police continued along previous trends.
This appears to confirm it was police recording practices rather than criminal activity that changed. The benefits of NCRS included:
- Police statistics closing the gap on those reflected in the British Crime Survey.
- Police recording a more comprehensive picture of criminal activity and therefore being in a more informed position to tackle developing problems.
It is planned that the Scottish Crime Recording Standard will be introduced in Scottish Forces during 2004. The aim is similar to that of the NCRS; to provide an ethical, victim orientated approach to the recording of crime. It is a reflection of how seriously the Scottish Police Service is taking the accurate and standardised recording of crime that it has been recommended by the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (ACPOS) Crime Recording Methods Working Group that every force should employ a suitably qualified Crime Registrar.
Until recently, Scottish forces operated similar principles to those traditionally utilised in England and Wales in that a reported incident would only be recorded as a crime once evidence of that crime had been established. The anticipated Scottish Crime Recording Standard is likely to more accurately reflect victim perception than established fact. As mentioned in paragraph 1.6 there is likely to be an increase in recorded crime as a consequence of this change in process.
It is envisaged that once recorded as a crime, an incident would only be de-classified after investigation clearly established that no crime had been committed.
2.8 The Swedish Approach
During the study HMIC visited Sweden, where aspects of the police and criminal justice systems have striking similarities to those in Scotland.
However, there were stark differences in how crime statistics were viewed. In Sweden, victim reassurance is very high on the agenda but detection rates are not viewed with the same interest as they are here. Once a crime is recorded, there is no mechanism to cancel or declassify it, even if it is unequivocally clarified that the allegation was not founded. While this eliminates the potential for mistakenly cancelling a recorded crime from the statistics, the downside is that in a Scottish context it could provide scope for knowingly retaining inaccurate information.
The revised Scottish Standard, to retain credibility, must be capable of balancing these where public perception is important, but the data also has to remain credible.
2.9 The Wider Use of Police Crime Statistics
The accurate recording of crime and provision of the associated data to the Scottish Executive and other relevant agencies is an important role undertaken by Scottish police forces.
Such data informs many public policy debates and influences priorities beyond policing. As forces, local authorities and other partners address their responsibilities with regard to Community Planning Partnerships, many consider baseline data to be essential.
2.10 Audit of Incident and Crime Systems
It is therefore important that all forces have confidence in their data collation processes. The current area of potential vulnerability within most Scottish forces is when an incident is established to be criminal in nature. The incident details are likely to be recorded on the force's Incident or Command & Control database which is likely to be separate from the crime database, requiring a re-keying of similar information to the crime database. Error or omission at this stage could result in the crime not being formally recorded and it is clearly important that a process exists to avoid such occurrences.
In the short term, an appropriate approach might be an IT audit programme that, for example, withheld approval to close the incident record until either:
- the relevant cross reference from the crime system was noted on the incident record, or
- a code confirming the incident as non-criminal and approved by an identified manager who accepted accountability for that decision was recorded in an appropriate field.
Software could then be used to highlight any events containing neither of these options. The system could also be programmed to identify an appropriate range of incidents coded as non-criminal to facilitate independent audit of a suitable sample.
Scottish forces are currently employing various methodologies to oversee the integrity of the crime and incident databases. One force has gone beyond a traditional Crime Management Unit and developed a Policing Management Unit that, amongst other things, oversees and reviews data relating to a range of recorded activities including crime, incidents and intelligence.
It is suggested that forces consider an auditable IT process to ensure that every reported incident is either subsequently recorded as a crime or is endorsed with the details of the manager confirming the incident is non-criminal. HMIC primary and review inspections include an incident/crime audit and such a process would facilitate monitoring in this area of force performance (suggestion 1).
HMIC noted that the Scottish Police Service had identified the need for common and integrated crime recording and incident recording systems which now lie in the work plan for development as part of the Scottish Police Information Strategy (SPIS). Such is the importance of co-ordinating the information between these two databases, HMIC urges SPIS take early steps to commence work on these two key projects.
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