« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
The Interface between the Scottish Police Service and the Public as Victims of Crime: Victim Perceptions
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
This study was commissioned as part of a thematic inspection by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary of crime management in the Scottish police service. The main purpose of the research was to gather information from members of the public who had reported volume crimes in order to gain a greater understanding of levels of satisfaction or otherwise, with a view to identifying good practice and areas for improvement. The inspection concentrated upon volume crime (defined for these purposes as domestic and commercial housebreaking and thefts of and from motor vehicles) because detection rates for such offences are relatively low - although they have increased in recent years - and such crime represents the main day to day business of the police service. Victims' views about how this is dealt with are therefore clearly very important, and relatively little is known about the attitudes of victims of such crime in Scotland (see Chapter Two).
The inspection team was working to a tight timetable, and the initial brief for the research required it to be completed within three months. This was later extended, but the whole study still took only five and a half months to complete. This has inevitably constrained the research team's choice of methods (see Chapter Three), but a detailed interim report was prepared which informed the inspection process. The present report is based upon somewhat fuller data which were analysed more thoroughly over a longer period than was possible in the interim report.
The research confirmed a number of the findings of the existing literature (most of which does not separate volume crime out from other types of offences) and provided rich data on the attitudes and experiences of victims in urban, suburban and rural Scotland. Overall, it shows high levels of general satisfaction with the service received from the police, but it also highlights a number of specific areas where improvements could be made, particularly in relation to keeping victims informed of the progress of cases. Interestingly, it also demonstrates the extent to which members of the public understand the constraints under which the police work, and the willingness of victims of volume crime to make allowances in the light of other more pressing commitments with which the police may have to deal.
« Previous | Contents | Next »