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5. NATIONAL AND FORCE ISSUES

5.1 What are the force arrangements to recruit, train, support and deploy special constables and what levels of performance and activity are sought and achieved?

Tayside Police currently has 115 serving special constables. The force has noticed a trend in the number of younger applicants who have committed themselves to the role of special constable, particularly within the age group of 20 - 25 years. This has proved to be an encouraging and useful trend, offering opportunities to reach and understand some parts of the community through these young people.

Recruitment

Tayside Police continues to attract new applicants for the special constabulary and structures are in place to facilitate two intakes of specials per calendar year, with an intake in autumn and a further intake in spring. The most recent group of 25 newly appointed specials commenced training during October, 2005, and represent a diverse age range, including many under 25 years of age.

Training

On appointment special constables undergo a 6-week training programme, consisting of a full days' training on a Sunday, supported by sessions each Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The force recognises this considerable commitment on the part of these volunteers On completion of the initial training, an induction ceremony takes place, during which the specials are given an opportunity to invite members of their family to witness them taking the oath of constable. Training continues within the operational environment, and training evenings are organised throughout the course of the year concentrating on local issues and community policing.

Driver Training

A one-day driver training course has been developed, consisting of guidance and testing on the highway code, supported by on-the-road training and testing. Completion of this training authorises special constables to drive police vehicles under non-emergency situations and in compliance with statutory requirements and speed restrictions.

Special Constable Liaison Group

A Special Constable Liaison Group, chaired by a member of the Staff Development Unit, has been introduced and comprises divisional representation and elected representatives from within the special constabulary. Work within this area is progressing, and this provides an excellent forum for the specials' representatives to provide feedback and address issues.

Financial Reward Scheme

Tayside Police, along with Grampian Police, piloted the Special Constables Financial Reward Scheme in 2004/05. A total of 59 special constables successfully completed the scheme and were subsequently provided with a financial reward of £1,000 for their commitment.

The Financial Reward Scheme has continued into the current financial year. Tayside Police submitted a successful bid to the Scottish Executive and will receive funding for a further 100 special constables to complete the scheme. To become eligible a special constable must complete 45 'tours of duty', each consisting of a minimum of 4 hours duty. Within this criteria, 30 must be operational tours, 10 must focus on specific local events, and 5 must be training events. This presents a significant challenge to participating special constables and is a matter of personal pride and achievement when successful.

Training weekend

During February 2005, in conjunction with Fife Constabulary, Tayside Police organised a training weekend at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan. A total of 100 special constables, 50 from each of the two forces, were invited to Tulliallan for the weekend and exposed to several days of intense and focused training, aimed at developing their skills and talents as special constables.

The Future of Special Constables in Tayside Police

The ongoing development of the role of the special constable within Tayside Police has caused the force to assess its support capability and it is now examining the possibility of introducing a special constable co-ordinator.

Tayside Police will shortly be moving to a new standard police uniform and the special constables will also be fitted out with the new equipment.

Deployment of Special Constables

Special constables have been used to police a number of high profile events within the force over the past 18 months, including the G8 Summit, 'T in the Park', the Labour Party Conference and Royal visits.

HMIC acknowledges the efforts of the force in the continued recruitment and deployment of Special Constables and, indeed, the commitment of the special constables themselves in serving the local community.

5.2 How has the force responded to the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000?

Tayside Police recognises that equality and diversity issues are an integral part of all decision-making and policy development processes and has carried out a full review of functions and policies to facilitate the production of a revised race equality scheme for 2005-2008. The document sets out, in easy to understand terminology, how the force intends to meet its general and specific duties as required by the Act. Arrangements are in place to provide the document in other languages and formats.

Race equality schemes are intended to demonstrate in specific detail just how an organisation intends to meet the general duties of eliminating unlawful discrimination, and of promoting equality of opportunity and good relations between different racial groups. A scheme should be a working document that helps organisations focus on diversity issues in all of the work that they undertake. The published document is the public face of the scheme. Behind it should be clear structures processes and procedures which work to maintain equality at the forefront all activity.

Tayside Police has well-established community consultation processes including the work of the Force Lay Advisory Group. The force plans to develop this further by holding periodic meetings with 'hard to reach communities'. A proposal to provide RES progress updates using interpreters is one of the initiatives under consideration with partners from Dundee City Council and NHS Tayside. HMIC encourages this approach and will monitor progress at the next review.

Procedures are in place to assess all new functions and policies for their relevance to the promotion of race relations. An Equality Impact Assessment template and guidance has been developed and integrated into the policy development and review processes. Assessments are recorded electronically with a clear audit trail.

Effective employment monitoring processes are in place. The force has identified from 2001 census data that 1.9% of Tayside's population is of minority ethnic background. In order to have a workforce that reflects the communities it serves would require an establishment of 23 police officers, 13 support staff and 3 special constables of minority ethnic background. In September 2005, the number of minority ethnic members of staff was 6 police officers, 6 support staff and 4 special constables. Whilst theses figures are low, a proactive approach to recruitment has produced a recent upward trend. Four minority ethnic police officers and the 4 special constables having joined within the last two years. HMIC is encouraged by these results.

Results of monitoring in relation to employment responsibilities and racist incidents/hate crimes are published annually as part of the Chief Constable's Annual Report. They are also regularly provided to the members of the Diversity Development Group and Lay Advisory Group. They are available to the public on request.

The Force Diversity Adviser has delivered a number of RES training/awareness raising sessions over the past three years. The presentations/workshops/discussions have focused on the general and specific duties and their implications for the force. In particular, individual responsibilities of those attending are highlighted. HMIC is encouraged by this approach, which is considered as an example of good practice.

HMIC notes the positive efforts being made by the force and will continue to monitor this area during future inspections.

5.3 How is the force approaching personnel issues in conducting its review of shift patterns?"

The force is currently undertaking a shift review, with an experienced chief inspector having been given a remit to examine the current shift working arrangements in Tayside Police and make recommendations, where appropriate, for improvements. HMIC noted that a Shifts Arrangement Monitoring Group was formed early in the review process and included representation from divisions and the force branches of the Scottish Police Federation and Unison. The shift review has a force intranet site which publishes regular updates and minutes of meetings. Although the evaluation process is in the early stages, the force has taken cogniscance of national issues and is working towards the development of a pattern aimed at providing enhanced frontline delivery at times of peak demand, coupled with the potential for a better work-life balance for those officers and support staff who work shifts.

HMIC considers that the force has fully engaged in a proper consultation process with all the stakeholders and has taken an active approach to ensuring the information on progress is accessible to all. In terms of corporate communications this is to be welcomed. The shift review will ultimately be presented to the Force Executive and HMIC will be interested in the outcome at the next inspection.

5.4 How has the force responded to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003, in relation to partnership activity?

Community planning partnerships are well established in the 3 local authorities which are co-terminous with the operational police areas and the force is content with these established structures for the progression of joint planning and implementation activity.

Central Division

ß Central Division has engaged fully with Dundee City Council in the production of the 'Community Plan for Dundee 2005 - 2010' which follows on from the previous 2001- 2006 community plans. This provides the framework on which partnership activity will be based with clearly defined responsibilities and outcomes.

• The formation of a Community Intelligence Unit in April 2004 provides a focal point for information sharing and intelligence-led activity by the Division and its city council partners in relation to anti-social behaviour issues.
• The Scottish Executive website on the Local Government in Scotland Act, 2003 highlights good working practice whereby the Dundee Partnership has developed a website with an Intranet facility to promote better communications and information sharing between community planning partners and the public.

See www.dundeecity.gov.uk/cofd/partnership.html

• Within the division there are many groups which work in partnership and focus on improvements to the provision of services and the well-being of communities. These include the Community Safety Partnership, Building Stronger Communities Group, Youth Justice Group etc. All meetings are minuted and copies are available.

Eastern Division

• In Angus, there has been a move away from having a Local Authority Liaison Officer ( LALO) as it is felt that existing strong linkages between the police and officers of the local authority preclude the need for this type of single-point liaison. The LALO is no longer required to initiate partnership working with other agencies, as this already happens (partially in response to the statutory obligation). Instead, a dedicated sergeant has been appointed to the role of the Police Community Planning Liaison Officer whose task is to liaise with partner agencies to identify and develop areas of common interest. This includes the targeting of resources to the mutual benefit of both partners in terms of aims and objectives.
• The division fully recognises the force's statutory obligation to participate in community planning and claims that a full part is played within the community planning partnership. Police in Angus are working with the community planning partnership to develop an IT system to support the work of the partnership, in order to drive performance and provide more meaningful information to stakeholders.

Western Division

• In Perth & Kinross the Local Authority Liaison Officer has been relocated to the Divisional Headquarters of Western Division. His role as Perth & Kinross Community Safety Officer has been transferred to a Perth & Kinross Council Officer. It is argued that this has enabled the police officer concerned to concentrate on developing links across the full community planning arena.
• The Division is represented on the community planning partnership by the divisional commander and on the vast majority of the other community planning groups by appropriate supervisory officers.
• Currently the LALO chairs the Community Safety Implementation Group, which is an operational group charged with delivering the current Community Safety Strategy. This group is also presently developing a revised strategy for 2006-09.
• Work is also ongoing to develop an IT link between the Police Community Intelligence Unit and the Council's Antisocial Behaviour Team to speed up the transfer of information.

Case Studies

Joint Policing Facility at Letham

In May 2004, a community warden scheme was launched in Angus as an important part of the development of the Community Safety Team. Community wardens are now fully integrated into their respective communities and improvements in terms of crime reduction and public reassurance have been realised. The current scheme continues to mature with the wardens now engaging in partnership working with Tayside Police as well as other agencies and departments such as housing staff and community groups. As a result of conditions attached to the funding agreement, the warden service is restricted to designated areas within Arbroath and Forfar. This means that, within the current arrangements, the benefits of the community warden scheme cannot be extended to other areas of Angus. To redress this situation, and within a partnership approach with Tayside Police, two additional community wardens with a peripatetic remit were employed through local authority funding. These wardens provide a flexible approach and an immediate response to designated 'hot spot' areas, identified through the National Intelligence Model ( NIM). This concept also fits in well with the community planning partnership aims. As part of this initiative, the use of Letham Police Office has been extended to include the centralisation of local firearms officers, community officers and added public enquiry assistance. This initiative is not only beneficial for the people of Letham, but the rural coverage of police/community wardens in Angus has been enhanced, which should improve community confidence and lead to reductions in: fear of crime; instances of graffiti and other vandalism; and other complaints of anti-social behaviour.

InitiativeDUNCAN

The DUNdee Co-ordinated Anticrime Network ( DUNCAN) was set up in 2003, aiming to make Dundee City Centre a safe and secure environment where people can live, work and socialise without fear of becoming a victim of crime. Retailers provide information on offenders and incidents which can be shared among members and used to identify the movements and behaviour of persistent offenders. Tayside Police works with DUNCAN on a daily basis and the scheme has support from Dundee City Council, Dundee City Centre Action Group, the BEACON Management Committee and the Dundee Community Safety Partnership. The scheme is used by shops to share information about shoplifters, anti-social behaviour and missing children. Police in the CCTV room at Headquarters constantly monitor a radio link between shops, taking account of necessary Data Protection requirements. The scheme has been extended to Lochee and Kingsway West retail park and, in September 2005, it was extended to Broughty Ferry.

Also in September 2005 a night safety initiative was launched in a bid to stamp out alcohol-fuelled violence and disturbances in Dundee city centre. DUNCAN teamed up with the Overgate Centre and Tayside Police in a bid to further the success of the daytime radio link initiative in reducing antisocial behaviour. Overgate security staff - who work round the clock - will use the existing radio link system at night to identify when a disturbance is taking place at a pub or club. They will contact the police when requested to do so by the staff at the affected premises. This new procedure will allow security staff to remain at their place of duty throughout the course of a disturbance and minimise the risk to other members of the public.

InitiativePACE

In Western Division, a similar scheme is in the process of being rolled out. It is called PACE, which stands for Perth Anti-Crime Exclusion. It works on the same basis as the DUNCAN scheme and protocols are currently being drafted for shops in Perth to sign up for an information sharing exchange. PACE is part of the Perth Safer Cities Forum, in which a range of organisations in Perth are working together to tackle shop theft, fraud, robbery, vandalism, fly-posting, graffiti and anti-social behaviour. The Forum is developing a range of measures to reduce the incidence of crime and the fear of crime, tackle environmental issues and improve community safety for the mutual benefit of the business community, the local community and individuals. Examples include:

• Radio link - scheme operating between business, cctv room and police.
• Information sharing on criminal activity in Perth city centre between businesses, City Centre Management and police.
• Civil and criminal exclusion orders - a 'ban from one - ban from all' basis for all members of a crime business network within Perth City centre.
• Anti-social behaviour orders against people who cause persistent annoyance within Perth city centre.
• Active Pubwatch Scheme - promoting exclusion orders for all constituted member premises.
• 'Get home safely' initiatives, including late night transport availability and promoting a 'party safe & get home safe' message.

HMIC notes these initiatives and considers the DUNCAN and PACE case studies in particular to be good examples of community planners accepting their community safety responsibilities, particularly in relation to crime reduction, resulting in co-operative joint working in the areas concerned.

5.5What is the force approach to antisocial behaviour?

The provisions of the Anti Social Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 require local authorities, acting jointly with the Chief Constable, to prepare a strategy for dealing with antisocial behaviour in each councils' area. Within Tayside the three operational divisions have finalised their strategies with the relevant local authorities. In addition, the force has developed standard operating procedures in relation to antisocial behaviour which are published on the Force Intranet and which outline actions to be taken when dealing with: group dispersal; seizure of vehicles; and a fixed penalty notice pilot scheme under the new Act which makes provision for notices to be issued for certain antisocial crimes and offences. At the time of this inspection further standard operating procedures were in the process of being completed for: closure of premises; noise nuisance; and litter/fly tipping.

In accordance with the requirements under Section 139 of the Anti Social Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004, information-sharing protocols are in place between the force and the "relevant authorities" which include the three local authorities along with registered social landlords within the Tayside area.

The detective superintendent from Headquarters Crime Management in charge of crime policy, is a member of the ACPOS Anti Social Behaviour Working Group. He also chairs the Police/Local Authorities Working Group within the force area. These meetings are held on a quarterly basis .

In addition, selected staff from all divisions of the force attended an antisocial behaviour seminar at the Scottish Police College in January 2006.

Central Division

Within Dundee an Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy document has been developed in consultation with Tayside Police, Dundee City Council, ASB team, Youth Justice, Social Work, Environmental Health and Trading Standards, Waste Management, SCRA, Criminal Justice, Dundee Community safety Partnership, Tayside Fire Brigade, Sanctuary Scotland Housing Association, Victim support and other Voluntary Agencies.

A Youth Justice Strategy Group and the Community Safety Partnership all have police representation and there is regular police input to develop strategies to combat anti social behaviour.

Eastern Division

In the six months since the introduction of fixed penalty notices for anti-social behaviour, police officers in Montrose have issued more than one hundred £40 notices to offenders. The fines are issued under the Anti Social Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 to people committing any of a specified range of offences. In Montrose the offences dealt with have included breach of the peace, consuming alcohol in a public place, urinating and minor acts of vandalism. Many of these notices have been for late night offences following complaints from residents to the police. At the time of the inspection there was some early evidence of a reduction of anti-social behaviour in some areas.

Western Division

Tayside Police and Perth & Kinross Council have developed an antisocial behaviour strategy that clearly sets out agreed procedures to deal with antisocial behaviour. The community safety partnership monitors the strategy.

As with the other two divisions, a Community Intelligence Unit consisting of an analyst and administration officer has been established within Divisional Headquarters. The unit provides a service to both the police and the Perth & Kinross Council's Antisocial Behaviour Investigation Team ( ASIT). This approach assists in the process of information sharing. On a number of occasions there have been examples of joint working where a community police officer has accompanied an ASIT officer during their enquiries.

HMIC notes the range of varying measures being developed within Tayside Police to tackle antisocial behaviour. As experience is developed HMIC will be interested to examine the benefits of these varied approaches and the mechanisms for sharing good practice across Scotland. The work of the ACPOS antisocial behaviour working group is important in this regard.

5.6 What is the force strategy and plans for managing its property with regard to the Disability Discrimination Act ( DDA)?

During 2003/2004 the force commissioned a conditions survey of its estate. Carried out by independent consultants, the report recommended a programme of works covering a five-year period. This complements a previous study carried out into the force's position regarding compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act. In addition to these studies an annual inspection programme is carried out by the property manager with the clerk of works and an independent inspection by safety representatives of the Police Federation

The financial plan for estate works is agreed by the Force Executive prior to submission to the Board for final approval. Projects are submitted to the Force Executive following consultation between the Property Services Department, divisional commanders and other senior managers. .

The Rationalisation of Accomodation Programme, which commenced during 2004/2005, was designed to respond to a number of organisational demands including the legislative requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 200X. It is envisaged that the works to comply with the DDA will be complete by the end of financial year 2005/06.

HMIC acknowledges the planned approach by the force to improve its estate and notes its progress in terms of meeting legislative demands.

5.7 What is the force approach to Information and Communication Technology, particulary the introduction of AIRWAVE and the perceived benefits?

The Airwave Implementation Project was delivered successfully through an early access agreement in partnership with PITO and O2 Airwave. This allowed 3rd party suppliers to integrate with the Airwave system and also for some Control Room training to be carried out before 'ready for service' ( RFS) which was accepted and signed on during December 04, three months ahead of the original deadline.

Officer training in the functionality of the handset and operational procedures commenced from this date and was delivered in three divisions. The training strategy was designed to allow a phased migration of divisions on to the Airwave system. Western and HQ Divisions migrated in January 2005 followed by Eastern Division in February 2005 and Central Division being the last on 14 March 2005.

The Project Board closed the Airwave Implementation Project with their acceptance of the Project Closure Document as per the Prince 2 Project methodology on 21 April 2005.

It was recognised that the Airwave Implementation Project had delivered the first phase of Airwave communications to the Force. To achieve the full business benefits and functionality derived from Airwave in the future a small team headed by a Superintendent Operational Support and two members of support staff were appointed to manage and implement the Airwave Phase II Project delivery.

Tayside Police was one of 16 forces chosen to carry out a pre-Airwave baseline exercise in partnership with PITO. The Force Communications User Group discussed the merits of carrying out a post-Airwave review and sought guidance from the PITO Business Benefits Team. The resulting decision was that the Tayside Police report from the baseline exercise and the PITO Airwave capability document would provide the statistical data required to assess whether the force is receiving maximum possible benefits from Airwave.

The Force learned that focus groups were invaluable in gathering information from operational users on how best to use the Airwave system and its functionality in real operational situations. The groups were also found to be useful in determining current user knowledge of Airwave. The resulting reports have been used to achieve best value and full business benefits by initiating improvements to the current operating processes and providing users with further guidance or training.

HMIC notes the force's response to the implementation of Airwave and, in particular, its approach to the post implementation review by focusing on process improvement through user consultation.

5.8 What is the force approach to the management of information?

Freedom of information is managed by the Force Information Co-ordinator, an inspector within the Professional Standards Department. This officer also has management responsibility for the functions of: data protection; information security; records management; and disclosure. The force assesses that these disciplines are inextricably linked and that therefore centralised management aids efficiency in service delivery.

A number of local 'decision makers' undertook training at the Scottish Police College in November and December 2004. These members of staff oversee the identification of FoI requests within the divisions and departments of the force and from time to time answer straightforward requests. Their principal role currently is to ensure requests are identified at an early stage and notified to the Force Information Coordinator.

Local training courses were held in December 2004 and January 2005, aimed at inspectors and support staff equivalents. These three-hour courses were intended to raise awareness of Freedom of Information, especially in relation to: the identification of requests; the right of access to information; and the importance of good records management practice.

On a day-to-day basis freedom of information requests are processed by the Force Information Coordinator, assisted by the Records Manager and the Data Protection Officer. The office manager and clerical assistant provide administrative support from the Professional Standards Department. In reality very few requests are processed outside the department.

A small review panel has been established to undertake internal reviews as required by the Act. This panel currently comprises the Director of Human Resources, the Chief Superintendent, Headquarters Division and the Superintendent, Professional Standards Department. The Force Solicitor provides legal advice and guidance to the panel during their deliberations.

The Force Information Coordinator also chairs the ACPOS Freedom of Information Practitioners Group and represents Scottish interest on the equivalent ACPO group. He is frequently consulted on national issues raised by colleagues or via the Central Referral Process and this does impact on his workload. The Practitioners Group has proposed the appointment of a national FoI Coordinator to ACPOS and the matter is being progressed.

The Records Manager has visited all areas of the force to establish current record keeping processes and move the force forward towards compliance with the ACPOS retention schedule. This is a long-term project coupled with current work at national level towards the production of a national file plan. The Records Manager is part of a small group formed under the auspices of the ACPOS Records Managers Group to formulate the file plan and coordinate it with the current records retention schedule. The force regards this work as fundamental prior to any move towards a corporate electronic records management system.

As at 31 October 2005 the force had received and processed 472 requests under the Act.

HMIC is satisfied that the force has the correct governance arrangements in place to respond properly to FoI requests.

5.9 What was the force approach to dealing with G8?

The G8 World Leaders Summit took place at Gleneagles Hotel from 6 - 8 July 2005. The strategic aims for Tayside Police in advance of this unprecedented operational challenge were articulated as:

• provide a safe and secure summit
• minimise disruption to local communities
• facilitate lawful protest
• deliver normal policing services
• have contingency plans prepared

The Chief Constable is content that the force, with assistance from police forces across the United Kingdom and working alongside government, local authority, as well as public and private sector partners at every level, achieved the objectives within the Tayside Police area.

This achievement has brought recognition from both within the UK and abroad. Heads of Government and Heads of State, including Prime Minister Blair and President Bush, together with many security advisors from around the world, commended the force for managing to deliver such a comprehensive yet discreet security regime around the Summit Venue.

A total of 11,000 police officers were assembled in over 80 locations across Scotland. There were 9,400 beds booked to accommodate the staff who consumed 30,000 hot meals each day, with transport demands requiring a pool of 2,500 vehicles. These officers supported activity in Tayside, Central Scotland, Lothian and Borders and Strathclyde Police areas 24 hours a day for the duration of the event.

It is unlikely that a policing operation of such scale will be required again in Scotland in the near future, but there are useful lessons to be learned and HMIC hopes that ACPOS will endeavour to capture these, particularly in relation to the command and coordination of large-scale policing operations across different force areas.

Provide a Safe and Secure Summit: More than twenty Heads of State and Government, including Her Majesty the Queen, visited Gleneagles Hotel over the week of the Summit. At Gleneagles Hotel, an outer cordon extending over 6km, constructed from over 11,000 fencing panels, created an island site.

A massive search and seal operation, involving the application of more than 3,000 security tags created a substantial, sterile haven in which the leaders met. An inner cordon, more than a mile long, was built from concrete and steel barriers, supports and gates around this area. This was the biggest ever deployment of this specialist, counter terrorism product.

At any one time, more than 900 Police Officers patrolled and maintained security within the outer cordon supported by the full range of specialist support in terms of both human and technical resources.

In addition, a comprehensive vetting, validation and accreditation operation was implemented. Around 25,000 names were created on the database and passes produced,. The vetting and validation processes were critical to the security operation and pass management, which can be an area of vulnerability, worked well with no breach of security.

Minimise Disruption to Local Communities: Of equal importance was the force's commitment to minimise disruption to local communities, particularly those in the South Perthshire area closest to the Summit Venue. In partnership with Perth and Kinross Council a comprehensive community relations and consultation strategy was put in place.

These plans involved the deployment of a large number of officers on foot, horseback and mobile patrol duties, presenting the 'friendly face of policing' that had been promised on the streets of the towns and villages throughout the South Perthshire Command area. More than a hundred officers were deployed at any one time, 24 hours a day, on community safety and public reassurance duties. They worked alongside 80 traffic and road policing colleagues tasked with maintaining a viable road network throughout the Perth and Kinross area and beyond.

The Force predicted that protesters would attempt to block roads, but effective intelligence-led policing tactics helped minimise disruption. Few delays were experienced anywhere on the roads and the public in the South Perthshire area responded positively to the police tactics. The force received a number of letters from the public, praising the policing of the Summit. Conversely six formal complaints against the police were received by Tayside Police connected with the event.

Facilitate Lawful Protest: The force position on the facilitation of lawful protest was made clear at the outset of the operation and re-iterated throughout the planning process. Any person or group seeking to protest was invited to discuss their intentions with specially appointed protester liaison officers and, providing the safety of the public and summit security were not compromised, assurances were given that the action would be facilitated. The Force entered into dialogue with many groups to facilitate lawful protest. A coach was procured by the police to transport responsible, law-abiding groups from Auchterarder to a 'protester expression area' built into the cordon fence. Several lawful protest groups from diverse backsgrounds had their aspirations realised. Correspondence praising Tayside Police for their co-operative and friendly approach was later received from protest groups and protesters alike.

Dialogue between the protest group 'G8 Alternatives', Tayside Police and Perth and Kinross Council was widely reported in the media but a route was agreed and on Wednesday 6 July, despite a delayed start for public safety reasons following sporadic outbreaks of unlawful activity elsewhere, a march involving five to six thousand protestors, the vast majority of whom were law abiding, took place. A minority did attempt to breach the security cordon but police tactics restored order and resulted in 97 arrests.

The force reports that all those wishing to protest in the Tayside Police area during the week of the summit were facilitated. No one was seriously injured; there was no damage to property apart from some damage to crops.

Deliver Normal Policing Services: With more than half of the force strength detached on summit related duties extended shifts were employed, standard operating procedures adapted and deployment practices altered to ensure the continuance of normal policing services throughout the Tayside Police area. Scottish Police Federation representatives worked alongside planners to make sure this happened and their efforts were appreciated by the force.

Recorded crime for groups 1 to 5 was down 15.3% for Tayside in July 2005, as compared to July 2004. Over the slightly longer term, April-July 2005 showed recorded crime in the Force down 11.2% compared to the same period in the previous year.

Contingency Planning: A great deal of work was done both locally and nationally with planning partners to make sure contingency plans were in place. Partners included UK police forces, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Perth and Kinross Council, Angus Council, Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS Tayside, Tayside Fire and Rescue Service, the Military, Utility Companies, and management and staff at Gleneagles Hotel and Glamis Castle.

None of the contingency plans had to be invoked.

The whole policing operation has been widely acclaimed as very successful and the police service in Scotland and other parts of the the United Kingdom can be justly proud of the outcome.

5.10 Comment on the approach taken to address the relevant recommendations of the Short Term Warrants Working Group on outstanding warrants

In 2004 an ACPOS Working Group identified the need for forces to make progress towards discharging the force-specific recommendations of the multi-agency working group referred to above. The following outlines the current force position in respect of each of these recommendations;

Recommendation 1 - The police and public sector agencies should give consideration to the establishment of formal information sharing protocols/ arrangements for the exchange of relevant information to better secure the execution of warrants, including routine warrants.

A study was conducted at a force level of what information sharing protocols were already in place. It was evident from responses that these differed across divisions in relation to what information could be shared and under what circumstances. The force is aware that this issue is being addressed at a national level under the auspices of the National Criminal Justice Board and awaits developments in this area.

Recommendation 3 - Forces should consider the formation of short term Warrant Teams and the appointment of dedicated warrant liaison officers.

Short term warrants teams were set up within divisions and the Headquarters Patrol Support Group was also used frequently by divisions to tackle warrants, either due to high volume, or where a particular offender had proved difficult to trace.

Each division has a nominated member of support staff as a warrants officer. These members of staff have close links with the Procurator Fiscal's Office and form the single point of contact. Central Division has relocated the Warrants Officer into the Crime Management Office. This has led to an improved flow of intelligence in relation to offenders wanted on warrant and has allowed for increased intelligence checks prior to the warrant being allocated for enquiry.

Recommendation 7 - Proven approaches to joint working should be expanded as appropriate in local liaison.

Central Division Case Management has co-located with Procurator Fiscal staff.

Recommendation 14 - The Police and SPS should ensure that police and PF reference numbers should appear routinely on the PER (XXX) or on any future prisoner escort document.

The PER (which is a national form) is being redesigned to incorporate this requirement. Once this is introduced it can be audited to confirm that this is being complied with.

5.11 What is the force approach to dealing with people with mental illness or learning difficulties?

A standard operating procedure is in place which outlines the procedures to be taken when a person with a mental disorder is to be interviewed by a police officer. At the conclusion of the interview process the 'appropriate adult' and police officer should assess each others' performance, allowing for any training issues to be identified. The SOP was altered to ensure that the appropriate adult submits a witness statement after the interview to ensure best evidence can be led at any subsequent trial.

Tayside Police has engaged in the support and development of the Scottish Appropriate Adult Network providing facilities to accommodate a coordinating role within the force. This responsibility lies with the Force Communities Coordinator who has the role of Coordinator Appropriate Adults Tayside as well as the new national function.

The Staff Development Unit has recently provided focused awareness training in Aspergers and autism conditions. An open invitation was offered to officers and appropriate adults to attend a session led by Sharlene Tait of Glasgow University and the Staff Development Unit is currently working on an Open Distance Learning package on this subject.

Police staff are involved in delivering training and development of the Tayside-wide protocol on the protection of vulnerable adults, which includes learning-disabled people within the definition. The force Coordinator for Vulnerable Adults is also due to undertake professional training on an introduction to Mental Health Awareness

RESULTS - OPERATIONAL/CUSTOMER/PEOPLE/SOCIETY

What the force is achieving in relation to the satisfaction of its external customers, its people, society at large and its planned performance.

Multigraphs

1: Tayside Police - Performance and Recorded Crime compared with Scotland as a whole

The red line and nodes denote the current situation in Tayside Police, while the blue line represents the Scottish average, both for the financial year 2004-05. Recorded crime is provided for information about the demands on the force, rather than on performance which is reflected in the rest of the data, such as crime detection.

Where current performance by Tayside Police or recorded crime exceeds the Scottish average the red node will appear inside the blue circle, with greater proximity to the centre indicating a higher standard of performance or lower crime rate. Conversely, below average performance or higher crime rate results in the red node appearing outwith the circle, the greater distance outwith the circle indicating how much lower than average the performance is or how much higher the crime rate is from the Scottish average. .

Multigraph 1

2: Tayside Police - Latest Performance and Recorded Crime compared with Past Performance

The red line and nodes denote current performance and crime rates in Tayside Police, while the blue line represents past performance and crime rates. Past performance and crime rates have been calculated as the average of the four financial years prior to 2004-05; that for racist incidents detection and road safety indicators is the average of the three financial years prior to 2004-05.

Where current performance by Tayside Police improves upon past performance or crime rates within the Tayside Police area falls below past rates the red node will appear inside the blue circle, with greater proximity to the centre indicating a higher standard of performance or lower crime rate. Conversely, below previous average performance or higher crime rates result in the red node appearing outwith the circle, the greater distance out with the circle indicating how much lower the performance is or how much higher the crime rate is.

Multigraph 2

3: Tayside Police - SCRO/ PNC against National Targets, Scottish Average & Past

Performance

The red line and nodes denote current performance in Tayside Police, while the blue points represents the national target, Scottish average or the force's past performance, as indicated.

Where current performance by the force exceeds its comparator the red node appears inside the blue circle. Greater proximity to the centre indicates a higher standard of performance. Conversely, below comparator performance results in the red node appearing outwith the circle, a greater distance from the circle indicating a lower standard of performance.

Multigraph 3

5.12 What are the demands on the force in relation to recorded crime?

The number of serious violent crimes per 1,000 population has risen slightly. The force believes that the SCRS may have influenced this to some extent, in that a number of crimes not previously recorded in this category are now being captured. Analysis shows that a significant proportion of serious violent crime is connected to the night time economy, and all three divisions have specific initiatives aimed at reducing these levels of violence.

Initial results have been encouraging. For example, examining Western Division statistics for 2004/2005, revealed a substantial increase in levels of violent crime, mainly attributable to incidents in Perth city centre. Further analysis of crime levels over the past five years showed assault figures peaking during August and September, the critical hours being between 22:00 and 02:00 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The majority of these crimes are alcohol related and can be linked to the city centre night time economy and discounted drink promotional nights.

In order to combat these problems, the Division raised the level of its high visibility proactive police patrols during the high-risk times as part of its Operation Home Safe Initiative. Its objective was to increase community confidence and public safety within Perth city centre, by reducing levels of serious violent crime and disorder and increasing subsequent detection levels. Problems were identified and solutions implemented in partnership with other agencies, including local licensed premises, the Procurator Fiscal and the media. The latter provided substantial coverage of the initiative in an attempt to increase the flow of intelligence between licensed premises and the police.

The Force Performance Profile for September 2005 showed low numbers of serious violent crime during the months of August and September (8 and 6 respectively) for Western Division, which the force attributes to the Operation Home Safe Initiative. Indeed across the force as a whole, violent crime has levelled off. HMIC notes the positive picture in relation to crime generally, as indicated in the multigraphs above.

5.13 What is the force performance in relation to crime detection

As at 5.12, a significant focus has been placed on serious violent crime, driven by the NIM. Divisional and force analysis has indicated particular areas, e.g. the night time economy, towards which force activity has been focused. Further partnership work is planned with local authorities through licensing boards, DAATs, NHS Tayside and the Area PF to examine this particular issue.

5.14 Provide comment on force performance in relation to Road Traffic CollisionCasualties?

Tayside Police area continues to record overall reductions in road collision figures. For example, both the number of collisions resulting in a fatality and the number of people killed show long term downward trends. In other categories, such as injury collisions, 'people killed or seriously injured' and slight casualties, more recent rises can again be seen to have been offset to some extent by longer term reductions in numbers. As a result the force is on course to achieve, if not exceed, its 2006 targets. Similarly positive signs are also apparent with the Force's performance against longer term national targets for reducing road traffic collision fatalities and casualties.

In an effort to combat child fatalities and serious casualties on the roads in Tayside, the force has launched several different campaigns, including advertising and education. Listed below are some of the local and national initiatives the force has participated in

Children's Traffic Club Scotland - promotional adverts were placed in the Odeon Addicts magazine at the start of the Easter holidays when children's films were being shown. These magazines are free and available in the cinema, in ASDA, the Wellgate, and Specsavers.

Wearing of seat belts adverts appeared in the 'Odeon Addicts' magazine, at the Dundee Ice Arena and on a 'wrapped' taxi.

Older Road Users adverts appeared in the 'Retired' magazine. Again this is freely available in several outlets across Tayside. Events were held in each division in January and June. There was a good attendance by the relevant audience.

Drink Driving adverts appeared on the rear of buses, local newspaper advertisements and magazines.

National Campaigns - national educational material has been made available to support campaigns for speeding, mobile phones, drink driving, winter driving and tyre safety. This has been distributed to every division.

Young Drivers/Passengers - Central Division undertook a local initiative to target this group. Both cinemas in Dundee were visited and information was disseminated relating to speed, drink/drug driving and antisocial driving.

Junior Road Safety Officers - All divisions have JRSOs in over half of their primary schools.

Cycle Training - is offered to every primary 7 class across Tayside. Uptake in Western is greatest. Eastern division is catching up. Central uptake is small in comparison.

Walkwise Training - Child pedestrian training for P1, 2 and 3 classes. Very successful in all divisions. Uptake has increased. New for this year is Walkwise Plus - assisting in success.

HMIC acknowledges the volume of positive work being carried out by the force in this area.

5.15 Provide comment on force performance in relation to black & minority ethnic officers

Since September 2003, a total of 141 officers have joined Tayside Police. Five, or 3.5%, of these officers are from minority ethnic communities. During this time two minority ethnic officers left, neither of whom apparently did so for negative reasons concerning the organisation. In the same period, 48 special constables were recruited, five or 10.4% of whom were of a minority ethnic background. Whilst not being complacent, the force views these figures as encouraging because both are above the percentage of minority ethnic people living within the force area.

Tayside Police remains fully committed to becoming an organisation that reflects the people it serves. To that end it has undertaken a number of initiatives to attract applications from more people from under-represented groups.

The force has produced a recruiting leaflet that specifically targets minority ethnic groups and, although this has been well received, the force is also aware that most success is made through face to face contact. To that end the Recruitment Team has been working with a number of external organisations to market vacancies arising more effectively than previously and to access people from these groups directly.

The force is currently conducting a full review of all recruitment within Tayside Police and consultation is taking place to ensure that the views of under-represented groups are taken into account. HMIC notes the efforts being made by the force in this regard.

5.16 Provide comment on force performance in relation to sickness absence.

The force continues to view improvement in sickness absence levels as a key priority in terms of its impact on overall efficiency and effectiveness and efforts have yielded impressive results. Since 2000/01, the Force has achieved a saving of 4,000 working days for police officers - equivalent to having an additional 17 officers available for duty for the year. Absence levels for support staff have also fallen from a high of 8,229 working days in 2001/02 to 7,235 in 2004/05. The percentage figures for working days lost of 4.6% and 4.84% for police and support staff respectively compare well with those reported by other forces and public sector organisations. The public sector average as reported by the CBI for 2004 was 9.1%. Similarly, the last figures reported by Audit Scotland for the police service in Scotland for 2003/04 were 5.1% for police officers and 5.6% for support staff.

The force, working with its occupational health provider CIGNA, has taken steps to raise awareness and understanding of the referral process and the range of support available to staff. The CIGNA Account Manager has delivered training sessions in divisions and individual departments to address any queries raised by managers regarding the process. These sessions have been well received and further inputs will be delivered in the coming months.

The force is also developing new processes to assist staff who are absent due to psychological illness. The Staff Support Adviser currently provides all staff counselling services. As this is a growing area of activity, the force is negotiating external provision via CIGNA to provide back-up counselling support. Arrangements are also in place for free specialist financial debt management advice for staff, from an external agency. The force also provides fast-track access to physiotherapy services, both via the Northern Police Convalescent Home, Castlebrae for subscribing officers, and through a contract with the local NHS Trust.

Monthly figures for sickness absence are included in the Performance Monthly Profile Document which is distributed to senior managers. HMIC commends the progress made by the force in this area.

5.17 Provide comment on force performance in relation to complaints against staff.

Tayside Police saw the number of complaints per 100 members of staff fall quite considerably in 2004-05. Much of this apparent improvement will, however, be due to a change in the way the force has been counting complaints - in line with other Scottish forces, Tayside no longer includes quality of service issues alongside complaints alleging criminal or professional misconduct.

HMIC is pleased to note the force's drive for greater consistency in recording of complaints data but points out that quality of service complaints ought to still be counted, albeit separately, so that the organisation has the opportunity to learn, at force-level, from both complaints of misconduct and these other, equally if not more important complaints (see HMIC Thematic Inspection Report 'A Fair Cop'). It is known that ACPOS is considering this issue and HMIC awaits the outcome of that work with interest.

5.18 Provide comment on force performance in relation to the ACPOS Performance Targets for SCRO/ PNC Timeliness

In relation to PNC entry, the recommendations from the Bichard Inquiry and Part V of the Police Act 1997 have created specific performance targets for the police service in Scotland. The two national targets against which the performance of Scottish forces is measured are as follows:

• 55% of cases to be entered on SCRO criminal history system within one day of caution and charge,
• 90% of cases to be entered onto SCRO criminal history system within five days of caution and charge.

At 31 October 2005 Tayside Police were achieving the following percentages, all of which show improvement from performance earlier in the year:

• From 37% within 1 day since May 2005 to 51%
• From 69% within 5 days since May 2005 to 82%
• From 75% within 7 days since May 2005 to 86%.

Nevertheless, the force is still short of the required targets. Extensive work has been done to address this issue, focusing on initial submissions by reporting officers. The force, however, found a persistent and significant shortfall in submissions that could not be attributed to the reporting officer alone. Further examination revealed a number of areas still to be addressed, including: conditional offers issued in relation to road traffic offences; undertakings to appear at court; and the forms issued to drivers for the production of documents.

Changes to input processes and reinforcing force policy have addressed these matters. However, examination of a sample of cases showed that cases marked by reporting officers as ready were not being updated by information processing systems staff due to a lack of weekend staffing. At present there is no capacity for weekend or evening working in terms of SCRO update. This is to be addressed.

In respect of entering data on to PNC, English and Welsh forces have been set a target of 90% of all cases to be entered within one day of caution and charge. For four of the last six months ( i.e. June- September) Tayside sat above the Scottish national average. The drop in performance during September affected all Scottish forces, and was due to a reconciliation exercise being carried out in relation to IDENT-1 (new automated fingerprint searching processes).

HMIC recognises the positive efforts made by Tayside Police in this area and notes more recent figures indicating improvements to the Force's performance.

5.19 Disclosure Requests

The force is aware of current shortcomings relating to its processing of 'enhanced disclosure requests submitted under Part V of the Police Act 1997. The Disclosure Unit currently has a staff complement of two - a full time disclosure officer and a part time administrative assistant. The unit is in the process of recruiting a further member of staff which will result in 1.75 full time equivalent ( FTE) disclosure officers and 0.75 FTE administrative assistant.

Compared with other Scottish forces, Tayside Police receives a disproportionately higher amount of disclosure requests. There are a number of reasons for this that relate principally to the force's flagging policy, adopted when preparing for the introduction of the disclosure process in 2002. The force carried out a comprehensive back record conversion process of manual files contained within family protection units, to ensure the SCRO 'intelligence markers' accurately reflected the amount of information held by the force.

The force introduced the 'Integrity' corporate database in 1999, which is a single, fully integrated database encompassing, amongst other things intelligence, crime and custody records. It contains two types of records relating to individuals, namely nominal records and person records. The force also decided to create ' SCRO intel' markers for all nominal records contained on the Integrity database. In a number of instances the process of indexing intelligence reports on the database raised the status of individuals to nominal, when in reality they should have remained at 'person' status. This in turn resulted in these individuals being flagged on SCRO.

The above factors have contributed to the force receiving a disproportionate amount of disclosures for processing. The flagging policy is currently under review and the force has already identified certain categories that no longer require flagging.

The review of flagging policy, combined with an additional member of staff, will assist the force in meeting its obligations in terms of processing Part V disclosures timeously.

HMIC is aware of the contributory factors that may be hindering effective performance in this area and notes the force's intent in reviewing internal processes, aligned with the introduction of additional staff. The current force response to Disclosure Scotland requests creates delays at national level when responding to requests from individuals who wish to be employed working with children and vulnerable adults. HMIC urges the force to act swiftly in making progress towards the national target and will examine this area during the next inspection.

Crime Recording Audit

HMIC carried out an audit of crime recording during the review inspection. The audit methodology identified in the HMIC thematic report, 'Meeting the Standard', was used to examine the accuracy of crime recording in the force. A standard statistical formula was applied to determine the sample size of incidents.

It became clear during the examination that the information contained on the force command and control system was variable in terms of quality and accuracy, causing difficulties during the subsequent audit by the force. This was highlighted by HMIC during the inspection and the force is reviewing the training and supervision given in this area.

Although Tayside Police has an auditing structure in place to ensure compliance with the Scottish Crime Recording Standard, it is different from that envisaged by the Scottish Crime Registrars Group. Whilst a draft audit methodology has been produced by the group, it has yet to be formally approved by ACPOS. HMIC will write to ACPOS to encourage adoption of a clear audit methodology by all Scottish forces.

The audit identified that Tayside Police uses a complex methodology to achieve the recording and reporting of crime falling into the Group 6 classification (miscellaneous offences). Although the force provides the information required in this area, HMIC considers that there may be value in the force reviewing the methodology used to enable a more efficient approach to be introduced to recording this crime group. HMIC will monitor progress in this area during the next inspection.

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