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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN GOOD PRACTICES
Introduction
17.1 This final Chapter presents an overview of good practices illustrated by different schemes. It draws on information gained from scheme managers, stakeholders, and the local community and considers practices from both case study areas and other Scottish schemes.
17.2 Good practice is a management term which can be applied to techniques, methods, processes, activities, incentives or rewards considered effective in delivering particular outcomes. In this instance the term "good practice" is preferred to "best practice" due to the diversity of management structures and delivery models that exist across warden schemes in Scotland, the scale and nature of issues faced by different localities and the priorities of local communities. Whilst every effort has been made to report in an objective manner, it is important to note that good practice is a highly subjective concept. In the absence of conclusive, quantitative data it has been necessary to draw conclusions based on dialogue with scheme managers and consultation with local people.
17.3 The Chapter is structured around 5 themes:-
- Processes;
- Technology;
- Visibility and Flexibility;
- Community Initiatives; and
- Education.
Processes
17.4 Research revealed a number of processes and approaches which, in the opinion of scheme managers and stakeholders, have aided the implementation, delivery and sustainability of the warden schemes.
17.5 Establishment of strong working relationships with partner agencies and the integration of warden teams with other service providers emerged as an important theme throughout the study. However, the mobile and afterhours nature of the wardens' work may make this problematic. As such, co-location of scheme management and administration with partners may be useful. This has occurred in Perth, for example, where the scheme's management recently relocated to the same office as the Antisocial Noise Team.
17.6 Similarly, in East Renfrewshire wardens are located with the CCTV Unit, Antisocial Behaviour Team and the Strathclyde Police-Local Authority Liason Officer. This is believed to engender a close working relationship, avoiding duplication of effort and ensuring the efficient sharing of information.
17.7 Good practice in information sharing was also in evidence in Dundee where community safety wardens, noise wardens and antisocial behaviour teams have developed a shared database allowing efficient communications and information sharing. This information can be accessed by the police, who in turn provide the wardens with the minutes of their morning meeting on a daily basis. The police share uncensored information readily with the wardens as a trusting working relationship has now developed. On occasion senior wardens also attend police meetings.
17.8 Good working relationships between the wardens and the police in Orkney have been developed through informal contacts, as it was planned that the wardens would take their breaks in police stations. This has resulted in the establishment of good personal and professional relationships between the wardens and the local police.
17.9 The problem solving approach utilised by the scheme's management in South Lanarkshire was also found to be conducive to partnership working. The approach brings together key partners, including the wardens, to plan activity to address antisocial behaviour in the area. This involved collating the findings from crime statistics, reports to the council, police or fire and rescue services and the Community Intelligence Report 53. Information is presented geographically, so that the wardens can be deployed to the places with the greatest levels of crime or antisocial behaviour. This approach makes effective use of the data and builds on the expertise of partners to develop collaborative solutions to dealing with crime and antisocial behaviour. However, whilst this process may greatly improve the efficiency of the service, care should be taken to ensure that it is not at the expense of community engagement and relations.
17.10 In Dundee the community development approach appears to have been successful in building both community and professional working relationships, to the extent that other service providers now use the wardens to engage with the local community. Agencies, such as social work, which are sometimes viewed with suspicion by young people, have used the wardens to make introductions. Young people trust the wardens and feel less threatened or intimidated by a person introduced to them by the wardens.
17.11 The development of processes to aid crime reduction, efficiency and information sharing can be seen in Aberdeenshire where wardens introduced a scheme to distribute forms to retailers. They are used to record descriptions of offenders in an effort to improve detection rates and assist in gathering evidence to enforce Antisocial Behaviour Orders against shoplifters.
17.12 The development of recording processes has also aided wardens in Inverclyde, where the scheme management redesigned the wardens' logs to streamline the reporting process. Wardens now record details of their patrol on tick box sheets which gather a large amount of information for minimal time and effort. This allows the wardens to spend more time on the streets and also aids management in the monitoring and evaluation of the scheme.
17.13 Some managers have developed information exchanges between schemes, as in Scottish Borders, Fife and Perth and Kinross. Wardens from Scottish Borders and Fife have visited the Perth scheme whilst wardens in Perth spent time on patrol with counterparts in Scottish Borders and Fife. Scheme managers consider this good practice as it allows wardens to see the operations of alternative schemes and has helped develop, in the wardens, a sense that they are part of a nationwide service rather than acting as isolated units. Similar activity has been undertaken in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire, where wardens are involved in joint training.
17.14 The use of New Deal wardens in Edinburgh and Inverclyde is also considered to be good practice, contributing to economic and social development 54. Recruitment difficulties, due to the buoyancy of the Edinburgh labour market, led the scheme to employ around 14 New Deal wardens. The scheme manager considers the initiative to have been a success as turnover of New Deal wardens has been low and the appointed candidates are considered to be very suitable. New Deal wardens have also been deployed in Inverclyde, where 4 wardens have been awarded a 9 month contract. The council hopes to create permanent posts for 2 of them.
17.15 The distribution of community feedback surveys, which involve local people in the monitoring and evaluation of the scheme and allow scheme managers to respond to issues raised by service users, is a further area of good practice. Processes which facilitate community participation are believed to contribute to the development and sustainability of the scheme. At present community feedback surveys are distributed by a number of schemes including Inverclyde and Perth and Kinross.
17.16 A further area of good practice, highlighted through consultation with scheme managers, wardens, and police representatives, is the role of wardens in Inverclyde as professional witnesses. When the warden schemes were established in Scotland, wardens were intended to act as professional witnesses, however (perhaps because of local issues), the concept has been most fully embraced in Inverclyde. Consultation has suggested that, whilst wardens in other schemes are prepared to stand as professional witnesses if necessary, they may be wary of the impact that becoming more closely associated with the police would have on community relations. As a result, it may be possible for schemes to gain some useful learning and understanding through consideration of the Inverclyde scheme.
Technology
17.17 The use of technology assists the wardens in 3 main ways:-
- Improved efficiency;
- Crime prevention; and.
- Information Sharing.
17.18 The piloting of a digital recording system using digitised notepaper in Edinburgh, greatly improved efficiency and data capture. Each warden employed by the Edinburgh scheme has been issued with a notepad of digitised paper which can be written on using a computerised pen. The pen links with the mobile phones carried by the wardens, allowing information recorded whilst on patrol to be sent directly to the scheme headquarters. This results in time and efficiency savings as wardens do not need to return to the office to pass on information or log incidents. The information can also be sent directly to the police and other council departments. During the system's pilot data capture increased by 60%.
17.19 In Aberdeen technology has been deployed as a crime prevention measure. Smartwater, a colourless liquid containing a unique code number, is applied by wardens to the property of local residents to act as a deterrent to thieves. Residents whose property is protected by Smartwater display a sticker in their windows to inform and deter potential thieves. In the event that property is stolen, it may be recovered more easily by being able to trace the unique code. More than 2,000 homes within the Aberdeen patrol areas are to be protected, with the marking and registration process being carried out by the wardens. Research undertaken on behalf of the company that produces Smartwater, claims that residents are 5 times less likely to be burgled in protected areas.
17.20 The Aberdeen scheme has also taken advantage of a radio link system, piloted between wardens and retailers, to alert one another to shoplifters. This technology is considered an improvement on the previous "'phone round" method. In addition to crime prevention, the radio link has facilitated the sharing of information and improved the efficiency of the wardens.
17.21 The sharing of information through the use of technology was also evident in Dundee where wardens have begun to issue a bi-monthly e-briefing to councillors, updating them on the sorts of incidents dealt with in their area.
Visibility and Flexibility
17.22 Whilst high visibility in the community is a characteristic of all wardens' services, some schemes have developed innovative approaches to this. The Inverclyde service has attempted to develop a brand image for the wardens making use of slogans such as "You talk, we listen". The use of such slogans in the community increases visibility and promotes the wardens as a friendly and approachable local service, developing positive associations in the mind of the local community. Inverclyde wardens also regularly attend the surgeries of local councillors, making themselves known in the community and familiarising themselves with local concerns.
17.23 In East Renfrewshire, scheme managers have placed television monitors in several libraries to promote the warden service to the local community. In East Dunbartonshire, the local youth theatre and school pupils have been involved in the production of a video to explain and promote the work of wardens and address antisocial behaviour issues.
17.24 In addition to visibility, it is important for schemes to operate with a degree of flexibility, ensuring that wardens are visible in the right places at the right times. In consultation with community representatives, the willingness of wardens to adapt their patrols and duties in line with community concerns is important in demonstrating their responsiveness.
17.25 Wardens in Dundee maintain high visibility in the local community by targeting some of their patrols on sensitive areas. Wardens are regularly present to escort older residents home when the local bingo hall closes, building relationships with the local community whilst providing reassurance and reducing fear of crime. Similarly, wardens in Inverclyde patrol areas with a high proportion of elderly residents at regular times, allowing residents to plan outings to coincide with patrols. Wardens have also accompanied young people home from youth groups in several areas, thereby ensuring the safety of the young people whilst preventing them from acting in an antisocial manner and making older people feel insecure.
17.26 The Edinburgh scheme displayed a degree of spatial flexibility in its patrol deployment. As a result the outer boundaries of the wardens' patrol areas have remained fluid, enabling wardens to address new issues and work within slightly different boundaries as hotspots of antisocial behaviour and environmental problems arise. At times this means that the wardens respond to complaints of antisocial behaviour that occur outside of their designated patrol areas.
17.27 Spatial, seasonal and temporal flexibility was also evident in Inverclyde. In conjunction with the fire and rescue service, wardens in Inverclyde patrolled known fire raising spots to deter potential arsonists. This patrol may be extended or altered to incorporate new areas as they are identified. During the school holiday period, the patrol area in Inverclyde was extended to allow monitoring of all schools across Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock. It was anticipated that the presence of wardens would deter vandalism and antisocial behaviour around vacant school premises. A further example of flexibility in the Inverclyde scheme was illustrated by the willingness of wardens, and scheme management, to alter shift patterns should it be deemed necessary. Following recognition that there was considerable gang tension and fighting during school lunch breaks, the shift pattern was altered to allow 2 wardens to commence their shift early thereby preventing lunchtime fighting.
17.28 Flexibility and the extension of patrol areas to include school premises during the holiday period are also seen in South Lanarkshire and Dumfries where wardens monitored an exclusion zone around local schools throughout the holidays. In Clackmannanshire the HMI Education report praised the "Schools Out" initiative and its success in reducing the cost of vandalism, a reduction amounting to £11,000 during one summer holiday period.
17.29 In Eilean Siar wardens provided transport, when necessary, for vulnerable residents living in rural areas enabling them to visit the doctor, post office or local shop in comfort and safety: an example of flexibility in the scheme in responding to local needs.
17.30 In the Dicks Hill and Belmont scheme in Dumfries and Galloway, wardens have displayed a flexible approach to ensure visibility and enhance community engagement. One warden has been co-opted onto a school board, whilst at other schools the wardens provided surgery sessions for parents.
Community Initiatives
17.31 Whilst community engagement is considered a prerequisite for a successful scheme, some have developed community engagement initiatives which are, in the opinion of the scheme managers, more proactive, productive, innovative or sustainable than others. As a result such initiatives can be considered "good practice" which scheme managers may wish to replicate should local social, economic and environmental circumstances allow.
17.32 In Dundee the Community Safety Wardens Advisory Group brings together 2 community representatives from each of the areas covered by the warden scheme. They have a twofold role: to make the wardens and other partners aware of community concerns and to feedback information to their local areas. This type of formal structure would seem to have much to recommend it.
17.33 The total communities approach to service development by police in Torry, Aberdeen is an example of grassroots community engagement in the development of local services. The overarching aim of the initiative is to enhance provision by putting more police on the streets supported by wardens. Key partners involved in the initiative include the police, the community, housing, community planning staff, NHS Grampian and voluntary sector organisations. The approach is intended to gauge the needs of local communities through participation in the planning process then deliver services in the way wanted by local service users. This approach was considered successful in engaging the local community in service provision and aligning issues of crime and antisocial behaviour with wider health, environment and regeneration priorities.
17.34 In Angus, attendance at a resident's association meeting highlighted to wardens that a group of young people were unable to take part in organised leisure activities as their parents were unable to afford the costs. As a result the wardens identified a funding source to the association, which enabled the young people to attend these activities.
17.35 Initiatives targeted at various sections of the local community are evident across all schemes. However, the involvement of Inverclyde wardens in the "Greenock World Cup" is notable for its attempt to address the territorial tensions perceived by many to be among the underlying causes of antisocial behaviour in the area. The "World Cup" brought together youths from different warden schemes to play football in a fun, yet structured setting, with the objective of breaking down the barriers that had traditionally existed between youths from different areas.
17.36 Football training, coaching and competition, sporting and other leisure activities have been organised and supervised by wardens in a number of schemes including: Clackmannanshire; North West Dumfries; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; Moray; North Ayrshire; Scottish Borders; and South Ayrshire. Its ubiquity no doubt reflects the fact that it is one of the few suitable ways of engaging with large numbers of young people.
17.37 In the Dicks Hill and Bellmont Scheme, in Dumfries and Galloway, wardens proactively engaged with the local community to find a mutually agreeable solution to the problem of young people playing ball games in the street. Parents wanted children to play near their homes, whilst householders did not want them playing there because of risk of damage to their property. The wardens worked with the council's leisure and sports department to co-ordinate free access to multi-use games areas for local children. They then worked with local youth workers to guide children into these facilities.
17.38 Wardens in Dundee are also being proactive in getting young people involved in diversionary activities and have begun downloading event listings from the Dundee pages of the Young Scot website. Wardens carry listings with them on patrol, enabling them to direct young people to activities that may interest them in an attempt to move them off the streets.
17.39 Young people were also the focus of an innovative scheme in Dumfries which promoted personal safety by facilitating the purchase of bicycle lamps for young people. "Be Bright, Get a Light" was developed by the wardens in partnership with local shops to enable young people to take advantage of reduced prices when purchasing bicycle lamps. Similarly, in promoting cycle safety to young people in Angus, wardens provided cycle proficiency training to Primary 7 children, helping to develop confidence in the wardens and the service they provide. Comparable activity has been undertaken in Orkney where wardens delivered the Scottish Cycle Training Scheme to local schools due to a lack of suitably qualified trainers on the island.
17.40 Given the remit of community wardens to reduce fear of crime, it is understandable that much activity is focused on engagement with older people. Notable activity included the "Van Man" in North West Dumfries and the Vulnerable Adult Initiative in Perth and Kinross.
17.41 The Van Man is a service that enables elderly and vulnerable residents to have their home security inspected free of charge, reassuring residents that they can feel safe whilst in their homes. In addition, wardens in North West Dumfries identify and refer vulnerable older people to the Help the Aged Senior Safety Scheme, which they are eligible to use for no charge. The service offers home security in the form of door and window locks, door chains, smoker detectors, spy holes, light bulb changing and floorboard and carpet repairs.
17.42 The Vulnerable Adults Initiative in Perth and Kinross involves wardens visiting victims of crime and antisocial behaviour for a period of time following the incident to provide reassurance and reduce fear of crime.
Education
17.43 The role of wardens in educating the public, particularly young children, emerged as an important issue during the community focus groups. It was shown that young children responded better to the intervention of wardens when they clearly explained why they wished young people to act in a particular manner.
17.44 Recognition of this issue is evident in the Edinburgh scheme. Working in partnership with the fire and rescue service, wardens were involved in organising and delivering the "Cool Down Crew": a series of projects which gave young people the chance to engage with members of the fire and rescue service, teaching them about fire safety and deterring antisocial and criminal behaviour such as fire setting and assaulting fire crews. Wardens in Edinburgh also work with young people to deliver projects with visible community benefits, such as cleaning local streams or parks and removing graffiti.
17.45 Environmental initiatives, such as those seen in Edinburgh, were common across a number of schemes including: East Lothian; Orkney; Scottish Borders; South Ayrshire; and West Dunbartonshire. Such initiatives have been expanded in Perth where a Junior Wardens Programme has been established. This 6 week programme, based on a model developed in Fife, teaches school children about the role of community wardens and gets them involved in environmental and community activity.
17.46 Focus group research, carried out with young people, revealed an important role for wardens in community safety education, especially amongst young children. In Dundee, primary school children spoke confidently about their actions should they discover a hypodermic needle. The children have been taught by the wardens not to touch the needle and to immediately report the incident to a warden or another responsible adult.
17.47 Community education appears to permeate the role of wardens in Dundee. There is now a Community Fire Safety Officer and Home Safety Officer seconded to the Community Safety Team for one day each week. The Community Safety Partnership has produced a "Stay Safe Pack" for young people, which offers a range of personal safety advice. There are activities in the pack which can be used by professionals, such as teachers and youth workers, and information is available on the Young Scot website. Wardens are now working, with other partners, to produce a calendar for older people, that contains personal safety messages.
17.48 The "Top 10 Project" involved Community Intelligence Unit partners in Dundee targeting the top 10 addresses for rubbish. A phased warning approach is taken, with each partner having a role to play at the stage most relevant to them. The fire and rescue service carries out an initial fire risk assessment and writes to residents explaining the risks of leaving the rubbish where it is. They provide information on how to remove the rubbish and give the residents 7 days to do so. Wardens monitor the situation and re-issue warning letters as necessary. If no action is taken after several warnings the matter is passed to the Environmental Team to take enforcement action. Further inaction results in escalation of the situation to the antisocial behaviour team who would pursue an Antisocial Behaviour Order. The results have been impressive with most addresses dealing with the rubbish on receipt of their first notification. This phased and integrated approach to enforcement is considered good practice as it educates residents about the dangers of their actions, giving them the opportunity to modify their behaviour before sanctions are taken.
17.49 Similar practice was a seen in Edinburgh and East Dunbartonshire. The "Just Rewards" scheme supported by the wardens in Edinburgh is a further example of good practice in community education. Under the scheme, tenants are rewarded for being good neighbours. Wardens recommend tenants whom they believe deserve recognition, such as those without rent arrears or those who do not behave in a manner perceived to be antisocial. These tenants then receive some form of reward, or gift, such as free stair cleaning, or bonus bonds to use at local shops. The scheme is considered innovative in that it not only encourages, and rewards, neighbourliness but also educates local people on how, and why, it is important to act in a manner that is socially accepted.
17.50 Wardens in East Dunbartonshire have developed a unique approach to dealing with identified repeat young offenders by means of an informal "family conference". The conference allows wardens to outline the nature of complaints received to the alleged offender. The young person then has the opportunity to respond to questions in the presence of his or her parents. Parents are frequently unaware of their child's involvement in unacceptable behaviour and are appreciative of the opportunity to remedy the situation before it escalates.
17.51 Undoubtedly there are many other examples of good and innovative practices that could readily be replicated. However, those outlined above give a flavour of the range and diversity of activities that the wardens are involved in across Scotland .
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