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Aims and Objectives
2.1 The current Aims and Objectives of the Scottish Crime Squad are set out below:
These aims and objectives define the present role and duties of the Scottish Crime Squad and have remained constant over the last ten years. They have evolved from the more general commitment, under the 1976 collaboration agreement, which laid out the function of the Squad as "to assist all Scottish Police Forces in the prevention and detection of serious crime where more than one police area is involved, or likely to be involved, and to collect, collate and disseminate criminal intelligence to the extent necessary for the work of the Squad".
Selection and Prioritisation of Operations
2.2 There is no question that the Scottish Crime Squad has developed into an organisation that is now tackling top level criminals in a focussed and professional manner. However, in accordance with the aims and objectives, a percentage of the work of the Squad is still in responding to requests for assistance from forces and there were some aspects of this which HMIC felt were open to question. In 1994, 18.2% of the Squad work was in responding to local requests but this has now fallen to 11.2%. These percentages however conceal some variations between the different offices.
2.3 The Scottish Crime Squad are keen to be able to assist all Scottish forces and recognise that some forces do not have the resources to respond to what are basically local policing demands. The Squad readily acknowledges that at times work was undertaken in some forces on the basis of local need rather than the seriousness of the crime to be investigated, particularly in respect of requests. The management, however, felt they were open to challenge from some chief officers who might feel they were not getting back from the Squad the percentage of work which equated to the monetary contribution made by their police authority. This had the ability to influence deployment and decision making and in view of the current organisational structure is understandable.
Figure 2: Percentage of work undertaken in responding to force requests
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Edinburgh |
16.1 |
18.6 |
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Stonehaven |
30.2 |
14.7 |
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Glasgow/Paisley |
4.3 |
3.1 |
2.4 The work undertaken in response to "requests" as against Scottish Crime Squad initiated operations, is not necessarily inappropriate but does highlight the conflict between the strategic and reactive roles which the Squad currently perform. HMIC was advised of a number of tasks undertaken by the Scottish Crime Squad in response to requests for assistance which at first sight appeared to fall well short of the criteria for "assisting in the investigation of serious crime" or requiring the "special skills" of Squad officers. Such work formed only the minority of requests for assistance and the comment is not meant to diminish the effect such crimes have on individuals. However, it did raise the issue as to what use the Scottish police service should be making of the skills and expertise contained in the Scottish Crime Squad; what processes are involved in accepting and undertaking work, and what influences are brought to bear on this. There is at present no formal measurable process for evaluating whether work should fall under the remit of the Scottish Crime Squad, although HMIC was told that preparatory work had been done to enable a target matrix to be adopted. This should allow the decision making process to be recorded and professional judgement to be formalised. Historically there has been a widespread perception that Squad activity was disproportionately influenced by the physical location of squad officers and the police force of origin of some middle ranking officers. HMIC was encouraged by the extent to which much, but not all, investigative effort was now intelligence led. However, while there has been an evident strengthening of the overall strategic perspective of the squad over recent years, HMIC remains concerned that a percentage of activity appears in some cases to be determined by means which may not withstand objective professional analysis. In 1994 HMIC's inspection of the Scottish Crime Squad identified the need for structured assessment to decide between competing demands and recommended that a "structured system of assessment be created to prioritise potential operations, which is capable of appropriate external scrutiny". HMIC repeats this recommendation with the acknowledgement that work towards achieving this is already underway.
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Recommendation 2 HMIC repeats the 1994 recommendation that a "structured system of assessment be created to prioritise potential operations, which is capable of appropriate external scrutiny". |
2.5 The present method of funding and accountability will always have the potential to influence work done by the Scottish Crime Squad on a local rather than a national basis. However it is not simply work done within a particular force area that has an influence on the quality of life in that area. Any inroad into serious and organised crime, no matter where it occurs, benefits the whole community. It may be that ultimately it is work done outwith Scotland or even the United Kingdom that will have the greatest impact.
Performance Measurement
2.6 In previous years the Scottish Crime Squad produced annual goals which were distinct to the operational syndicates, SCIO and the TSU. Although some had quantifiable performance measures, no targets were set, with the consequence that any judgement as to whether the goals had been achieved was purely subjective. The Scottish Crime Squad goals for the year 1999/2000 are not sub-divided and apply to the Squad as a whole (See Appendix 'D'). An effort has been made to produce more measurable performance indicators with the emphasis on quality as well as quantity. HMIC was advised that performance in the current year will be used as a basis against which to benchmark in the future. HMIC would encourage the Scottish Crime Squad to pursue the setting of meaningful targets but is conscious that care must be taken when Squad activity is interpreted that a qualitative analysis is also used. In 1989 for example the Scottish Crime Squad arrested 437 persons, this had fallen to 188 in 1994 and by 1999 the number was 116. Far from indicating a lessening of activity of the Squad, it is symptomatic of the focus towards those persons involved in more serious and potentially damaging crimes. Any criminal who can easily be brought to justice is unlikely to be a legitimate target for the Scottish Crime Squad whose primary role necessitates an interest in the very hardest of cases.
2.7 The Scottish Crime Squad Annual Report is a comprehensive document containing both narrative and statistical information. It is mostly compiled from activity reports submitted by the syndicate detective inspectors each month, however there was little evidence that such information was being put to much use throughout the course of the year. No analytical information was fed back to give any indication of monthly or year on year syndicate performance, either individually or comparatively although good internal communication had led to a high degree of awareness of general Squad performance. The information on activity being gathered and measured did not, however, appear to be informing how such activity might be managed in the future. This issue is referred to later in this Report at Paragraph 5.5. Activity analysis has been hampered in the past by the fact that most records were kept manually. HMIC was pleased to learn that, at the time of writing, a new computerised performance management system had been introduced. It is important that any such system enhances the ability to manage performance and forms the basis of a philosophy of continuous improvement.
Planning
2.8 The Scottish Crime Squad management and operational detective inspectors had held a 2 day planning meeting in August of last year to discuss the way ahead. They have stated their intention to develop a business and financial plan which should allow objectives, realistic targets and action plans for the period 2000-2003 to be drawn up. HMIC is supportive of this methodology but would hope that the plan is sufficiently forward looking to keep in step with the overall delivery of policing services within Scotland. If there were to be changes to the structure of policing, either locally or centrally, the work of the Scottish Crime Squad would require to adapt to this.
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