Policing - current issue

Contributors

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

Confidence and Satisfaction

Neyroud, P. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

Improving Policing through Research

Stanko, E. A. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

The Hammersmith Initiative: An Example of How to Impact and Improve Public Confidence in Policing

Rehman, U.-u. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

At a time when the Green Paper has called on all police services to improve public confidence in policing, this paper will evidence how this target can be practically achieved. This paper outlines a research evaluation, the Hammersmith Initiative. Established in 2007, this initiative delivered two Safer Neighbourhoods (SN) teams in two wards of West London to operate 24 hours, seven days a week, for two years. The research shows that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) delivered a service designed for, and around, local people and their concerns of crime and disorder, positively addressing local concerns around crime and disorder, while significantly improving public confidence in policing. The paper concludes by discussing what lessons may be gleaned for achieving an improvement in people's confidence in policing.

Confidence in Policing: A Hackney Case Study

Dann, S., Hinchliff, E. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

In 2004 HMIC described Hackney as ‘one of the most challenging policing environments in the country’. Since then the borough has experienced a huge reduction in reported crime. The borough's police service has also experienced a huge gain in public confidence, increasing from just 22% in December 2006 to 77% in March 2009. This article provides a practitioner case study of action over the period 2006–2009 that led to this turnaround. Largely anecdotal, this article provides a practitioner's experience of what worked in one London borough.

Beyond Measuring 'How Good a Job' Police Are Doing: The MPS Model of Confidence in Policing

Stanko, E. A., Bradford, B. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

In England and Wales, the ‘public confidence agenda’ has enjoined the police service together with their key local partner, local authorities (Home Office, 2008). Yet before the police can consider this partnership to reduce crime and local disorder, they must know what people think about policing itself. This paper presents a model built around the question ‘do police do a good job in your local area?’, which serves as the foundation of the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) strategic direction for achieving local confidence. This model is derived from a multi-layered analysis of the MPS's local survey, the Public Attitude Survey. Four key elements—perceptions of police effectiveness, fairness of personal treatment, the level of police engagement with the community, and local people's concerns about local disorder—have strongly significant effects on ‘overall’ confidence. Taken together these four elements indicate that public confidence can be influenced by ‘what police do’. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the model and how it can be used as a strategic guide for improvement.

Evidencing a 'Good Practice Model' of Police Communication: The Impact of Local Policing Newsletters on Public Confidence

Wunsch, D., Hohl, K. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

This article examines the relationship between police–public communication and public confidence in policing. It draws on several years of research within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), including two qualitative studies that explored public information needs, and a collaborative effort between MPS and the London School of Economics to conduct a ‘real world’ experiment that tested the impact of newsletters on public perceptions and confidence. A good practice model of information provision is put forward, and evidence for its positive impact on public confidence and perceptions of policing, specifically on perceived police community engagement, is presented. The implications of these findings for the police are discussed with reference to the concepts of police legitimacy, trust and confidence.

Surveys in the MPS: a Journey of Change in Understanding and Practice

Harrison, A., Dawson, P., Walker, A. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

Recent government agendas have placed increased importance on capturing the views of the public to inform policy development. This growing recognition of public voices began with the publication of the White Paper ‘Modern Markets: Confident Consumers’ (Home Office, 1999) and signalled a change in policy decision making, rejecting the one-size-fits-all approach to delivery of public services and proposing mechanisms for greater direct consumer influence on Government policy. This bottom-up approach to policy making has grown over recent years and as a consequence public consultation has increased in importance within the public service arena. Surveys are identified as a useful and widely used research tool in obtaining public feedback and have been used within many large-scale organizations to deliver improved strategy and operational activity. Their use within police forces has not been as widespread until they became a requirement under the Policing Performance Assessment Framework. This paper will discuss the journey of the Metropolitan Police Service in public consultation and the evolution of its relationship with public surveys from one of mainly a ‘performance indicator’ to being used to inform strategy and operational delivery.

Please Mind the Gap: Satisfaction with the Police within London

Keenan, M. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

Within policing in the UK the citizen focus domain continues to take on a greater significance, specifically highlighting the value of responding to the needs of communities, particularly those from a non-white origin. The recent Green paper ‘Engaging Communities in criminal justice’ and Cabinet Office report ‘Engaging Communities in fighting crime’ similarly assert the role for communities within Criminal Justice. A controversial finding from the previous literature is the disparity in satisfaction with the police between white and non-white groups. Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) data reveal a current satisfaction gap of 4.7%. Through survey data and quantitative research undertaken by the Strategy Research & Analysis Unit (SRAU), opinions of police, victim age, contact method used and deprivation levels are posited as contributors to this gap. This paper aims to explore these contributors in more detail and discuss tactics that have been developed in the MPS that aspire to reduce this gap.

Too Little Too Late: Assessing Vulnerability

Williams, E., Norman, J., Wunsch, D. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

This paper is based on findings from three victim-focused research projects, which explored the characteristics of victims that report sexual and other violent crime to the police and the impact these issues have on attrition. It will challenge current police practice and broader legal discourse centred on the support of ‘vulnerable’ victims. The findings indicate that the presence of particular victim vulnerabilities is more likely to result in cases dropping out of the criminal justice system. We argue that current legal decision-making processes concerning victim credibility and consent need to be grounded in observable information held by the police.

Seen and Not Heard: Young People's Perceptions of the Police

Norman, J. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

This article presents findings based on research commissioned by the Metropolitan Police Service in 2008 that explored young people's perceptions of the police in London. All participants had previous contact with the police, in both positive and negative circumstances. In order to inform more effective police engagement strategies, the research sought to understand what young people thought of the police and how their opinions were established. The findings emphasize the importance of supportive, consistent and direct personal contact between officers and young people. Where this existed, perceptions of the police were positive or shifted from negative to positive. However, negative perceptions were also apparent, and these were facilitated by perceptions of unfair targeting and treatment from the police. Consequently, young people felt less able to access the police for protection and vulnerable to being victims of crime. However, despite this the majority of participants wanted to feel safer and experience more support from the police.

Reflections from a Police Research Unit--An Inside Job

Dawson, P., Williams, E. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

While research can be of great benefit to the police, there has undoubtedly been a fractious relationship between the two. This paper outlines the experience of the only dedicated civilian research unit based within a police force in the country. In particular, the paper highlights a number of unique challenges conducting research within this environment; such as police culture, or the range of different customers we work with, each presenting differing views on research. Key learning around our methods used to overcome these issues is also presented. Whilst embedding change within the police will always be a slow process, by gently nudging and teasing our research outputs into policing via a range of techniques we can facilitate improvement to the way that policing is delivered in London. This also holds clear implications for other police forces throughout the UK and beyond in how they utilize and ensure research is an integral part of their service.

Evidence-Based Policing and Crime Reduction

Bullock, K., Tilley, N. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

There have been calls for research evidence to be drawn into police practice. We examine evidence-based practice in the policing and crime reduction agenda, drawing on the experience of implementing problem-oriented policing in the UK and beyond. We suggest that that the development of such an agenda has been hampered by certain factors. Evidence is not routinely used by police officers (or partnerships) developing strategies to deal with crime problems who prefer to deliver traditional (law enforcement) responses. There is a limited knowledge base on which practitioners can draw in developing responses to crime problems, and the nature of evidence about what is effective is contested amongst academics. Whilst welcoming the moves to incorporate evidence in policing, we caution against excessive optimism about what can be achieved and make some recommendations for those engaged in developing evidence-based practice.

Dale, W. M. and Becker, W. S. (Eds) (2007). THE CRIME SCENE: HOW FORENSIC SCIENCE WORKS

Sutton, R. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST

Mazerolle, L. and Ransley, J. (2006). THIRD PARTY POLICING

Gilmour, S. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:30:50 PST