Draft Strategic Police Priorities for Scotland
Consultation Response
Introduction
The police in Scotland have always played a central role in the life of communities across the
country. From the creation of the UK’s first police force in Glasgow in 1800, Scottish officers have
helped to develop leadership across the UK and beyond, whether through the examples of
community based policing, victim support or major international incidents such as the Lockerbie
attack. Rooted in a system of policing by consent rather than imposition, policing in Scotland has
always required a co-operation between the police service and society. However, this is not a
relationship which can be taken for granted but rather requires constant work, particularly as can be
seen with the strained relationships in other parts of the world such as the US (admittedly within a
different context and set of pressures).
The RSA1 therefore welcomes the chance to contribute to the Draft Strategic Police Priorities for
Scotland, and the intentions outlined within the paper. Policing is an area of great interest to the
RSA within our focus on exploring and strengthening the relationships between citizens and the
services which are provided to them. In recent years we have worked with both the Police
Federation of England and Wales and the Metropolitan Police2 to review and advise on their activity
and strategic priorities, and would hope that similar opportunities could exist with Police Scotland.
A responsive, collaborative, accountable police service is one which will foster trust and support in
Scotland. With overall crime statistics looking positive, the challenge for Police Scotland now is to
explore how it can deliver its mission in a financially restrictive environment, and during a time of
changing patterns of global interactions and criminality. Alongside this, there is a need to recognise
that experiences of crime, and indeed policing, are not necessarily consistent across communities,
socio-economic groupings and ethnicities, and attention to this is required in order to better tailor
Police Scotland’s response to specific contexts.
Localism
There is no doubting that the restructuring of police services in Scotland into Police Scotland through
the Police and Fire (Scotland) Act 2012 has raised its share of operational and reputational
challenges, and this is particularly evident within the local relationships between Police Scotland and
1
The Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce – an explanation about
the RSA is contained within Appendix 2
2
Both reports have been submitted with this response for interest
1
different parts of Scotland. The amalgamation of eight regional services into one, coupled with the
perception (rightly or wrongly) that the strategy of the new service was being led by what had been
Strathclyde Police, has had repercussions for perception of the connection of the service to local
communities. This can appear particularly obvious in more rural parts of Scotland, especially the
islands, where policing has traditionally possessed a different nature to that of Glasgow and the
West of Scotland, but is also discernible within urban communities too.
The commitment to diverse, responsive policing relevant to individual needs laid out within the
Draft Strategic Priorities is therefore very welcome. The centralisation of overall control of police
services in Scotland should not preclude the creation of locally relevant approaches, and indeed
creates a significant requirement for them. Policing on Barra does not need to look identical to
policing in Shettleston, as long as key underlying qualities of respect and communication are
consistently applied.
Delivery of locally rooted police delivery within a nationally administered police service does require
careful thought. There are opportunities for looking to global examples, and the RSA would make
several recommendations on this area (there is also significant interaction with the Collaborative
Working priority).
Protect and strengthen the role of Community Policing
Community policing has been identified as one of the key policing paradigm shifts of the 20th
century3, and there has been success with its use in Scotland. However, there have traditionally
been issues around the implementation of community policing across the country due to differences
in approach between the previously existing forces in Scotland; the segregation of Community
Policing as a specialist service rather than a core element of all police activity; and a lack of value
attached to the approach from front-line officers if it was not seen as consistent with a growing
focus on targets.
Community focussed policing within the Police Scotland structure offers both a chance for the
concept to be firmly embedded within core police activity, supported by the senior leadership of the
police service; and also for it to allow the centralised service to demonstrate stronger relevance and
connection to local communities. Scottish Government research into Community Policing4 found a
number of barriers in place to effective Community Policing, but these barriers (of evaluation and
delivery times) are not insurmountable within a supporting structure.
Focus on community identities needs to be better embedded within the training of officers at the
Police Scotland College at Tulliallan; reinforced in the early stages of the careers of new officers; and
learning and good practice needs to be disseminated within the service (potentially a role for the
Scottish Police Federation).
Promote the identity of local Police Scotland leadership and officers
The creation of Police Scotland should not preclude the identification of senior management and
frontline officers with local communities. A national policing identity can still be retained alongside a
local identity, varied to both a regional and/or place context as appropriate. Citizens possess
multiple identities - they could self-identify in different contexts as being from Uig, Skye, the Islands,
the Highlands, Scotland and the UK. Likewise a responsive, locally relevant police service should be
able to possess coherent identities according to the situation. By better promoting the identities of
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4
Casey 2010
Mackenzie & Henry 2009
2
local leadership and officers (where operationally appropriate), the service is able to access one of
the traditional benefits of Community Policing (locally recognised officers) whilst retaining the
centralised identity of Police Scotland.
Local Scrutiny Boards
Local Scrutiny Boards have a crucial role to play within the Localism priority (and also offer a chance
to contribute to the Collaborative Working priority). At their most effective5, Local Scrutiny Boards
provide a forum for exploring local issues and priorities and for bring stakeholders together. This
role must be strengthened and supported so that there is a space for communities, representatives
and Police Scotland to come together to collaboratively respond to challenges and opportunities in
their area.
Challenges do exist within the existing structure, particularly in relation to perceived disconnect
between centrally determined police policy and local scrutiny arrangements; lack of consistency in
scrutiny approaches across Scotland; and questions around the induction and training of board
members6. Strengthening the Boards as spaces for collaborative supporting and scrutinising the
work of the police service within a locally focussed context could ensure a strong voice for local
stakeholders and an increased embedding of officers within their community.
Prevention
Early intervention and prevention approaches from Police Scotland to reduce criminal activity are a
crucial way to reduce crime levels, improve community perceptions of safety and lawfulness, and to
operate in a more cost effective manner. Whilst it is not in the RSA’s remit to provide specific
operational advice to Police Scotland, there are aspects of the prevention priority which our work
with the Met Police and learning from other parts of the world can contribute to.
Understanding Demand
A successful prevention strategy from Police Scotland will require an in-depth understanding of the
different challenges and demands which Scottish society places upon the service, which is a difficult
situation for any police service7. Much of the interaction which the service undertakes involves
mental health issues, poverty, ethnicity and/or cultural barriers, and therefore a preventative
strategy will need to be aware of these. A lack of understanding can create challenges and tensions
(as explored in relation to mental health difficulties8), which in turn can make a longer term
intervention more difficult.
Understanding of these challenges requires ongoing training for officers and management; improved
collaboration and contact with organisations and individuals from different communities; and
consistent reinforcement of the wider role of Police Scotland beyond fighting crime. A police service
which is valued at the heart of its community can play a strong role in addressing stimulus for
criminality at an earlier stage, therefore keeping more people out of the criminal justice system and
saving resources in the longer term.
5
Henry, Malik & Aitchison, 2015, p.20
Henry, Malik & Aitchison, 2016
7
Painter, Schifferes & Balaram, 2015, p.11
8
Heyman, 2015
6
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Innovation
Police Scotland’s commitment to prevention is a welcome one, but it cannot be solely the
responsibility of Police Scotland to deliver change. The Red Hook Centre for Court Innovation in New
York offers an example to Scotland of how collaborative innovation within the criminal justice
system can make a significant difference to outcomes. In the words of its Director, Greg Berman,
the Center for Court Innovation, “exists to work with defence attorneys, probation officials,
prosecutors, clerks, police officers, and community groups [to] test new approaches to the delivery
of justice”. Impact has been significant (10% reduction in re-offending, with a 20% reduction for
juveniles), because it has been recognised that a collaborative intervention is crucial to impact.
Similar preventative responses in Scotland must look to bring together different aspects of society in
order to find collaborative ideas which can have a realistic impact.
Localised Response
“Understanding the complex needs and concerns of all who live in [a] community is key to keeping
people safe9”. As highlighted in the section on the Localism priority, a localised approach is crucial to
having impact, and this is especially true within a preventative strategy. The Red Hook Centre was
created to provide neighbourhood solutions to neighbourhood problems, and a preventative
strategy in Scotland must take a similar approach, recognising that the priorities and responses in
each area will be different.
Response
The Response Strategic Priority is primarily an operational priority for Police Scotland, rooted in the
approaches which the service takes within its day-to-day work, and is largely an area in which the
RSA would not presume to have expertise in this area. Successfully implementing the response
strategy will require interaction with the other strategic priorities, particularly around collaborative
working and localism. The success of Police Scotland’s mission, and the level of the public’s
recognition and buy-in to that success, depends upon the public feeling connected to, and part of,
the service’s work. In particular it needs to be believed that the level of police response is consistent
across areas and types of crime, to avoid feelings of certain areas or communities receiving a lesser
service.
Collaborative Working
As has been highlighted throughout this response, collaboration is central to successful policing in
the 21st Century, and it is very welcome that Police Scotland reiterate this throughout the
consultation, their website and wider publications and social media. Criminal justice, community
safety and cohesion, and national targets cannot be delivered by Police Scotland in isolation, and so
it is imperative that collaboration is real, consistent and supported. Building upon the
recommendations outlined above (Community Policing, localised responses and the example of the
Red Hook Centre), there is also opportunity for recommendations the RSA made to the Met Police10
in our work with them to be considered within a Scottish context – whilst there are significant
9
Frondigoun, Smith & Horsburgh, 2015, p.30
Painter et al, 2015
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differences between the environments of the Met Police and Police Scotland, as the two largest
police services in the UK they can also learn from each other in terms of practice and collaboration.
Collaborative Strategies for Collective Impact
If collaboration is to be at the heart of Police Scotland’s strategy, then this must be demonstrated
through the widest range of its activity. Collaboration must bring together other emergency and
public services, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations and communities. Examples could
include:



exploration of opportunities for co-location of services and/or provision of additional Police
outreach (Community Police services for example) in new locations (building on the policy of
police being based in some schools for example);
ensuring responses to multi-agency challenges (e.g. mental health issues or refugee
communities in Scotland) are both co-created with relevant groups but also co-evaluated,
with learning disseminated widely
Building on the openness of this consultation and its surrounding engagement activity by
bring members of the public into co-design processes around Police Scotland strategies –
this could lead to the creation of a Police Scotland Forum where members of the public and
relevant organisations could complement the work of the Local Scrutiny Committees).
Data
The use and sharing of data is essential to successful strategic decision making and
implementation11, and Police Scotland must ensure that it remains at the forefront of developments
in this area, following examples used by services in Northern Ireland, Canada and the US. A key
example of learning would be the Rotterdam Community Safety Index, which has moved the
emphasis from the Police as deliverers of community safety, to a wider collaborative agreement
across the city to work towards shared goals12 (the RSA has proposed a similar index for the Met
Police in London). The Rotterdam Index responds to challenges on area-centred, person-centred
and phenomenon-centred levels, allowing for a differentiated and targeted approach. A Scottish
Community Safety Index, collaboratively created and delivered across the country, could help meet
Police Scotland’s commitments towards Response, Accountability and Collaboration, and allow for
Localised adaptations. Based on firm data collected across different parts of the public sector, it
could allow for tailored responses, demonstration of impact and autonomy for different geographic
structures of Police Scotland to respond to local priorities in an appropriate manner. A Scottish
Community Safety Index would allow evaluation of activity across the country by government and
other stakeholders, and reinforce trends of impact.
Accountability
Many of the ideas outlined in the response to date would help to contribute to the accountability of
Police Scotland, given the centrality of collaboration and openness to the priorities that the service
has outlined. Crucially, the service needs to continue to work on the way that operational activities
are presented and reported to the public. A case in point would be the controversial debate that
took place in Scotland over the deployment of armed officers on the streets of Scotland. Instead of
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12
E.g. Wylie 2013
Painter 2016
5
this leading to an open discussion around funding, strategy and the expectations of policing in
Scotland, much of the debate was shut down on the basis of operational sensitivities. While there
will also be operational matters which it is not appropriate to discuss on a public level, in a broader
sense Police Scotland must be ready to explain and defend its activity. Given that much of the use of
armed officers was due to reactive responses to developing situations rather than proactive
deployment (and connected into issues around the resourcing of policing in Scotland), it could have
been a chance to open a constructive public discussion. Hopefully future issues can be handled in a
more collaborative manner, shaped through engagement with the public and key stakeholders.
Adaptability
The world does not remain static, and neither does criminality. Criminal behaviour is often global in
nature, particularly in relation to the internet, and communities in Scotland are in positions of flux,
impacted by changes both within Scotland and the UK, and from the wider global context.
Terrorism, drug trafficking and online criminality requires interconnected responses with police
services across the globe, whilst community safety and perceptions often remain rooted in local
factors.
A responsive, adaptive Police Scotland therefore needs to build in the collaboration explored
previously in this response, in order to ensure that it can access thinking from across the world, codevelop responses and to access the resources of wider society. Police Scotland should look to
build upon existing developmental opportunities for officers, such as the Fulbright Association Police
Scholarship which has sent Scottish officers to the US to learn and share practice; and also look to
work with organisations such as the RSA which offer access to multi-disciplinary networks. These
connections need to be encouraged more widely across the various ranks in order to ensure that
professional and personal development is not seen as the preserve of senior officers, and the
learning disseminated across Police Scotland. Police officers experience a unique professional
experience with a range of pressures which are not replicated in other working environments, and
this can run the risk of institutionalising behaviours and attitudes. Yet at the same time serving
officers possess skills, connections and understanding which would be invaluable to wider society,
and should be shared and celebrated.
Conclusion
Police Scotland has committed to an ambitious programme, underlying its importance to the safe
and successful development of Scotland alongside a recognition that this is not a mission that it can
deliver on its own. Collaboration, adaptation, innovation and accountability, delivered with
recognition of local challenges and opportunities, are the essential characteristics of a successful 21st
Century police service in Scotland. Police Scotland must be willing to connect to the wider public
and to explain the activities it undertakes. Relationships between the public and Police Scotland are
generally good, but there is also space for improvement – and those relationships can never be
taken for granted or we run the risk of serious breakdowns such as those seen in the US and
elsewhere.
Our communities deserve a world class police service committed to their safety and success, and
Police Scotland is in a position to rise to this responsibility. At the RSA we look forward to helping
make this happen.
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References
Casey, J. (2010). Implementing Community Policing in Different Countries and Cultures. Pakistan
Journal of Criminology. 2(4), 55-70.
Frondigoun, L., Smith, R. & Horsburgh, H. (2015). Assessment of Community Policing in Glasgow. In
SIPR Annual Report 2015, 30-31
Henry, A., Malik, A. & Aitchison, A. (2015) Partners in Scrutiny: investigating local policing
arrangements in Scotland. In SIPR Annual Report 2015, 20-21
Henry, A., Malik, A. & Aitchison, A. (2016). Partners in Scrutiny: Local Police Scrutiny Arrangements in
Scotland, Final Report. Edinburgh: Scottish Institute for Policing Research.
Heyman, I. (2015) Black, white and grey – investing the pathways and interface between police,
those in mental health distress and emergency health services. In SIPR Annual Report 2015, 38-39.
Mackenzie, S. & Henry, A. (2009) Community Policing: A Review of the Evidence. Edinburgh: Scottish
Government.
Painter, A. (2016). Collaborative Justice. RSA Journal (To be published Summer 2016).
Painter, A., Schifferes, J. & Balaram, B. (2015). Safer Together – Policing a Global City. London: The
RSA.
Wylie, D. (2013). How 'Big Data' is helping law enforcement. Available:
https://www.policeone.com/police-products/software/Data-Information-SharingSoftware/articles/6396543-How-Big-Data-is-helping-law-enforcement/. Last accessed 15th Aug
2016.
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Appendix 1 – Respondent Information Form
This response is being submitted on behalf of an organisation: The Royal Society for the
encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)
All correspondence in relation to the response can be sent to:
Jamie Cooke, Head of RSA Scotland
[email protected]
07500 885473
Our preference is for our response to be published with our name.
We are happy to be contacted in relation to any of the issues raised in this response or future
developments; and indeed would welcome the opportunity to contribute further.
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Appendix 2 – The Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts,
Manufactures & Commerce
The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) believes that
everyone should have the freedom and power to turn their ideas into reality – something we call the
Power to Create. Through our research and 27,000-strong Fellowship, we seek to realise a society
where creative power is distributed, where concentrations of power are confronted, and where
creative values are nurtured.
Building on our 260 year history of innovation and collaboration, we look to put ideas into action
across a wide range of topics, working with a diverse range of partners and stakeholders.
RSA Scotland is the RSA’s presence in Scotland, working with our 1,300 Fellows across the country to
respond to issues of key importance to Scotland’s future. With a programme of events and lectures;
research projects; and collaboration with key partners, RSA Scotland aims to be at the heart of
progressive social change and a fairer, safer, more inclusive and successful country.
Further information about our work, including recordings from our extensive lecture series and
range of publications, can be found at www.thersa.org.
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