Outcome 3: Public, communities and partners are engaged, involved and have confidence in policing

Challenges and opportunities

The principle of policing by consent is fundamental to Scotland’s social fabric. Providing everyone with a fair, just and effective policing response is a moral responsibility and legal duty. It is an operational imperative to maintain and build the crucial bond of trust with communities from which policing draws its legitimacy.
Future developments in policing and technology will require ongoing dialogue with the public about how to strike the right balance between privacy and protection. Policing must remain accessible in times of need, whilst working with partners to agree when Police Scotland is not the most appropriate organisation to respond.

Today’s challenges

Societal changes and emerging technologies are testing the balance between privacy and protection

Services are not always accessible and are not fully integrated with partners. Digital developments provide both an opportunity and a risk to service provision

Communities are not always provided with the right support from the most appropriate agency
Policing in future

Public, partners and communities continue to have confidence and trust in the service that Police Scotland provides

Public safety and wellbeing are increased through delivering seamless, digitally enabled services

Working with others to support the communities we serve To achieve this outcome, Police Scotland will:

Embed the ethical and privacy considerations that are integral to policing and protection into every aspect of the service

Protect the public and promote wellbeing across Scotland by providing services that are relevant, accessible and effective

Work with local groups and public, third and private sector organisations to support our communities

Embed ethical and privacy considerations that are integral to policing and protection into every aspect of the service

Policing in Scotland has a long and proud history, based on the fundamental principle that we police by consent of the people. Legitimacy and credibility are key to the effectiveness of policing. Our values are at the heart of everything we do, with ethical and privacy considerations of the utmost importance to the service we provide.

Policing must be effective in order to protect the most vulnerable members of society. This requires striking a balance between having the right tools to do the job and ensuring that use of technology is both ethical and proportionate. As new technologies are embraced to keep people safe in a digital world, Police Scotland will continually review this balance.

New technologies and the opportunities they provide to enhance the effectiveness of policing will be implemented in consultation with our people and the public. Strong and consistent ethical oversight that is open to scrutiny and maintains public trust, will accompany the approach.

Public confidence in policing impacts how safe individuals feel. It is also a key indicator of Police Scotland’s overall performance. Communities should feel confident that they will experience policing in a way that is fully underpinned by the values of fairness, integrity, respect and human rights.

Protect the public and promote wellbeing across Scotland by providing services that are relevant, accessible and effective

The safety and wellbeing of the people served by the police service is enhanced by providing services that work efficiently. Police Scotland will listen and seek to understand the changing needs of diverse communities, bringing both professionalism and empathy to interactions. Standards and engagement principles will help embed quality and consistency into policing services, ensuring that public expectations are managed and met.

The implementation of the Contact Assessment Model has improved the way the police service triages and responds to contact from the public. This model uses enhanced assessment and decision-making based on threat, risk and harm. Police Scotland will continue to improve the experience and outcomes for the public, whilst empowering and enabling the policing workforce to make the right decisions and to provide the most appropriate and proportionate policing response.

Police Scotland’s Public Contact and Engagement Strategy puts the people of Scotland at the centre of how frontline policing services are delivered.

Police Scotland must ensure its services are accessible and relevant to the communities we serve, and operational delivery is effective. Improvements will be made to how public contact is managed, creating an accessible and seamless public experience with inclusive services and options from first contact to resolution. This should be the case whether people are contacting the police in an emergency or more routinely for help, advice, information, applications or transactions. Police Scotland’s aim is to get it right first time, giving the public a better service and operating more efficiently as a modern police service.

Work with local groups and public, third and private sector organisations to support the communities we serve

Engaging with people strengthens relevance, responsiveness and accountability, and builds trust. It helps the police service to learn about people and create services that meet their needs. Police Scotland will improve and refocus its engagement activities where these are not reaching diverse communities and are not representative of society’s make up.

The type of demand that operational police officers face day-to-day has shifted. Our changing demand profile has seen a 24% rise in ‘concern for person’ calls over the past two years, with a significant number of calls relating to supporting those in crisis due to vulnerability or mental ill-health. Police Scotland will work with partners to make sure that people receive the right response, at the right time, from the most appropriate service. To do this effectively, Police Scotland must work with communities to determine where and how their needs are best met, and how policing services will adapt.

Our people will always respond to people in crisis, however, Police Scotland will support other public services and work to establish a greater shared understanding of respective roles and boundaries. Policing will shift towards a model that has clear parameters and effective handover between partners. Police Scotland’s aim is for people to receive the right response to meet their needs from the most appropriate agency.

Police Scotland will continue to build on its strong collaborative relationship with British Transport Police to improve service delivery across communities.

Our people need to be with increased knowledge of different cultures, religions and ethnicities to better understand the needs of more diverse communities.

Police Scotland’s Human Rights Framework will set out how a human rights approach will be embedded into policing, so that expectations are clear for the public, communities and visitors to Scotland.

Police Scotland’s International Development Academy and International Development and Innovation Units share understanding of best practice and the core policing values of respect, fairness, integrity and human rights. By working in partnership with policing partners and law enforcement agencies across the globe Police Scotland will enhance security and policing whilst protecting Scotland’s communities.

Police Scotland will positively contribute to and deliver police training, development and support to global police services, whilst increasing the skills, knowledge and understanding of international communities of our own people.