Implications

Financial Implications

The test of change within North East Division aims to ensure callers will be informed about the progress of their report more quickly, rather than waiting days for officers to contact them to inform them of the same outcome. In turn and by adopting this process, we aim to provide front-line officers more time to focus on local policing priorities - keeping people safe from harm, protecting the vulnerable, bringing criminals to justice, solving problems, and reducing offending, making best use of the resources available to Police Scotland in line with our budget. There are no specific financial costs associated with the process tested.

Personnel Implications

The test of change within North East Division was available only to colleagues within our Contact, Command & Control Division, and is aligned to the existing Direct Crime Recording option managed by the Resolution Team. Engagement has been ongoing with Contact, Command & Control Division before, during and since the pilot and as a key stakeholder in the evaluation group, to ensure the process has no unintended consequences for officers and staff within the division. There are no personnel implications associated with this report, with colleagues within our Resolution Team now being provided with a structured investigatory question set and associated training to support them in their role.

Reputational Implications

There is a reputational risk to Police Scotland in terms of how any proposed implementation of this process is managed. As outlined below at section 8, public trust and confidence in policing is of critical importance to our legitimacy. A detailed communications plan has been developed and engagement with a wide range of key stakeholders is ongoing to ensure the service is clear on the nature of the process, what it means to members of the public contacting Police Scotland, and to shape any implementation by listening to the views of the public and our people.

Community Impact

Police Scotland is acutely aware of the reporting on the pilot in North East Division, and the impact this has on both local communities and people right across the country. In order to ensure the thoughts and views of those engaging in the pilot were captured, both internally and externally, the project team worked closely with our Strategy, Insights and Engagement Team to analyse data from the User Experience and Your Police surveys to provide further insight into the impact of the pilot.

There are only minor percentage differences in responses to relevant User Experience survey questions. These include responses before and during the pilot in North East Division and in comparison with national responses. Only a small number of qualitative responses referenced the pilot in the Your Police Survey.

In addition, Police Scotland commissioned a private company to undertake an additional qualitative strand of research into the Proportionate Response to Crime pilot through progressive focus groups, with the learning from such engagement supporting the engagement plan moving forward.

It would be our intention to continue to work closely with Strategy, Insights & Engagement to capture feedback from those engaged in the process and address any concerns at the earliest opportunity.

We want to remain open and transparent from the outset with people contacting the police. If there are no lines of enquiry to pursue, we do not want to set an expectation that there are things that the police can do when no lines of enquiry exist.

Equalities Implications

There are no equality implications in this report. Each incident being reported to Police Scotland will be subjected to a THRIVE assessment and where appropriate for Direct Crime Recording, will undergo a further bespoke investigatory assessment relevant to the crime being reported. This approach will allow Police Scotland to continue to focus on the individual caller’s needs in deciding on the most appropriate and proportionate response.