INTRODUCTION

In 2021 the Scottish Police Authority and Police embarked on a 3-year, place-based, participatory action research Project called the Community Confidence Action Research Project (CCAR).

Whilst confidence in the police in Scotland is high among most of the Scottish population, a number of surveys over the last decade have shown that levels are not as high for people who live in areas classed as being deprived. These surveys include the Scottish Government’s Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS), and the Authority’s own independently commissioned regular public polling.

The CCAR Project aimed to better understand what sits behind lower levels of confidence in the police. The Project focused on four communities in Scotland, all four of which have been experiencing deprivation in some form or other. The Project has worked with those communities and local partners to identify small-scale, sustainable initiatives that local policing teams could implement in an effort to improve local people’s confidence. The CCAR Project was keen to understand the extent to which certain initiatives were regarded by local people as being positive developments which, if sustained, would help to build confidence.

To guide the CCAR a Project Steering Group was established in 2021, co-Chaired by the Authority’s Chair and the Deputy Chief Constable for Local Policing from Police Scotland. The Project Steering Group included a range of partners and advisors from a many relevant organisations, both statutory and non-statutory.

The Project Delivery Team consisted of a small number of staff from the Authority and Police Scotland’s Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing department (PPCW), working on an occasional basis across the 3-year period. The Project Delivery Team has also worked closely with the local policing teams from Police Scotland that have implemented initiatives locally, and who
have also participated in community engagement activity relating to the Project.

Throughout the 3-year period, the Authority has been publishing a series of reports for each of the 4 localities that have taken part in the research, setting out findings from initial surveys, ongoing community conversations, and final evaluation surveys.

This overall final report:

• Summarises the research approach and engagement model that
  has been used;
• Brings together the main findings relating to what underpins low
  confidence;
• Summarises the various small-scale initiatives that have been
  implemented in the four localities;
• Collates the observations/reflections made by the Project Delivery
  Team over the period of the research; and
• Documents the lessons learned for future research activity of this
  nature.

People who have an interest in any of the specific reports for the individual localities can find these on the Authority’s website. Those reports contain a high level of detail on survey results, the outputs of community conversation events, details on the local policing ‘test of change’ initiatives, and initial feelings towards those initiatives. The four localities that have taken part in the CCAR Project are:

• Letham in Perth and Kinross;
• Irvine-Fullarton in North Ayrshire;
• Levenmouth in Fife; and
• Wick in Highland