Proportionate Response to Crime Update

The concept of a PRTC process is not new to policing in Scotland and is not a policy of non-investigation.

PRTC is an additional process, over and above a THRIVE assessment, where resolution team officers and staff carry out a structured initial investigative assessment of a crime when it is reported to the police. This process allows a much earlier assessment around proportionate lines of enquiry.

Assessing the existence, or otherwise, of proportionate investigative opportunities within reported crimes already takes place on a daily case-by-case basis across the country. The new PRTC process moves that assessment to an earlier point within the crime investigation process.
 
National Rollout Plan

On 26 April 2024, the phased roll out of PRTC was approved as follows:

North Command – 01/05/2024
East Command – 27/05/2024
West Command – 24/06/2024

In determining the above dates, consideration was given to:

The learning and evaluation from the North East pilot.

Training implications for C3 Division and Local Policing.

Projected operational demand peaks.

Quality assurance requirements for ongoing evaluation.

Evaluation framework aligned to each phase of implementation.

National Rollout Update & Ongoing Evaluation

Since going live in the North Command on 1 May 2024, in the first three weeks of the PRTC roll out, 212 crime reports have been directly filed. This equates to 3.4% of all crime reports recorded within the North Command area.

North Command Roll Out Summary

(1st May – 21 May 2024)
N A D Total
Total DCR CR’s Recorded 169 493 511 1,173
CR’s Directly Filed 32 87 93 212

During this period, the Contact Engagement Resolution Project have completed quality assurance reviews of 848 crime reports where the PRTC process has been applied. The majority of crime reports reviewed have been completed correctly with officers and staff making accurate decisions in relation to investigative assessments and recommendations to local policing divisions. In the small number of cases where issues were found, these were picked up with officers and staff to ensure continuous learning.

As of 21 May 2024, 87 bespoke PRTC surveys have been sent to members of the public who were informed their crime report was being recommended for direct filing as a result of there being no proportionate lines of enquiry to pursue. Two ‘positive view’ surveys have been completed, with both respondents advising they understood the reason(s) why their crime reports were unlikely to be allocated to front line officers for further investigation.

Low response rates could mean that users don't have a problem or complaint. This process will continue to be monitored during the agreed evaluation period.

Police Scotland will also continue to monitor anything PRTC related via our regular user experience, public confidence and trust monitoring processes. Contacts are undertaken with approximately 14,000 people, at random, who have either reported or witnessed a minor crime.

The User Experience Survey results for May 2024 have yet to be fully established. Nevertheless, the PRTC process has now been operating in North East Division since 28 August 2023 and the most recent results are as follows:

North East Division – User Experience Survey Results

Jan Feb March April
Overall Satisfaction
(n=483) 73% 70% 73% 73%
Receiving Appropriate Response
(n=483) 71% 71% 63% 66%

The Your Police survey enables a continuous conversation with Scotland’s communities. Data and insight from the survey results enable the service to measure and understand public confidence, community safety and feedback about local policing. The survey runs from April – March each year and is robust.

Your Police Survey data from North East Division (A) reflects the benchmarking and the review of national data, as well as external sources utilise to enhance understanding of public confidence. This is informed by perceptions of policing. Levels of public confidence in North East Division, and nationally, are presented below:

Public Confidence
Jan Feb March April Overall
North East Division
(n=322) 50% 38% 30% (small sample) 55%
National
(n=3805) 41% 42% 32% 36% 38%

In preparation for PRTC going live across the East Command on 27 May 2024, the project team have delivered 12 additional training inputs to 38 Resolution Team Assistants and 46 Resolution Team police officers based at Bilston. Further inputs have been delivered to all East Command Crime Management Unit’s and Senior Leadership Teams.

Communications and Engagement

The PRTC communications and engagement plan allows the force to be clear on the nature of the process and what it means to members of the public contacting Police Scotland. Listening to the views of the public, elected representatives and police officers and staff is also helping shape the ongoing implementation and any continuous improvement. As part of this and in terms of the ongoing external engagement, the CERP project team in conjunction with local policing divisions have delivered the following briefing sessions to locally elected member:

19 March All Scrutiny Board Chairs invited via COSLA.
20 March All Scrutiny Board Chairs invited via COSLA.
20 March Renfrewshire & Inverclyde councillors.
8 April Renfrewshire & Inverclyde councillors.
9 April Renfrewshire & Inverclyde councillors.
1 May Dumfries & Galloway Division councillors.
14 May Edinburgh Division councillors.