Report Summary
This report summarises the work of the SPA and Police Scotland's Community Confidence Action Research Project in Wick.
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Introduction and context
In 2021 the Chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and the Deputy Chief Constable for Local Policing (Police Scotland) requested research be conducted exploring the relationship between deprivation and confidence in policing in selected areas of Scotland. This stemmed from national research that suggested areas experiencing deprivation are less likely to have confidence in policing.
Delivered by the SPA Strategy and Performance Team and Police Scotland’s Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing Division (PPCW), Wick was selected using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and information from Police Scotland. The project was also keen to work in areas with local partners who were willing to engage in and support the work.
We used a wide definition of “deprivation” drawing from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. This index uses a range of data relating to income, employment, education, health, access to services, crime and housing. Therefore, there can be many different reasons for an area to be identified as “deprived”.
The project aimed to investigate confidence in policing in Wick and work with the community to develop initiatives to try to enhance it. A six-stage model was developed comprising of:
Initial Engagement
Community Confidence Survey
Community Conversations
Initiative Implementation
Evaluation
Project Closure and Next Steps
In total these stages took about 15 months to complete. During this time there have been increasing financial pressures on policing in Scotland, coupled with the rising cost of living and its effect on communities, as well as decreases in confidence in policing nationally. The wider picture on trust and confidence in policing will be explored as part of the final report for the whole project and not in this area report.
It is within this context that the Community Confidence Action Research Project delivered the aforementioned work in Wick. The following sections provide further detail on the activity undertaken as part of these six stages.
