Policing Communities: Is it about doing what ‘the public’ want?

1. Policing Communities: Is it about doing what ‘the public’ want? Dr Janet Foster ESRC Public Policy Seminar House of Lords 12th February 2009

2. Outline • Why is policing communities so important? • Who are ‘the public’ and what do they want? • Whose concerns are represented and why? • How are legitimacy, trust and confidence linked with responsiveness to community concerns?

3. Why is policing communities so important? • Provides formal social controls when informal ones are absent or have failed • Can help to reassure through a linkage between visibility and perceived safety • Formal controls may be an important trigger for encouraging the development of informal social control • Potentially empowering effect

4. A paradox When I joined the job, the public … had this golden halo view of policing. The police … were honest and upright and did nothing wrong, you could always trust a police officer… you know, the old Dixon of Dock Green image … He never existed. Dixon of Dock Green was probably a corrupt alcoholic (laughs)… (Now) the public have … much greater access to policing and to the decision-making … whereas … when I joined the job, … people had no idea what happened behind (closed doors) …. And there were things that were happening … that we didn’t need to be particularly proud of. … (Today) I think as an organisation we are far, far harder working, far, far more professional, far, far more honest, ethical and everything you would see as positives but despite the fact that we’re much better, the public perception is actually worse. So you know (before) the public believed that we were all those things we weren’t … now we’re almost there but the public don’t necessarily share that (view) (Detective Superintendent in Foster, forthcoming).

5. What do ‘the public’ want? • Attentiveness • Reliability • Responsiveness • Competence • Manners • Fairness Source: Mastrofki, 1999

6. Citizen Focus and Community Engagement • Action research project • Phase 1: Initial scoping and literature • Phase 2: In-depth qualitative research in 4 sites involving: • observations, focus groups and interviews in communities (particularly ‘hard to reach’ groups) and with SNT officers • Phase 3: Using the evidence to work with teams to develop their practice

7. Priority Areas • Using principles of ‘worst’ first • Independent survey conducted in 4 of the 5 neighbourhoods to establish change over time • Teams asked to identify their most problematic areas

8. Managing ‘core’ business

9. In your view how effective have the Safer Neighbourhood Team been in keeping you updated when crimes are resolved? Not at all effective 21% Not very effective 26% Fairly effective 15% Very effective 6% Don’t know 31% Source: Insight Survey, 2008

10. In your view how effective has the Safer Neighbourhood Team been in reducing levels of crime and anti-social behaviour? Crime ASB Not at all effective 11% 12% Not very effective 16% 19% Fairly effective 32% 31% Very effective 7% 6% Don’t know 34% 31% Source: Insight Survey, 2008

11. Thinking about crime and policing in your local area, how much do you agree or disagree that the police can be relied on to be there when you need them?

12. Who gets heard and whose concerns are most frequently represented?

13. Consultation and Priority Setting • A small and unrepresentative minority • Little understanding of the different ‘publics’ or the need for engaging and consulting creatively outside the formal consultation framework • Absence of ‘hard to reach’ groups • Priorities sometimes adopted • without adequately analysing to what extent the issues presented are ‘problems’ • without assessing whether these issues might be ones that communities could solve for themselves

14. How much appetite is there for engaging in crime and safety issues?

15. Would you like to attend a safer neighbourhood action panel? Yes, would like to attend 39% No, would not like to attend 48% Don’t Know 12% Source: Insight Survey, 2008

16. Would you like be involved in setting local policing priorities? Yes, would like to be involved 17% No, would not like to be involved 76% Don’t Know 6% Source: Insight Survey, 2008

17. Participation by neighbourhood

18. The Impact of Safer Neighbourhood Teams

19. In your view how effective have the safer neighbourhood team been in making you feel more safe and secure? Not at all effective 17% Not very effective 20% Fairly effective 31% Very effective 9% Don’t know 22% Source: Insight Survey, 2008

20. In your view how effective has the Safer Neighbourhood Team been in building relationships between the police and the community? Not at all effective 17% Not very effective 19% Fairly effective 26% Very effective 9% Don’t know 29% Source: Insight Survey, 2008

21. The police in this area understand the issues that affect this community Strongly Agree 7% Agree 58% Neither 9% Disagree 10% Disagree strongly 5% Don’t Know 12% Source: Insight Survey, 2008

22. How good a job do you think the police are doing (percentages)? Now 1yr ago 3yrsago Excellent/good 44 25 16 Fair 35 38 27 Poor/very poor 12 20 27 Don’t know 8 18 30 Source: Insight Survey, 2008

23. Legitimacy and fairness

24. The Police in this area would treat me with respect if I had contact with them for any reason Strongly Agree 19% Agree 64% Neither 6% Disagree 3% Disagree strongly 2% Don’t Know 6% Source: Insight Survey, 2008

25. The police in this area treat everyone fairly regardless of who they are Strongly Agree 14% Agree 52% Neither 9% Disagree 6% Disagree strongly 5% Don’t Know 14%

26. Are legitimacy, trust and confidence really dependent on being responsive to community concerns? • Yes and No • It depends on: • What we mean by responsive • Which ‘communities’ are being accessed • How ‘community’ concerns are dealt with • How police officers and staff behave and • How their actions are communicated and understood • Policing by consent, for and with people, is key