Engagement Hub

In partnership with Victim Support Scotland, we sought views that would help us explore the ‘aftercare’ and referral process for individuals affected by crime in Scotland.

We carried out focus groups, depth interviews and a public survey which ran between 3^rd June and 31^st August 2021. These allowed us to gain views from our communities surrounding the Victim Care Card, the use of language in aftercare processes and potential opportunities for improvement.

All of this was done with the aim of enabling effective organisational responses which put the needs of individuals at the heart of what we do.

Our survey received 492 responses, 82% of these respondents had experienced crime in the last two years, either as a victim or a witness. Of these, 47% shared they had been a victim of crime, 15% had been a witness of crime and 20% had been both a witness and victim of crime. The most common type of crimes experienced were assault, harassment and threats - affecting 109 respondents.

Responses to our survey highlighted key themes and issues that need to be addressed to improve the aftercare system for people affected by crime. These were:

• Improvements to the Victim Care Card;
• Communication needs; and
• Use of language.

Victim Care Card

43% of respondents who had been a victim or witness of crime said they did not receive a Victim Care Card. 14% said they were offered the card and 5% could not remember.

It is important to consider that these findings were from a small number of respondents, therefore this does not necessarily reflect the experiences of everyone who has been affected by crime. However, responses still highlight main areas where we can drive change and improvement to ensure everyone affected by crime receives the best possible aftercare.

Respondents also highlighted that they would like to see changes to the formatting and layout of the card. Suggestions included:

• Providing more relevant information on the card;
• An inclusive and easy-read version for people who require further assistance; and
• An electronic version of the card – with up to date digital information easily accessed online. Over half (57%) of respondents said this would be ‘extremely helpful’ or ‘helpful’.

Communication needs

Our interviews and focus groups highlighted issues around communication between services and people who use them, with some participants not feeling supported in their aftercare journey. Some shared feelings of isolation, particularly because they were not kept up to date with developments in their case. Overall, responses show that people would like to see a more cohesive approach to the aftercare system, particularly with support following the reporting of a crime being seamless and connected.

Use of language

Another area for consideration was the use of language, particularly when handling incidents with people affected by crime. Many respondents did not want to be identified as ‘victims’, especially due to a perceived stigma associated with the term, and called for a change in the language used around being affected by crime. Consensus was not reached on what a better term might be, with many also not associating with the term ‘survivor’.

Ultimately, language was strongly associated with how people feel they are perceived. Respondents stated that they just want to be treated like a person who has experienced something awful – and get the best help possible from police and support services to reduce the wider impact on their lives.

Learning from the results of our work with our communities, we are taking the following actions:

• Review of the Victim Care Card and the process of issuing cards to people who experience crime.
• Review our aftercare policy which guides how police officers engage with people who have experienced crime directly, making best use of all referrals to organisations which meet people’s individual needs and circumstances.
• Utilise new digital capabilities which help us understand referrals in different areas, with focused initiatives to support referrals to victim support services and increase uptake in areas where this is lower.
• Engage public and third sector partners to ensure that findings from recent research on accessibility and formats of information provided by organisations is included in the steps we take.
• We will also share the findings from this work with the Scottish Government and other agencies.

Police Scotland’s Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing Division are now leading all of this work to make improvements in the way we do aftercare.

Early insights have already been shared and discussed at a bi-annual event between Victim Support Scotland and Police Scotland. Results have also been shared with Police Scotland’s Strategic Leadership Board (which is where all Assistant Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Officers and the Chief Constable discuss important issues for the organisation each month).

A full report will also be shared at Police Scotland’s next Public Confidence Governance Board later in 2021 and reported in the Quarter Three report to the Scottish Police Authority’s Policing Performance Committee (this is publicly available and more information is available on the SPA website).  

Looking for our current LIVE Your Police survey? Click here. If you'd like to find out how we responded to what you told us last year, read on! 

In April 2020, Police Scotland refreshed its local policing survey to gather views from Scotland’s diverse communities. Your Police 2020/2021 remained open throughout the year (it closed on 5 April 2021) and helped us understand your opinions of policing in your local area, as well as enable you to tell us about any concerns affecting your safety or wellbeing in your local area.

Your feedback helped us make sure that our approaches to policing were fair, in terms of how we are managing the Coronavirus pandemic, and by supporting the communities that we serve.

If you missed your chance to take part in Your Police last year, don't worry; you can take part in our new Your Police 2021/22! Don’t miss out on your chance to have your say and let us know how we’re doing in your community.

Strong levels of public confidence in the police was reported with the majority of people supporting our approach to keeping people safe during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In total, we received 36,542 responses over 12 months, including over 100,000 free-text responses. There were 1,867 responses received in March 2021 – highlighting the continued dedication of local policing divisions in listening to the communities they serve.

In the main, people say they have confidence in us, with the average public confidence level for the period April 2020 – April 2021 being broadly consistent at 57%. Confidence levels among organisations who responded to Your Police (277 organisations) continues to be higher than average at 71%. 

We learned that things which effect public confidence include changes to Covid-19 transmission rates locally and nationally, local lockdowns (Protection Level 4) and the national lockdown which began in January 2021. We also know that events taking place in local areas that attracted a large police presence had an impact on public confidence. Public confidence exists across all of our 13 local policing divisions.

The majority of the people who responded to Your Police told us that they feel safe in their local areas – an average of 84% of people said they felt safe. This has remained the case throughout the past year. However, we know that fear about the spread, or potential spread, of Covid-19 sometimes made some people feel less safe.

Overall, 62% of those who took part in Your Police told us that police are friendly and approachable. 38% of people said that the police listen to the concerns of local people and 34% said the police deal with local issues. Throughout the year, a large number of the public said that they ‘don’t know’ when asked about these measures. This highlights an opportunity for us to enhance and expand our engagement within Scotland’s diverse communities.

46% of people told us their concern about crime had remained the same (as before April 2020). Three in ten people said that their concerns about crime had increased during the pandemic (30%), while around one in ten said it had decreased (14%). We know that people with disabilities and those who live in our most deprived areas have more concern about crime. This is very important to us.  

Generally, people’s concerns have included: social distancing breaches and antisocial behaviour (including at local beauty spots and public parks/greenspace), speeding and dangerous driving, house break-ins, drug taking, dealing and wider vulnerability concerns of relatives and neighbours. Greater engagement being required with children and young people, including those who support them - such as youth workers, teachers, and sports clubs - was also highlighted.

For more information, including graphs and other insights, are available here.

We sought views that would help us shape the use of Body Worn Video (BWV) by armed policing officers when interacting with the public. We felt it was important to engage and involve individuals, communities, and our partners to gain their views and measure their confidence in how we use technology and continue to police by consent.

We received almost 9,000 responses to our survey. This illustrated the large public interest in this topic and the public’s motivation to continue to be involved in the development of Police Scotland’s policies across both geographic and demographic communities, including a notable proportion of respondents: with a disability or long-term health condition (18%); currently employed by Police Scotland (15%); and under the age of 29 (17%).

We found that:

• A large majority of respondents (73%) reported that the use of BWV would help them feel safer.
• 58% respondents said they would feel “much safer” with a smaller number saying they would feel “slightly safer” (15%). A quarter reported it would make them feel “neither more or less safe”;
• Nine in ten respondents reported that BWV should be used “always” (74%) or “often” (16%);
• 78% of respondents reported that knowing interactions with the public are recorded would increase their trust and confidence in Police Scotland.

Your views have informed the decision making process as we move forward to the next stage in the delivery of BWV to our armed police officers across Scotland.

We understand that we need to understand more about this topic before BWV is rolled out more widely. Further public engagement is being undertaken before we introduce BWV in other areas of policing, including for our response officers across local policing divisions. This engagement will involves our stakeholders, a public survey and focus groups with our diverse communities - all of which are already underway.