Crime and policing after devolution

1
Crime and policing after devolution

• Dr Rick Muir
• Institute for Public Policy Research

2
What Ill cover

• Common challenges
• Approaches to crime and policing in the different
  nations
• Innovations
• Outcomes

3
Common challenges

• A more demanding role
• Higher public expectations
• Changing pattern of crime
• Rise of anti-social behaviour
• Globalisation crime across borders
• Technological change
• Policing in a recession

4
Approaches to crime and policing

• England and Wales
• Increased police funding for more bobbies and
  the beat to improve public confidence
• Neighbourhood policing and greater citizen
  focus
• Widening the police family through recruitment of
  PCSOs
• Centralised performance management to drive
  improvement
• Wider reach new powers to tackle anti-social
  behaviour
• Consolidation and greater capacity at the
  national level to tackle serious and organised
  crime the Serious and Organised Crime Agency and
  the National Policing Improvement Agency
• High imprisonment rate

5
Approaches to crime and policing

• Scotland
• Increased funding and rising police numbers
  (including SNP promise of 1,000 extra)
• No PCSOs, though increase in number of local
  authority wardens
• No structured community policing programme a
  patchwork of local approaches, commitment varies
  across the 8 forces, though they are required to
  report on community engagement
• Anti-social behaviour a less punitive approach
• Community Justice Authorities 8 to deliver all
  offender management services and reduce
  re-offending, governed by elected members
• Enhanced central capacity the Scottish Police
  Services Authority to run backroom services and
  manage the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement
  Agency.
• Focus on alcohol misuse higher levels of
  consumption than rest of UK
• Imprisonment rate that is almost as high as EW

6
Approaches to crime and policing

• Northern Ireland
• PSNI established in 2001 following Patten Report
  as a new force that could command respect across
  communities
• Accountability operational responsibility
  codified, cross-community Policing Board holds CC
  to account, District Policing Partnerships hold
  local police to account.
• Neighbourhood policing strategy, similar to EW.
• Performance management by the Policing Board and
  use of crime targets, similar to EW.
• Under aged drinking and young people causing a
  nuisance currently the two biggest concerns in
  both communities. Paramilitary activity way down
  the list.
• Unlike other parts of UK there is pressure from
  London to reduce police numbers

7
Innovations

• England and Wales
• Neighbourhood policing
• March 2008 3,600 neighbourhood policing teams in
  EW
• Geographically rooted and accessible teams of
  PCs, PCSOs and wardens
• Public engagement through Safer Neighbourhoods
  Panels or the equivalent, priority setting
  through new Policing Pledge
• National Reassurance Policing Programme found
  that this approach led to significantly higher
  falls in perceptions of ASB and public confidence
  in the police than elsewhere
• Public confidence in the police is increasing in
  EW

8
Innovations

• Scotland
• Youth offending
• Scotland has long embraced a more welfare based
  as opposed to punitive approach to youth
  offending eg) childrens hearings for under 16s
• Currently raising the age of criminal
  responsibility to 12
• ASBOs are used less frequently in Scotland and
  in particular rarely against children. The use
  of ASBOs for 12-15 year olds in Scotland must
  complement the Children's Hearing System -
  children under 16 cannot be detained for
  breaching ASBOs in Scotland. Scotlands ASB
  strategy imposes requirements for support
  packages to be in place before ASBOs can be
  imposed.

9
Innovations

• Northern Ireland
• Accountability
• From operational independence to codified
  operational responsibility clear division of
  responsibilities
• Clear lines of accountability from Police Board
  down to DPPs

10
Outcomes

• England and Wales
• British Crime Survey
• By 2007 overall crime had fallen by 44 since its
  peak in 1995
• 1995-2007/08 violent crime (down 48), vehicle
  theft (down 66) and burglary (down 59)
• Public confidence in the criminal justice system
  is low only 44 are confident it is effective at
  bringing people to justice
• Public confidence in the police has fallen down
  from 64 1996 to 48 in 2005 up to 53 2007/08
• Perception gap is widening 65 say crime in the
  country as a whole is rising, while only 39 say
  it is rising in their local area
• Perception that there is a high level of
  anti-social behaviour has fallen 21 in 2002/03
  to 16 in 2007/08

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Outcomes

• Scotland
• Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey
• According to ICVS Scotlands crime rate is much
  lower than that in EW, though it has a higher
  homicide rate.
• Total number of crimes has fluctuated but in 2006
  was higher than its 1995 level
• Vandalism rose from 1992 to a peak in 2002 and
  has fallen since then, but is still higher than
  in the early nineties
• 1992-2006 saw major declines in burglary and
  vehicle crime as in EW.
• But 1992-2006 saw a major rise in violent crime,
  entirely due to a rise in minor assaults
• Public satisfaction with police by those
  reporting incidents 57 2006
• Crime and ASB among the top 4 issues of concerns
  in Scotland after drugs and alcohol abuse.
• Fewer believe that crime in their area is
  increasing than in EW (32 to 39)

12
Outcomes

• Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Crime Survey
• Overall crime victimisation rates have fallen
  significantly in NI 1998-2007
• Big fall in vehicle crime, plus falls in burglary
  and violent crime 1998-2007
• Findings from both NICS 2007/08 and the British
  Crime Survey (BCS) 2007/08 show that the risk of
  becoming a victim of crime remains lower in
  Northern Ireland (13.8) than in England and
  Wales (22.1).
• Serious public disorder lower
• In 2008 slightly more Catholics were satisfied
  with their local police than Protestants
• High levels of dissatisfaction with level of foot
  patrols, despite neighbourhood policing