Victims in the criminal justice system – Phase II

Introduction

35. This chapter will examine the service delivered by the police when a victim makes an initial report of a crime. A person can report a crime to the police in a number of ways. The majority are reported by telephone by calling either to a centralised contact centre or a local police station. People can also report crimes by attending at their local police office or by speaking to officers on patrol. More recent developments have seen crime reporting via a website or, for some categories of crime, through a third party agency to help improve the level of reporting to the police.

36. Whatever method is used to report the crime the purpose of this stage can be summarised as follows:-

a) To record appropriate information to allow an assessment as to whether a crime has been committed and if so, to ensure an appropriate response is made by the police.

b) To formally record the crime in line with The Scottish Crime Recording Standard ^[13] and obtain necessary information to direct a subsequent investigation of that crime, with a view to detecting those responsible and reporting the circumstances to the local COPFS.

c) To provide additional support and reassurance to the victim of crime as is appropriate in compliance with Objective 1 of the Scottish Strategy for Victims.

37. This phase of the process involves two key stages :-

a) The initial contact between the victim and the police to report that a crime has taken place.

b) The formal recording of a crime by the police.

Initial Police Contact

38. The majority of people report a crime by telephone. Over the last ten years the move towards improved customer focus and cost efficiency has seen forces establish centralised contact centres to manage the majority of contact with the public. These centres provide trained and dedicated staff who are able to assess a caller's needs and then tailor a police response to meet the unique needs of each call and caller.

39. There is evidence that the public are generally satisfied with how the police deal with their initial contact. The table below shows user satisfaction levels over three years relating to initial contact with the police.

*Northern Constabulary are currently unable to report on this indicator.

40. This table, from the Scottish Policing Performance Framework Report 2009-10, ^[14] highlights a generally high level of satisfaction ranging from 79% to 93% in 2009-10 and is a good indication of how forces are dealing with initial contact, albeit these figures relate to all callers and not solely victims of crime.

41. Evidence of this level of satisfaction was also found in the telephone survey of victims of crime carried out as part of this inspection where the majority of respondents reported that they were either "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the level of service provided by the police during the initial stages of the enquiry. Some of the comments received illustrate this:-

"Quick response. Very helpful"

"I was very satisfied with the quick response."

"The police were quick to act. They arrived at my home within 10 mins of the crime being reported. They kept me informed at every step and were very informative about changes I may take to make my home safer."

"Initial response from police was great and officer attending was polite and professional. Was told at time that I would be kept informed as case proceeded."

42. However not all respondents were satisfied by the level of service received:-

"I felt more could have been done to arrest the man in question"

"4 hour delay in responding"

43. As part of the inspection we interviewed staff in the centralised contact centres in the three forces involved and reviewed each force's policies on the service delivered to victims of crime.

44. All three forces have clear policies which define how a call is assessed to determine the subsequent police response. We did note that only one of those forces specifically included the needs of a victim as something to be considered when determining the call grading. The policy stated that the criteria for the second highest level of call response ^[15] included "Incidents where the victim is considered vulnerable, in distress or concerned for safety".

45. The other forces stated that in practice victim issues would be taken into account by call handlers when defining the call grade although they do not specifically mention this in their policy. Whilst this may be the case it is our view that victims are such an important group of people who contact the police that call grading and attendance policies should specifically include a victim's vulnerability and risk as a factor to be considered when determining the appropriate police response and call grade.

Recommendation 1 - Victim Issues in Call Grading Policies

Chief Constables should ensure that police forces call grading and attendance policies explicitly identify victim vulnerability and risk as factors to be considered when determining the appropriate call grading and resultant police attendance.

Initial Assessment of Victims Needs

46. During the inspection we examined the force processes that determine how call handlers assess a victim's needs. Clearly all victims are not the same and some people require a more urgent and tailored response than others. Factors that may influence this include the victim's vulnerability due to age, disability, race or other characteristic as well as whether they had previously been a victim of crime, commonly known as repeat victimisation. This information helps determine the level of the police response as well as aiding the officers who attend the call to determine the subsequent support needs of the victim.

47. All three forces stated that victim's needs were determined by a combination of the information available via the technology used in the contact centres combined with the experience and skills of the call handlers. In all forces call handlers were able to access previous caller history via their respective command and control systems which helps them to determine the specific needs of a caller including the identification of repeat victimisation. The availability of this information 'quick-time' allows a call taker to assess the available information and reach an informed decision as to what level of support that victim requires based on previous caller information and other information elicited from the caller. We found good practice within Lothian and Borders Police where IT developments have helped to enhance the way in which information available on different IT databases is accessed to help deal with victims.

Good Practice - Lothian and Borders - Integrated Command and Control

Lothian and Borders Police Command and Control Centre in South Edinburgh have worked with the company which provides them with their Customer Relationship Management system ( CRM) to access a number of separate police databases. Call handlers are able to simultaneously access information on a caller from a number of different police databases. They have also linked the CRM with the force's Command and Control system allowing the call taker to record the information obtained onto the command and control system and present this electronically to the staff who will send an officer to the call. This enhances the quality of information that can then be passed to the officers attending allowing them to be more aware of information that may be beneficial in dealing with the call.

48. As effective as IT systems are the capability of staff dealing with the phone call is key to the standard of service which the victim of crime will receive. During the inspection we examined the training given to staff within contact centres and how their performance was monitored.

49. In all three forces staff received training when they were newly recruited which, in addition to including training on IT systems and awareness of procedures, also includes training on customer care. The training also includes advice on dealing with people who are upset or emotional. We did however note that the training did not specifically deal with victims of crime.

50. All three forces have also developed performance regimes that measure the quality of service delivered to the public. This included dip sampling of calls measured against specific criteria. We were pleased to note that throughout, the emphasis was not on the quantity of calls handled, as often found in commercial call centres, but on the quality of how the call was handled.

51. Overall we were impressed by the standard of service delivered by all three forces in dealing with the initial phone calls from victims with a clear quality of service ethos. This is evidenced by the good levels of user satisfaction for initial contact with the police.

Police Officer Attendance and Support to Victim

52. Whilst police forces have begun recording minor crimes by telephone the majority of crime reports are still dealt with by the attendance of a police officer. This was particularly true of the crime audited in this inspection where an assault was committed or a house broken into.

53. A review of The Scottish Policing Performance Framework shows that satisfaction with the treatment by officers who attended a call varies across Scotland ranging from 57% to 92%. This is shown in the following table:-

*Northern Constabulary are currently unable to report on this indicator.

54. The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2009/10 ^[16] found that 57% of the people surveyed who had reported a crime to the police were satisfied by the level of service provided. Reasons for dissatisfaction with the service included the police being unhelpful (30%), took too long to respond or incompetent or inefficient (20%).

55. The telephone survey of victims of crime found that in general victims were satisfied with the officers who attended initially to deal with their call and record the crime with 40 out of 47 respondents being either "very satisfied" or "satisfied". Comments made included:-

"I did not think the police could have done anything to improve their service. They were very good and understanding. I was treated with kindness and understanding."

"Initial response from police was great and officer attending was polite and professional. Was told at time that I would be kept informed as case proceeded."

56. These views contrasted with the experience of some other victims:-

"They were helpful when they came, but after the night I heard nothing."

"Never kept up to date after first visit from Police."

57. It is easy to presume that all victims need support and assistance but in reality the majority of people are able to manage without any support or assistance. Indeed The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2009-2010 found that 90% of victims of crime said they or another household member did not need or want support or advice. This would tend to indicate that the requirement is not for a uniform service for all victims but instead a need to identify those victims that require or request additional support and assistance.

58. The audit we carried out of the crime recording systems found only a minority of cases where the reporting officer recorded specific information about any additional support offered to the victim of crime, beyond referral to victim support ^[17]. Where these were recorded they tended to be about providing security advice to victims following a housebreaking or giving assistance to cancel stolen credit cards. We were informed by forces that additional support may also be given to victims through local community policing teams but not recorded on the crime recording system.

59. We spoke to operational officers within the three forces and asked them what they viewed as their responsibility when dealing with a victim of crime. They saw their role as providing support and assistance to the victim and cited a number of ways in which this was done from referring the victim to support agencies such as Victim Support Scotland, providing security assistance where a crime had occurred or referring them to specialist departments within the force.

60. Officers stated that the Community or Neighbourhood Policing Teams in their forces were another means available to them and that they had regularly spoken with their colleagues in these teams who were able to provide a more supportive role to specific victims of crime.

Repeat Victimisation

61. Whether a person has previously been a victim of a crime can be a key factor in determining their vulnerability and the level of support needed. Repeat victimisation is an issue which has been widely recognised in policing and criminological circles for many years. The basis of this is the reality that crime is not equally shared across society and that many people suffer more than their "proportion" of crime.

62. The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2009/2010 estimated that 34% of victims of both violent and property crime were repeat victims ie they suffered the same crime at least once more in the previous 12 months. This level of repeat victimisation is significant.

63. The principle benefits of tackling repeat victimisation from a police perspective are that identifying the repeat victim at the earliest stage provides opportunities to support the victim, take steps to prevent further crime from occurring and increases the opportunity of tracing the offender.

64. Repeat victimisation has a significant impact on the victims themselves. Research has shown that the impact of repeat victimisation is distinctive from suffering a single crime and that repeat victims never get used to being victims of crime. In extreme cases there is evidence that it can lead to social exclusion as the victim can become withdrawn and isolated from support services. ^[18]

65. Tackling repeat victimisation should thus be seen as a fundamental part of any victim-centred response.

66. During the inspection it was apparent from our interviews and focus groups that officers at all levels are aware of repeat victimisation and that there are measures in place in all forces that individually seek to tackle repeat victimisation. There was evidence in all forces of processes being carried out on a daily basis to identify repeat or vulnerable victims and of Community Policing Teams developing problem solving solutions that tackle repeat victimisation.

67. Whilst all three forces interviewed stated that they had a commitment to repeat victimisation, at the time of the inspection we noted that only one force, Fife Constabulary, had a published policy on repeat victimisation. This is contained within their Standard Operating Procedure on Support for Victims and Witnesses, published in November 2010. The policy defines repeat victimisation and outlines a procedure to address repeat victimisation including a requirement on officers attending a crime report to ask the victim if they have previously been a victim of crime. The policy details the force's response once repeat victimisation has been identified including recording on the force's crime recording system and a process for directing an appropriate response with oversight by Area Chief Inspectors.

68. Whilst the strategy has only recently been introduced and is still being implemented, the measures taken by Fife Constabulary and a number of other Scottish forces to develop specific repeat victimisation strategies is encouraging. We are aware that work is currently ongoing within ACPOS Criminal Justice Business Area to explore the development of a consistent approach to repeat victimisation across Scotland.

69. Considerable work in this area has recently been undertaken by forces in England and Wales, specifically relating to repeat acts of anti-social behaviour. This followed a number of high profile cases where victimisation at a low level was not adequately identified or addressed with resultant tragic consequences for the victims. The issue was the cumulative impact of these incidents and a failure to identify the individual needs of the victim. The lessons from this are also applicable to formally recorded crimes.

70. We found an example of this work in one force in England, Lancashire Constabulary ^[19]. The force implemented a new repeat victimisation strategy by publishing minimum standards which explain the role of staff at different stages of the process including call handlers and community policing teams. The process includes instructions to call handlers to aid the identification of vulnerable victims and a structured response including multi-agency problem solving. Staff also received briefings to promote the importance of the policy. The strategy is also supported by a performance management process at force and divisional level.

Recommendation 2 - Repeat Victimisation

Chief Constables should ensure that police forces develop and implement repeat victimisation strategies that will provide a co-ordinated response to the needs of repeat victims of crimes.

Use of Appropriate Adults Schemes

71. Another area we explored was the use of appropriate adults by police for interviews of victims of crime. Appropriate Adults schemes exist throughout Scotland and are operated against a set of common standards. The schemes are a collaborative approach which includes the police, social work, Scottish Government and the voluntary sector.

72. The role of the appropriate adult is to facilitate communication between the police and a person suffering from mental disorder and, as far as is possible, ensure understanding by both parties.

73. Appropriate adults are selected for their experience in the field of mental health, learning disabilities, dementia and/or acquired brain injuries. It is their role to pick up on 'clues' and indicators that a person has not fully understood what they are being told or what they are being asked. Their use is extended to all categories of interviews including witnesses, victims, suspects and accused.

74. All three forces have in place clear policies which promote the use of Appropriate Adults and emphasise the importance of their use. During Focus Groups with operational officers we were satisfied that there was a good awareness of the Appropriate Adult Scheme although there was an acceptance that there use would often be used for more serious crime than simply recording routine crime reports from victims.

75. In collaboration with staff from Appropriate Adult Schemes throughout Scotland we carried out an audit of the police use of the schemes over a two month period of February and March 2011.

76. Whilst not all areas of Scotland provided responses there was a total of 260 call outs recorded during this period. Of those 70 related to interviews with victims with the majority (156) for interviews of suspects or persons accused of a crime. The reasons for using the Appropriate Adults included Learning Difficulties (136), Mental Health (80) as well as a range of other reasons (34).

77. From the audit it was not possible to ascertain whether the crime involving the victims being interviewed was likely to be dealt with under summary proceedings. However overall we were content that officers are aware of the availability of Appropriate Adults and forces should continue to promote their use as a means of supporting vulnerable victims of crime.