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Police told to improve responses to public |
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Friday, 30 May 2008 |
Scotland’s police forces need to improve the way in which they respond to requests from the public and keep members of the public updated during investigations and actions.
The report from Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary makes a number of recommendations about how this could be achieved. Key recommendations include publishing service standards for members of the public to explain what can and cannot be expected from police and developing internal managements processes so police understand what is required of them.
Assistant Inspector of Constabulary Malcolm Dickson said:
“This inspection was prompted by a widespread recognition within the police service that one of the weakest areas in its dealings with the public is a failure to provide updates or 'feedback' on how an enquiry was progressing. During the inspection we confirmed this weakness but we also found that over the last 10-15 years there has been a reducing focus on the wider issue of the quality of service provided by forces. This is a time when the public quite properly expect good quality services. There have been tremendous improvements in the way the private sector provides information to its customers making full use of people skills training and technological advances. The police service cannot allow itself to fall behind and it will be extremely important to keep quality of service as a key priority while developing other important service improvement themes such as performance management.
“During the inspection we found some areas where police officers have real difficulty in providing feedback to the public through sheer pressure of work and it will also be important for forces to recognise this when they consider our recommendations. It is as important for the public to understand what the police service cannot deliver as it is to understand what it can deliver. Nevertheless, we believe the public should be told what to expect when they call the police and police staff should understand how they can try to meet the public need. The recommendations in this report are designed to match these expectations on both sides and if they are properly addressed we believe public satisfaction with police services will markedly improve.”
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