Great Expectations: Contracted Community Policing in New Earswick
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Great expectations Great expectations Contracted community policing in New Earswick Adam Crawford, Stuart Lister and David Wall The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has supported this project as part of its programme of research and innovative development projects, which it hopes will be of value to policy makers, practitioners and service users. The facts presented and views expressed in this report are, however, those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation. Joseph Rowntree Foundation The Homestead 40 Water End York YO30 6WP Website: www. jrf.org.uk © University of Leeds 2003 First published 2003 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation All rights reserved. Reproduction of this report by photocopying or electronic means for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Otherwise, no part of this report may be reproduced, adapted, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. A CIP catalogue record for this report is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85935 147 6 (paperback) ISBN 1 85935 148 4 (pdf: available at www.jrf.org.uk) Cover design by Adkins Design Prepared and printed by: York Publishing Services Ltd 64 Hallfield Road Layerthorpe York YO31 7ZQ Tel: 01904 430033; Fax: 01904 430868; Website: www.yps-publishing.co.uk Further copies of this report, or any other JRF publication, can be obtained either from the JRF website (www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/) or from our distributor, York Publishing Services Ltd, at the above address. Contents Acknowledgements vi Executive summary and key lessons vii 1 Introduction 1 Background 1 Research aims and methods 1 National policing trends 2 Reassurance policing and patrol 3 New Earswick village 4 Changes to housing policies 4 Local policing coverage 6 Contracted community policing 6 2Implementation issues 10 Great expectations 10 Managing community expectations 12 Legacy and sustainability 13 Turning aspirations into practice 14 The contracted resource – a dedicated officer 15 Differences between the designated officers 16 Partnership working and interorganisational relations 17 Accountability and ownership 19 Demands of public policing versus private contract 21 The challenges of community policing 23 The private purchase of a public good – some broader implications 25 3 Recorded crime in New Earswick 27 4Impact on the community 30 Views about New Earswick as a place to live 30 Perceptions of crime and fear of crime 32 Crime prevention 34 Local policing 35 Reassurance 36 Meeting expectations 37 Visibility 39 Other forms of security 43 Perceived causes of disorder problems 45 5 Conclusions 46 Notes 48 References 49 Acknowledgements We would like to thank the residents of New This research has benefited considerably from Earswick and those working in the village for their the guidance, counsel and support of our Advisory considerable assistance with the research and the Board members who at various time have included time that they gave to the study. Members of staff Maureen Adams, Gary Barnett, Andy Bell, Richard from the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust and Best, Jane Brown, Jacquie Dale, Kevin Dodd, Kevin North Yorkshire Police have been open and Doyle, Karen Dunn, Greg Dyche, Alastair Flint, reflective with regard to this project as well as Richard Forster, Janet Foster, Susan Hartshorne, supportive of the lessons to be learnt through Deborah Ilot, Bethan Jones, Susan King, John Lacey, research. We would especially like to thank Gary Mark Little, Ian Loader, Jane Mowat, Barry Barnett for his professionalism and access, and Navarro, Mark Nockels and Tim Read. Jacquie Dale for her insight and advice. Pat Kneen Finally, we would particularly like to thank Tim has been an immense source of support Newburn and Clive Walker for their contribution to throughout, Helen Reed tirelessly accommodated the work of the research team throughout the life of our crime data requests and Richard York the study. Their thoughtful and measured input has courteously provided time and hospitality. been invaluable and much appreciated. vi Executive summary and key lessons In 2000, the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust • The ineffective management of residents’ entered into a formal agreement with North expectations over what the project could Yorkshire Police to purchase an additional level of realistically deliver. community policing cover for the village of New • The manner in which the designated officer was Earswick. The stated purpose of the contracted drawn away from dedicated work within the community policing initiative was ‘to contribute to village to cover for other colleagues or wider a visible presence in the streets within the emergencies, as operational control remained community of New Earswick as a means of located within the police. providing reassurance and a source of security to the public’. New Earswick is neither a high crime • The considerable turnover of police staff. Three area, nor is it an area where there are high levels of different community officers filled the social breakdown or neighbourhood disorder. designated post and four different police Nevertheless, it reflects the kind of concerns over managers oversaw the project’s implementation. security and the growing demands for reassurance Ultimately, this served both to undermine the policing that have become commonplace in many familiarity of the contracted officer for the parts of Britain. residents and the consistency of managerial At a cost of £25,000 per year, the police time of a approach. The very different qualities and skills designated officer equivalent to 24 hours per week of the various designated officers exacerbated was purchased as part of an initial three-year these difficulties. experiment. This slice of ‘time’ was to be additional • The lack of appropriate formal mechanisms for to the level of policing provision already available accounting to the purchasers and beneficiaries to the village, namely the reactive round-the-clock for the service provided and the nature of any cover and a limited amount of community policing. progress made. As a result of a number of implementation difficulties, outlined in this report, the initiative Despite the apparent shortfalls of the initiative, failed to meet its stated aims and was subsequently the experience of implementation and the research terminated early. Both crime and the fear of crime findings presented in this report offer a number of increased during the implementation of the project salient and positive lessons. and residents’ satisfaction with the local police service declined. Clarifying purpose, objectives and the means The principal obstacles to success lay in the for achieving them following. • In a contracted community policing project like • The lack of clarity from the outset as to how the this, purchasers and providers need to clarify resource, namely police time, was to be used and from the outset how the resource – in this case, as to the contribution, roles and responsibilities police time – is to be used. of the different partners. • There is a need to clarify the manner in which • The insufficient consideration given to what specified activities or techniques are intended to community policing would comprise and how it give rise to particular outcomes. In essence, this might achieve the stated aims of the project, as meant making explicit the practical assumptions well as what might support or inhibit different as to how and why particular mechanisms might approaches and the conditions most conducive produce specific impacts. to fostering particular outcomes. vii Great expectations •A lack of clarity as to purpose and method may •Where the public police are involved in the leave too much discretion to, and hence place provision of additional policing, there is a too much responsibility on, individual frontline responsibility on them to inform residents (or police officers tasked with implementation. This other beneficiaries) of the limits to what they can may result in personal traits, characteristics and deliver and to promote support for the realistic qualities overly determining the nature of the aims of the project itself. This entails clarifying policing service delivered. precisely what the project will provide as additional to normal policing cover. Partnership working • Public services, such as policing, delivered within a commercial arrangement may serve to • Agencies entering into partnership arrangements reconfigure relations, renew public assessments need to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the of service delivery and thereby accentuate any different partners and consider the manner in expectations deficit. which different organisational cultures, priorities and ways of working may impinge on the •Managing the expectations of beneficiaries development of close or joint working practices. (notably residents) is an integral element in the implementation of any additional form of • Conflict and difference between organisations community policing or security cover. Projects drawn into partnership work need to be that allow an ‘expectations deficit’ to develop managed in an open and constructive manner, unchecked are less likely to be viewed as ensuring mutual respect for different types of successful. contributions and the mutual recognition of different interests and values. Long-term implications •A crucial element in partnership working is ensuring that people and organisations are • It