A whistle-stop tour… © College of Policing Limited Paul Quinton & Levin Wheller Society for Evidence Based Policing 5 March 2014

Working with forces to generate trial evidence

GMP collaboration – PJ training Does procedural justice training improve how officers interact with victims? Perceptions of procedural justice can help foster legitimacy which, in turn, encourages public compliance & cooperation But what interventions help officers to interact with people in a ‘fairer’ way? GMP developed a communications skills training programme to improve police contact with victims of crime −360 officers randomly assigned to the treatment (training) −240 officers randomly assigned to the control (no training) The training was found to have a positive impact on: −Officer attitudes −Officer behaviour (measured in a simulated scenario) −Victim perceptions of interaction quality

Do BWV cameras change the way officers deal with domestic abuse incidents & reduce case attrition? Response officers in Essex attended 21k domestic abuse incidents between Oct 12 & Sep 13 Attrition is an issue in domestic abuse cases Hester (2005) found, in Northumbria, that: −26% of incidents resulted in arrest −7% of incidents resulted in a charge −4% of incidents resulted in conviction −0.5% of incidents resulted in a custodial sentence Theory of change −More & better quality evidence gathered at the scene? −Change in officer, suspect & victim behaviour through process? Essex collaboration – BWV cameras

304 eligible response officers −80 randomly assigned to the treatment (cameras) −80 randomly assigned to the control (no cameras) Also possible to compare with 224 non-treatment officers Minimising potential for contamination −An analytical focus on the incident rather than the officer −Sample stratified by location −Identifying incidents attended by multiple officers −Deployment to incidents is ‘blinded’ −Single crewing policy Outcomes −The proportion of incidents that are crimed & which result in charge, caution, conviction or other outcome −Also monitoring early guilty pleas & victimless prosecutions

MPS collaboration – BWV cameras Do BWV cameras improve police/public contact & increase the proportion of incidents that result in a CJ outcome? Very limited evaluation evidence on ‘what works’ to reduce complaints & improve use of S&S Quality of contact is an important issue – legitimacy & public cooperation BWV is a potential game-changer… −Reviewability of decisions −Officer visibility −After-the-event accountability The Rialto experiment −A significant reduction in police use of force −A likely reduction in complaints

MPS collaboration – BWV cameras 10 boroughs selected using a range of criteria −No prior camera deployment, complaints, S&S, crime rates + contextual information (public confidence, officer numbers) Cluster randomised design −2 teams per borough randomly assigned to the treatment About 500 officers with cameras −3 teams per borough randomly assigned to the control About 750 officers without cameras Outcomes −CJ outcomes – arrests, sanction detections, charges… −Complaints – number −S&S – number, hit rate, grounds & disproportionality −Officer attitudes & self-reported behaviour −Public attitudes & experience of contact? −Force assessment of cost savings

Putting trial evidence into practice

College Blueprint… Knowledge, Research and Education Directorate: “will ensure national standards of professionalism are underpinned by evidence and where there is no evidence, are clearly labelled so it is explicit to members on what they are basing their practice or decisions…” Standards development team: to “ensure existing Authorised Professional Practice is up to date and incorporates a transparent and underpinning evidence base…”

What does ‘good’ or ‘robust’ what works evidence look like? Systematic Reviews (Based on level 3-5 studies) 5 Randomised controlled trials 4 Before/after measures Multiple site comparisons 3 Before/after measures Two site comparisons 2 Before/after measures No comparison site 1 One-off measure No comparison site Study designs increasingly rule out potential alternative causes Statements about ‘what works’ Statements about ‘what’s promising’ Study designs cannot rule out potential alternative causes Statements about possible impact

Systematic reviews Taken from: Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Davis, J., Sargeant, E. and Manning, M. (2013) Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy: A Systematic Review of the Research Evidence. Campbell Systematic Reviews 2013:1. Overall, legitimacy interventions resulted in a large, significant increase in positive perceptions of police.

Cochrane Collaboration -Medicine/ Healthcare -Over 5,000 systematic reviews -Focus on specific interventions for specific illnesses Campbell Collaboration -Crime and Justice area -Only 58 systematic reviews -Focus on broad intervention strategies (hot spots, problem solving), not specific tactics Where are we now?

Where are we now re trials? (the bread and butter of systematic reviews)

Rapid Evidence Assessments Use systematic principles and the same process as a systematic review… …but make compromises given available time and resources Pragmatic and transparent approach

Sifting Identifying truly relevant literature 181 empirical studies Searching Identifying potentially relevant literature 11,960 abstracts Synthesis Summarising what relevant literature tells us 41 studies with useful findings Example of the two searches in the organisational change and business improvement REA Rapid Evidence Assessments

‘Proof of concept’ projects Testing the potential for collaborative, cross-departmental work Responding to the challenge of an increasing focus on evidence based policing Encourage skills transfer across the College Identify gaps in the evidence base for possible further investigation Part of a key work stream in the College’s role as a What Works Centre…

Cross-College Evidence Reviews Review Abstracts Identified Included Studies Current Project Status Public Order Tactics50038 Map and Review Drafted Public Order “What Works”1,40060Review Drafted Public Order What evidence is available around public order policing tactics? What works in public order policing?

Systematic Mapping…

What is the evidence on Public Order Tactics? Country of focus

What is the evidence on Public Order Tactics? Research Method

Public Order Tactics Review Tactics No of studies

Public Order Tactics – Mapped Overall: There is only limited research available on public order policing tactics. Only 38 papers were found to be relevant and based on empirical methods. Age: Most of the research (32/38 papers) has been published since Methods: Most papers used qualitative research methods, typically involving observations (n=19) or interviews (n=18). Only one study used experimental methods.

Public Order Tactics – Mapped Unit of study: Only five studies focussed directly on public order tactics. Instead, studies primarily focussed on an event or series of events (n=17) or the police more generally (n=10). Tactics: Of the 30 approved public order tactics, only nine were mentioned in the research evidence identified for this map. The most frequently mentioned tactics were containment (n=5), Police Liaison Teams (n=3) and CS smoke (n=3).

Cross-College Evidence Reviews: Domestic Abuse Review Abstracts Indentified Included Studies Current Project Status Domestic Abuse (Risk)c. 7, Mapping in progress DASH form currently used in 42/43 forces in E&W… Number of other approaches identified so far… - DA; DV-MOSAIC; DVSI; K-SID; ODARA. Cross-College review team of 12 drawn from across research, APP and learning strategy.

Evidence Base Camp Pilot ran October & November 2013; Feb 2014 AreaAbstracts returned Available for synthesis Useful Studies Acute Mental Health Crisis 1, Barriers to career progression 1, Reducing theft from the person Supporting mental well-being 1, Responding to prostitution TOTAL5, delegates from across the service – 5 priority areas mapped!!!

Some reflections so far… The scale of the challenge –Size of APP –Limits of policing research Resourcing REAs –Collaboration & skills transfer necessary Routinization & prioritisation –Where do we start? Valuing ‘experiential’ evidence –How do we capture this systematically? Being transparent about the ‘best available’ evidence What’s the best model for REA delivery???

College support Developing trial evidence… Funding regional police/academic collaborations Support to academic funding bids Advice surgeries & peer review More hands-on support to evaluate high risk, high cost or high potential impact interventions Research map Putting trial evidence into practice… The What Works Centre for Crime Reduction Evidence base camp Evidence-based champions Master classes on evidence-based policing The National Police Library, POLKA, the College website…

Thank you! Paul Quinton Levin Wheller