Police reform in Scotland: What can we learn from the experiences of front-line officers?

Little is known about how front-line police officers navigate major structural reforms within their organization. The findings presented in this paper were collected as part of the first ever empirical study of the newly created Police Service of Scotland between October 2013 and June 2014. The findings discussed here are pertinent to the wider academic literature in that they fill the current gap in knowledge on how front-line police officers experience major structural reforms at a police operational level; by exploring the ways, if any, reform impacted on the routine delivery of local policing. This paper focuses on three main themes which emerged from the analysis of 68 interviews conducted with a stratified sample of serving police officers; front-line police officers, their supervisors and managers across two geographically distinct case study areas in Scotland. The paper highlights police officers' concerns around a lack of front-line involvement in either the planning or implementation of reform, the pace at which the changes associated with reform were rolled out and the internal communication processes adopted throughout the reform journey, all of which they claim impacted negatively on their daily routines. This unique data was collected using a variety of qualitative and ethnographic research approaches including non-participant observations, walking interviews, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews at the precise time major structural reform was being implemented across Scotland

The Concept of Fairness in Relation to Women Transport Users

This paper discusses the concept of ‘fairness’ in transport, specifically regarding women using public transport, future autonomous vehicle taxis or bicycle sharing. Women generally have var-ying and complex mobility patterns compared to men and suffer disproportionate fairness issues when using transport. Different concepts of fairness are explored, including: equality of oppor-tunity, equity and justice (including procedural, social and distributional justice). While each of these concepts has different implications for women using transport, it is also recognized that fairness principles should apply to all people (regardless of sex, gender or other characteristics). Analysis of the different forms of mobility, as represented by public transport, autonomous vehi-cles and bicycle sharing, illustrate a variety of specific fairness issues. Factors such as safety and security, cost, physical design of infrastructure and vehicles, and characteristics such as low-income or childcare responsibilities arise in each case. The three cases also indicate a range of both horizonal fairness factors (similar people being treated similarly) and vertical fairness factors (such as more disadvantaged people receiving greater support). Further research is re-quired into setting frameworks for a more comprehensive inclusion of, and balance between, dif-ferent concepts of fairness and their interactions in both transport policy and practice

Working Paper on Impacts of COVID-19 on employment fairness in the transport industry – challenges, employer support and flexible working

Background This Working Paper considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on employee experiences of work in the transport sector including: changes to place of work, challenges faced while working through the pandemic, employer support offered to employees, and areas where employees believed support was lacking. Some 46 individuals were interviewed (or in one country took part in focus groups) in the summer of 2020 during the covid pandemic, in order to collect views from a wide range of professionals. These represented multi-level samples in terms of city level (Warsaw), regional level (Catalonia region of Spain), and national levels (Ireland and UK (Scotland and England)). Findings and Conclusions The main findings relate to both: ‘front line’ transport workers such as drivers and others working in the field in customer-facing roles, who required particular health and safety support due to the covid pandemic; and office workers where there was a major move towards homeworking. While the value of the data discussed is mainly in its richness in terms of employee views, the broad summaries and conclusions for the specific research questions are now set out. 1. During COVID did you work at home or at your usual location? Overall, the responses suggest that the areas and countries were similar in terms of changes to work location. They do however point out how a worker’s role influenced their work location and wider concerns about covid at this time. As may be expected, ‘front line’ roles that were usually carried out in the field and were deemed essential during the pandemic, such as drivers and inspectors, continued to work in their usual location. Other roles, generally officed based, shifted rapidly from the workplace to working from home or a mix of both. 2. Can you tell us about the key challenges you faced by working in your usual location? Individuals working in their usual location, and who are not customer-facing workers that is those who usually work in the office, shifted to a mix of working from home and office, and generally did not report any specific challenges. However, the data does highlight that customer-facing, ‘front line’ workers, who worked in their usual location during the pandemic faced considerable challenges. Hence the ‘roles’ of the workers had the biggest impact on level of challenge faced. It is important to note that ‘front line worker responses mainly involved participants from the Spanish and Polish data were predominantly ‘front line’ workers, while few such workers were involved in the Irish and UK samples. Some further specific issues included: the lack of protective equipment for employees which seemed to be an issue in the initial stages of the pandemic when resources were limited; some customers not adhering to the covid safety measures that had been put in place; and those working in their usual workplace being challenged by conflicts and variations between safety measures and changes to regulations. 3. Can you tell us about the key challenges you faced working at home? Themes emerging from the data indicated that participants working from home faced some key technical challenges such as limited access to their work computers, laptops and printers particularly at the beginning of the lock downs, although there were some cases when this persisted throughout lock down. Technical challenges were also discussed in relation to multiple users attempting to access the internet at the same time and band width problems with many home workers stating that having partners and children at home, who also required access to the internet for home schooling etc., made it difficult at times to log on during normal working hours. This resulted in many participants claiming they had to alter their usual working hours to work more early mornings and late nights to accommodate their partners and children. A lack of childcare generally during lock down meant that most children were at home with working parents during the day. These same parents then had responsibility not only for continuing their own work but also the additional responsibility of home schooling their children, this was reported across areas/countries and participants. A further challenge of working from home for many of the participants related to missing their co-workers and social interactions or “water cooler conversations”, with participants who worked both at home and in their usual location agreeing that the best part of working in their usual location on certain days was the social interactions with their co-workers. 4. How did your organisation support you? Participants reported that employers supported them well during the outbreak of covid in several ways, when working from home or in their usual workplace and upon returning to work. With regard to support received for those who moved to working from home, the majority of participants were satisfied with the measures their organisation undertook to support their shift to working from home, by providing everything from risk assessments and office equipment to IT support. With regard to participants who continued to work in their usual location the support provided by employers included the introduction of covid safety measures, such as Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) although sometimes this was delayed, and other safety measures and employer preparation for future outbreaks. Employees also benefited from a separation of workspaces, staggered worktimes, increased contact with managers, communication on non-work-related topics and general interaction, and support for the mental health and wellbeing of individuals. In addition, participants noted that the support they received included things like no reduction in wages for those whose hours were cut, no job losses and some appreciated opportunities to be redeployed to non-customer facing work or to work part time for a period. For parents work flexibility was particularly important. 5. What could your organisation have done to support you more/better? Some employees thought their organisation could have provided better support, although they recognised that as they were working through a crisis it was understandable that there were few opportunities for socialising virtually and some employers did not explicitly support these. Most appear to have felt well supported by the employers in the circumstances

Working Paper on Impacts of COVID-19 on employment fairness in the transport industry – challenges, employer support and flexible working

Background This Working Paper considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on employee experiences of work in the transport sector including: changes to place of work, challenges faced while working through the pandemic, employer support offered to employees, and areas where employees believed support was lacking. Some 46 individuals were interviewed (or in one country took part in focus groups) in the summer of 2020 during the covid pandemic, in order to collect views from a wide range of professionals. These represented multi-level samples in terms of city level (Warsaw), regional level (Catalonia region of Spain), and national levels (Ireland and UK (Scotland and England)). Findings and Conclusions The main findings relate to both: ‘front line’ transport workers such as drivers and others working in the field in customer-facing roles, who required particular health and safety support due to the covid pandemic; and office workers where there was a major move towards homeworking. While the value of the data discussed is mainly in its richness in terms of employee views, the broad summaries and conclusions for the specific research questions are now set out. 1. During COVID did you work at home or at your usual location? Overall, the responses suggest that the areas and countries were similar in terms of changes to work location. They do however point out how a worker’s role influenced their work location and wider concerns about covid at this time. As may be expected, ‘front line’ roles that were usually carried out in the field and were deemed essential during the pandemic, such as drivers and inspectors, continued to work in their usual location. Other roles, generally officed based, shifted rapidly from the workplace to working from home or a mix of both. 2. Can you tell us about the key challenges you faced by working in your usual location? Individuals working in their usual location, and who are not customer-facing workers that is those who usually work in the office, shifted to a mix of working from home and office, and generally did not report any specific challenges. However, the data does highlight that customer-facing, ‘front line’ workers, who worked in their usual location during the pandemic faced considerable challenges. Hence the ‘roles’ of the workers had the biggest impact on level of challenge faced. It is important to note that ‘front line worker responses mainly involved participants from the Spanish and Polish data were predominantly ‘front line’ workers, while few such workers were involved in the Irish and UK samples. Some further specific issues included: the lack of protective equipment for employees which seemed to be an issue in the initial stages of the pandemic when resources were limited; some customers not adhering to the covid safety measures that had been put in place; and those working in their usual workplace being challenged by conflicts and variations between safety measures and changes to regulations. 3. Can you tell us about the key challenges you faced working at home? Themes emerging from the data indicated that participants working from home faced some key technical challenges such as limited access to their work computers, laptops and printers particularly at the beginning of the lock downs, although there were some cases when this persisted throughout lock down. Technical challenges were also discussed in relation to multiple users attempting to access the internet at the same time and band width problems with many home workers stating that having partners and children at home, who also required access to the internet for home schooling etc., made it difficult at times to log on during normal working hours. This resulted in many participants claiming they had to alter their usual working hours to work more early mornings and late nights to accommodate their partners and children. A lack of childcare generally during lock down meant that most children were at home with working parents during the day. These same parents then had responsibility not only for continuing their own work but also the additional responsibility of home schooling their children, this was reported across areas/countries and participants. A further challenge of working from home for many of the participants related to missing their co-workers and social interactions or “water cooler conversations”, with participants who worked both at home and in their usual location agreeing that the best part of working in their usual location on certain days was the social interactions with their co-workers. 4. How did your organisation support you? Participants reported that employers supported them well during the outbreak of covid in several ways, when working from home or in their usual workplace and upon returning to work. With regard to support received for those who moved to working from home, the majority of participants were satisfied with the measures their organisation undertook to support their shift to working from home, by providing everything from risk assessments and office equipment to IT support. With regard to participants who continued to work in their usual location the support provided by employers included the introduction of covid safety measures, such as Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) although sometimes this was delayed, and other safety measures and employer preparation for future outbreaks. Employees also benefited from a separation of workspaces, staggered worktimes, increased contact with managers, communication on non-work-related topics and general interaction, and support for the mental health and wellbeing of individuals. In addition, participants noted that the support they received included things like no reduction in wages for those whose hours were cut, no job losses and some appreciated opportunities to be redeployed to non-customer facing work or to work part time for a period. For parents work flexibility was particularly important. 5. What could your organisation have done to support you more/better? Some employees thought their organisation could have provided better support, although they recognised that as they were working through a crisis it was understandable that there were few opportunities for socialising virtually and some employers did not explicitly support these. Most appear to have felt well supported by the employers in the circumstances

Information sharing in community policing in Europe: building public confidence

The literature on the importance of procedural justice in policing is extensive. Using the context of information sharing in community policing, this paper argues that interactional, procedural and distributive justice are salient in interactions between the police and the public, both online and face-to-face. Structured interviews (n=161) were conducted with members of young minority groups and intermediaries (who work with minorities and police agencies) across nine countries in Europe. Our analysis of barriers and facilitators to sharing information with the police highlights processes of interactional, procedural and distributive justice in building public confidence. We highlight theoretical and practical implications of relevance to policing internationally. Our findings show that demonstrating aspects of interactional justice (attitude and behaviour, accessibility and communication, personal contact and relationships); procedural justice (responsiveness and efficiency, data protection and security); and distributive justice (outcomes and effectiveness, equity in distribution of policing services) have a role in building public confidence and facilitating information sharing with police online and face to face. We conclude that in addition to micro-level interactions, meso-level social processes (like community policing models and data protection and security procedures) can be useful in enhancing public confidence

Unity - Ethical, legal and socially responsible framework for training, awareness raising and exploitation

Hail, Y., Aston, E., Wooff, A., & O'Neill, M. (2018). Unity - Ethical, legal and socially responsible framework for training, awareness raising and exploitation. European Commission. https://www.unity-project.eu/index.php/documents

Unity - Ethical, legal and socially responsible framework for training, awareness raising and exploitation

Hail, Y., Aston, E., Wooff, A., & O'Neill, M. (2018). Unity - Ethical, legal and socially responsible framework for training, awareness raising and exploitation. European Commission. https://www.unity-project.eu/index.php/documents

Information sharing in community policing in Europe: building public confidence

The literature on the importance of procedural justice in policing is extensive. Using the context of information sharing in community policing, this paper argues that interactional, procedural and distributive justice are salient in interactions between the police and the public, both online and face-to-face. Structured interviews (n=161) were conducted with members of young minority groups and intermediaries (who work with minorities and police agencies) across nine countries in Europe. Our analysis of barriers and facilitators to sharing information with the police highlights processes of interactional, procedural and distributive justice in building public confidence. We highlight theoretical and practical implications of relevance to policing internationally. Our findings show that demonstrating aspects of interactional justice (attitude and behaviour, accessibility and communication, personal contact and relationships); procedural justice (responsiveness and efficiency, data protection and security); and distributive justice (outcomes and effectiveness, equity in distribution of policing services) have a role in building public confidence and facilitating information sharing with police online and face to face. We conclude that in addition to micro-level interactions, meso-level social processes (like community policing models and data protection and security procedures) can be useful in enhancing public confidence

Conditions, Actions and Purposes (CAP): A Dynamic Model for Community Policing in Europe

Despite its popularity as a policing method and evidence of its positive affect on communities, community policing has defied attempts to establish a clear definition and replicable form. Often regarded as an Anglo-American policing method in origin, community policing is now found across the world and is growing in influence. The need for differentiated local implementation raises important questions regarding the core features of community policing to guide the work of practitioners. Integrating insights from the existing literature and a trans-European project involving 323 interviews with community members and police officers across eight countries, we propose a dynamic model for community policing. In this original model, we differentiate between the conditions, actions and purposes of community policing (CAP) and describe how these core components are required for effective community policing, interrelated, and flexible enough for local implementation. Accordingly, we show how the CAP model is adaptable while at the same time retaining a sense of what makes ‘community policing’ a unique and identifiable policing method. We conclude our study with a discussion of the implications for research and practice internationally