Community Safety

The purpose of the review was to illuminate the issues through an approach focussed on the journeys that victims (of all ages and genders) might take from the point of accessing services and / or reporting to police, referral or self-referral to the SARC, ISVA and specialist services e.g. rape crisis, specialist services for male victims, therapeutic support, counselling and associated services including domestic abuse services. The aspirations of the Victims Code also were reflected in the approach, reflecting its spirit as well as specific requirements. The whole range of options for victims/survivors were considered, including restorative justice.  

The review had a range of key elements namely:

• Direct engagement with the experiences of different groups of victims’ and survivors’ journeys from initial reporting to Police or specialist services through the CJS;
• Making best use of the available evidence to assess how well victims are supported to cope and recover regardless of whether they report the crime to the police;
• Assessing what are the enablers and barriers to going down the route of the criminal justice system from first report to police to probation board hearings and release of offender;
• Considering whether the response to victims is holistic and reflects a whole system approach;
• Considering whether the response meets the PCC’s obligations under the Equality Act and meets the needs of all victims including protected groups, and other forms of disadvantage;
• Considering the quality of partnership working in relation to sexual abuse / violence including strategic partnership arrangements and referral pathways;
• Examining the links between domestic abuse and sexual abuse/violence services and pathways;
• Considering how West Yorkshire compares with other similar areas e.g. Greater Manchester and Greater London. Other areas including Essex, South Yorkshire and Avon and Somerset were also examined.

We engaged directly with service users, potential service users and wider communities, especially those considered to be “hard to reach” along with consulting with commissioners and service providers. These consultations used a variety of methods including on-line surveys, face-to-face consultations (both one-to-one and in small groups), telephone consultations and the use of case study material. 

As detailed above good practice examples from across the country were included drawn both from similar areas and those areas deploying innovative models of delivery.

The final report contained a range of issues and themes, a proposed service model along with recommendations to improve practice. The report also contained a number of journey maps which display, graphically, interactions individuals made with services and outlined pinch points where a different intervention could have made a positive difference.

We were commissioned to undertake a strategic review of domestic abuse future needs and requirements for delivery by Falkirk Council.

The review comprised an extensive review of a wide range of relevant datasets to establish local need. Alongside this we undertook an extensive consultation programme, including with service users, to gather their experiences and views on current and future services. Therse consultations used a variety of methods including one-to-one interviews, small group discussions and the use of surveys some of which were undertaken by service provider staff.

This review sought to ensure that local services are being delivered in line with the Scottish Government's Equally Safe strategy along with other local priorities. 

In addition it will took into account good practice especially in developing options for future services.

The final report will include analysis of the material gathered providing conclusions and recommendations for future service delivery.

 We conducted research for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority into the needs of victims of crime who do not wish to engage with the Criminal Justice System.

This work focussed on accessing previously untapped datasources and linking in with organisations providing direct and indirect support to victims of crime. These organisations included those in voluntary, community and statutory sectors. These organisations both provided their views and assisted with accessing victims for consultations.

Key issues that were explored included:

• Why people do not report crimes;
• Why they do not access victim support services;
• What are their 'cope and recover' needs;
• What are the barriers and gaps in service.
  

The work focussed upon understanding the needs of victims across a wide range of specific groups including BAME communities, LGBT, mental health, disability and domestic abuse (both female and male).

The report outlined a range of key findings relating both to potential system changes and ways to adapt current services and align support across sectors.​​

We undertook a consultation and engagement process for GMCA with victims and witnesses of crime. This exercise supported a wider survey being undertaken with the aim being to focus in more depth on listening to the specific experiences of victims of crime. The exercise comprised undertaking a series of consultation events with a variety of victims and witnesses alongside telephone and one-to-one interviews. 

These consultations were focussed on victims from a variety of experiences. The thematic areas covered included people experiencing a number of crimes in a short period of time, victims not reporting crime, victims who had experienced high impact crimes, victims and witnesses who have been through the entire criminal justice process and with specific groups such as older people, young people and victims with learning disability/autism. Victims/survivors of domestic abuse across Greater Manchester formed a substantial proportion of the participants. 

A wide variety of experiences were highlighted across the whole spectrum of support and recovery needs.

The final report included analysis drawn from these consultations. This analysis included specific elements for each thematic group along with those relevant to all victims.

We carried out an evaluation of a variety of community safety schemes. These included the police operation, street pastors, taxi marshaling, communications plan, joint ambulance and police deployment and use of special constables. 

This evaluation was carried using extensive stakeholder consultations both bi-laterals and via the completion of a free-text stakeholder survey. This was supplemented by an analysis of key crime and disorder data. It was carried out to a compressed timescale and within the context of reduced public sector funding. 

We made recommendations on future service commissioning priorities and scheme management changes. 

 This evaluation involved the design of a survey of users of the city centre in the evenings, the delivery of the survey and its analysis using SPSS. The questions included a number comparing progress to a previous campaign in 2009. We displayed appropriate confidence intervals including, where possible, those which showed a significant difference to the previous figures. 

Based on the analysis we included recommendations on future targeting of campaigns and community safety schemes.

Our Director was commissioned to provide a series of community safety training events across West Mercia on neighbourhood problem solving. The audience was made up of police, local authority representatives and other agency partners. 

It was a key requirement of the brief that delegates were provided with an interactive opportunity to apply problem solving methods to realistic scenarios. This was achieved using an applied action learning approach. 

Each delegate was provided with a training pack including workbook with copies of presentation materials, activity sheets and guidance documents. 

Key topics of the seminars were: local partnership working, examination of the SPARE wheel problem solving tool (Scanning, Prioritisation, Analysis, Response and Evaluation), holistic approaches to crime prevention and the development of incremental action plans.

We were engaged to conduct a qualitative and quantitative consultation exercise in relation to partnership effectiveness and performance against baseline data. This involved a heavy emphasis on crime, anti-social behaviour and environmental issues. 

The work involved 2 main elements; firstly the redesign and repetition of the initial neighbourhood management baseline survey and qualitative consultations. The survey analysis included confidence interval (margin of error) calculations and chi-square significance testing. This assessed whether improvements made against the baseline were statistically significant and the extent to which variables within the survey showed a dependent rather than random relationship. 

The consultations involved a series of focus groups held with specific groups of people who may not have been represented using the traditional survey methodology. These included young people, lone parents and minority ethnic groups. One-to-one semi-interviews interviews were also held with key stakeholders. The main purpose of these being obtaining their views on barriers to partnership delivery, critical success factors and future planning.