Victims and witnesses

Police Foundation Conference 9th October 2012 Policing and community engagement David Kenyon, Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs Aiman Elal, Senior Service Delivery Manager

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Who we are and what we do •Victim support helps people find the strength to move on after crime •We have contact with over a million victims of crime every year – we offer practical and emotional support and give victims and witnesses a voice •Our Witness Service helps over 300k witnesses every year in every criminal court in England and Wales •We have over 6,500 volunteers working with 1600 staff •We are a national charity delivering services locally •Partnership working is a central to all we do – including partnership with key stakeholders like the police

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MOPAC Challenges to the Met The challenge set by MOPAC for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) up to 2016: “A Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) that becomes the UK’s most effective, most efficient, most respected, even most loved police force” (Can this be a challenge for you too) 20/20/20 Challenge to: • CUT crime by 20% • BOOST public confidence by 20% • CUT costs by 20%

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So what are the key challenges facing the police in the context of community engagement? • A new policing landscape – a public that continues to demand a high level of service and responsiveness from front line officers • Fiscal constraint – budget cuts of 20% by 2015 • Challenging Social outlook – the challenge of maintaining services and looking for creative and innovative ways to operate in the face of dwindling resources 4

What do we know from Victim Support’s Research?

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Satisfaction ratings –Fewer than 5 in 10 victims satisfied with police

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Victims often don’t feel they are being kept informed about their own case

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Public are more demanding and less deferential than they used to be

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Local commissioning of services to victims that could place additional burdens on the police if not done well and consistently

BOOST CONFIDENCE Drivers of Public Confidence Four key drivers of public confidence: • Effectiveness in dealing with crime: 1. Responding to emergencies; 2. tackling and preventing crime; 3. supporting victims and witnesses; 4. providing a visible presence 5. policing public events

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BOOST CONFIDENCE (Cont.) • Engagement with the community 1. Committed to and engaged with the community, listening, understanding and dealing with their concerns 2. being reliable • Fair treatment 1. Fair and treated with respect; helpful, friendly and approachable • Alleviating Local ASB - Reductions in local disorder and ASB

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What are your challenges to achieving these ambitions?

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What might be a few quick wins and solutions?

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The future? There is a need to look to ways to work more closely with others and help each other to deliver what the public need We all need to be creative and innovative in our approach Building confidence in the police is something we can all help with and something we all want to see But it has to start here: national and local approaches to improve engagement, deliver more for less and build public confidence

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