Item 7 - Local Policing Plan -For Scrutiny
West Dunbartonshire Council · 22 February 2023
Back to Housing & Communities Committee — 22 February 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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OFFICIAL West Dunbartonshire - L Division - Local Policing Plan ITEM 7
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OFFICIAL Contents West Dunbartonshire - L Division - Local Policing Plan .............................................. 1 Foreword ................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 5 National strategic alignment ................................................................................... 6 Police Scotland’s strategic objectives ..................................................................... 7 West Dunbartonshire Local policing delivery context.............................................. 8 Local priorities ...................................................................................................... 10 Local objectives and activity ................................................................................. 13 Threats to public safety and wellbeing are resolved by a proactive and responsive police service .................................................................................. 13 The needs of local communities are addressed through effective service delivery .......................................................................................................................... 18 The public, communities and partners are engaged, involved and have confidence in policing ........................................................................................ 22 Our people are supported through a positive working environment, enabling them to service the public ................................................................................. 25 Police Scotland is sustainable, adaptable and prepared for future challenges . 28 Governance and performance .............................................................................. 31 Equality, diversity and inclusion ............................................................................ 32 Engaging with us .................................................................................................. 33
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OFFICIAL Foreword As the Local Police Commander I am pleased to introduce the Local Policing Plan for West Dunbartonshire for 2023-26. I was proud to be appointed Divisional Commander of Argyll and West Dunbartonshire in December 2021 and I would like to thank my predecessor, Chief Superintendent John Paterson, for his commitment and dedication to policing this area before my arrival in post. This plan outlines how police officers and staff, working closely with partner agencies through the community planning process, will focus on local policing priorities over the next three years; it reflects the views of the diverse range of urban, rural, remote and island communities across the area as well as drawing on information from Police Scotland’s Strategic Assessment. Much has changed since the compilation of the last Local Policing Plan in 2020 and Police Scotland and our partners acknowledge the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead, particularly when we consider both the continued recovery from the global COVID pandemic and the current cost of living, creating an ever changing, uncertain and complex environment. Local Policing is at the heart of our relationship with communities and all of the officers and staff working across Argyll and West Dunbartonshire are committed to keeping our communities safe by providing a responsive, resilient and focussed service. This Local Policing Plan reflects the need to collaborate, refocus and redirect resources from across a range of sectors to meet the needs of the public. I am committed to developing and enhancing the strong community spirit that exists by building close alliances with our communities and partners across the public, private and third sectors to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities as set out in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. We are all aware of the impact vulnerability, mental ill-health, alcohol and substance misuse has on both individuals and wider society. A broader understanding of the impact that living through the COVID pandemic has had is also starting to emerge, including the harms caused to individuals. The cost of living is likely to further impact communities, families, households and businesses. It has been well documented that the associated demands placed on policing continue to grow with less than 20% of all calls received by the police service resulting in a crime being recorded.
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OFFICIAL In developing our Local Policing Plans for 2023-26, we have consulted widely with our stakeholders – the public, partner agencies and our staff. The feedback we received has informed this plan. We will address priorities and tackle the things which you have told us matter to you the most. This plan builds on the strong foundations already in place, with a continued emphasis on crimes of violence and protecting the most vulnerable members of our communities, road safety, thefts (including cyber and digital frauds), drug supply and misuse and disorder. In addition to tackling traditional and visible crime and criminality, we must find different ways to prevent, disrupt and respond to the ever more inventive and complex use of digital tools and new tactics, often originating from beyond our borders, to commit fraud, extort money or cause harm. Increased use of social media across all age groups brings with it the requirement to raise awareness, through education, of the potential harm that can be caused and to ensure everyone remains safe online and has the confidence to report any matters of concern. In these challenging times, it is clear that the police service cannot meet the needs of everyone on its own. We will improve our skill-set by continuing to actively participate in existing and new partnerships, listen to and learn from the experience of our people and communities and utilise our policing expertise to improve resilience, prevent crime and other harm. Whilst the demands and complexity of the challenges faced by Police Scotland continue to evolve our core values of integrity, fairness, respect and human rights will continue to underpin all we do. As your Local Police Commander I have a statutory responsibility under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 to work closely with West Dunbartonshire and Argyll & Bute Local Authorities to ensure our Local Policing Plans are linked to the Local Outcome Improvement Plans. I am determined that officers and staff across the Argyll & West Dunbartonshire Division continue to provide a visible, effective and efficient policing service that is relevant to the communities we serve; preventing and detecting crime whilst providing support and protection to those who need us. I am immensely proud of the work police officers and staff do every hour of every day across the Division to keep people safe, and it’s my privilege to serve as your Local Police Commander. Chief Superintendent Lynn Ratcliff, Local Police Commander, Argyll & West Dunbartonshire Division
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OFFICIAL Introduction Argyll & West Dunbartonshire Division has a large geographical footprint. At just under 3000 square miles, it reaches from Clydebank in West Dunbartonshire as far north as Oban, out to Mull, Coll and Tiree and south to Islay and Kintyre. West Dunbartonshire includes the towns of Clydebank, Dumbarton and Alexandria and has a population of more than 89,000 people. It covers an area of around 98 square miles with residential and business communities that stretch along the banks of the Clyde to the shores of Loch Lomond. The Chief Constable of Police Scotland has ultimate and overarching responsibility for the policing of Scotland as per Section 17 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. Section 47 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 places a statutory responsibility on each Local Police Commander to produce a policing plan for their local authority area. These plans are not solely a legislative responsibility, but also demonstrate Police Scotland’s commitment to delivering local and national outcomes. Our Local Policing Plan 2023-2026 is linked to the West Dunbartonshire Local Outcome Improvement Plan. It currently provides the priorities for West Dunbartonshire: Flourishing Our local community is flourishing Independent Our adults and older residents are supported to remain independent Nurtured Our children and young people are nurtured Empowered Our residents are empowered Safe Our communities are safe The Local Policing Plan will adapt to our changing challenges and demands and as such will be reviewed every 3 months to ensure it accurately reflects the needs of our communities within West Dunbartonshire.
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OFFICIAL National strategic alignment Our strategic outcomes provide a clear route from the Scottish Government’s outcomes and priorities, including the Justice Strategy, through Police Scotland’s strategies, plans and performance reporting, enabling us to demonstrate alignment and clearly articulate our ambitions and progress as demonstrated below. In addition to the Annual Police Plan, Police Scotland’s thirteen local policing divisions produce Local Police Plans which reference distinct priorities, objectives, outcomes and performance measures. They link to wider community planning arrangements, with Local Outcome Improvement Plans taken into account in their development. Scottish Government National Outcomes/Strategic Priorities/Justice Vision SPA/Police Scotland Strategic Outcomes Long Term Policing Strategy: Policing for a Safe, Protected and Resilient Scotland Enabler strategies including People, Fleet, Estates, Public Contact and Engagement, Enabling Policing for the Future, Digital Data and ICT, Cyber, Environmental, Procurement, Violence against Women and Girls, Equality Diversity and Inclusion These are underpinned by plans including the Strategic Workforce Plan, Annual Police Plan, Local Police Plans, Local Outcome Improvement Plans, and Financial Plans.
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OFFICIAL Police Scotland’s strategic objectives
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OFFICIAL West Dunbartonshire Local policing delivery context Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Division covers almost 3,000 square miles of land and sea. The area encompasses two local authority areas - West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute. For West Dunbartonshire we have a dedicated Area Commander who has responsibility for day-to-day policing. Whilst West Dunbartonshire has a population of just over 89,000 people, there are a lot of tourist attractions in the area including Dumbarton Castle and of course Loch Lomond which attracts people from all over the UK particularly during the summer months. The area has a vibrant and diverse population and boasts a significant number of small-scale commercial enterprises supporting the local community. Uniformed policing in the division consists of response officers, based at Dumbarton Police Station who are responsible for the day to day policing presence in our communities and are the first point of contact for the majority of our frontline response. To compliment response officers, West Dunbartonshire has a dedicated Community Policing Team who are embedded in our communities and will address local issues at a local level. The Community Engagement Team (CET) provide specialist support to the Division in respect of crime prevention, safer communities and architectural liaison work. The CET prioritises the Divert and Deter strands of the Serious Organised Crime Strategy and oversees local imbedding of the UK’s Counter Terrorism Strategy known as Contest. Further to this, the CET leads equality and diversity matters and oversees hate crime investigations within the division. Specialist departments within the division include the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and the Public Protection Unit (PPU), responsible for the investigation of serious crime, sexual crime and domestic abuse.
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OFFICIAL Our Local Policing Division is supported by a number of national functions including Specialist Crime Division (SCD), Operational Support Division (OSD), Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing Division (PPCW). We are also supported by our Contact, Command and Control Division who provide frontline advice, support and assistance to the public and police. Their highly skilled staff and officers provide 24 hour support to resolve enquiries, prioritise and task incidents and supply our frontline officers with operationally critical information. The introduction of the Contact Assessment Model (CAM) changed the way Police Scotland handles calls from the public. With CAM, each call is assessed and prioritised to ensure that where a police response is required, it will be despatched timeously. Where the matter does not require a policing response and would be more effectively resolved by another agency, the call will be referred accordingly. This ensures that communities across West Dunbartonshire receive support from the most appropriate agency and enables police resources to be deployed more effectively to prevent crime and disorder in your area.
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OFFICIAL Local priorities
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OFFICIAL We engaged with the public on this Local Policing Plan through our Your Police Survey, which has been running now for a number of years. We also carried out specific engagement from November 2022 through to February 2023, providing an opportunity for you to tell us what matters to you most for policing in West Dunbartonshire. This reflected past consultation results and underlines that we continue to focus our efforts on areas of concert for the communities we serve. The priorities you identified were: Tackling anti-social behaviour Tackling crimes related to drugs and alcohol Visibility, presence and being approachable Traffic related offences Improved community engagement Tackling violence and domestic abuse These priorities are not considered in isolation, for example our response to violence against women and girls includes elements of a number of the priorities identified. Whilst public consultation with the people of West Dunbartonshire determines local priorities, national priorities are identified through our National Strategic Assessment, and these also feature in our Annual Police Plan. National priorities include: Protecting vulnerable people Tackling crime in the digital age Working with communities Support for operational policing Together with the local priorities you identified and our shared partnership objectives, we will focus our efforts with equal commitment and determination to deliver positive outcomes for the communities we serve. The resources which inform our priority setting are:
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OFFICIAL Locally we have engaged with our communities to provide results from the Your Police Survey open to everyone in our community of West Dunbartonshire. Nationally, we have sources such as the Police Scotland National Strategic Assessment (2023/26) providing crime and incident data, Police Scotland Annual Police Plan (2023/24) West Dunbartonshire Local Outcome Improvement Plan Community Impact Assessments Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessments Taking the local priorities provided by you, alongside our own Strategic Assessment and partnership objectives, the overall priorities for the West Dunbartonshire Local Policing Plan are: Acquisitive Crime Public Protection Road Safety and Road Crime Serious Organised Crime Violence and anti-social behaviour Only by working together can we achieve the shared vision of a West Dunbartonshire which has a positive, equitable and inclusive future.
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OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Local objectives and activity Threats to public safety and wellbeing are resolved by a proactive and responsive police service We find ourselves moving at an ever-increasing pace from the physical to the digital world; a move that creates new and complex crime types. It also affects traditional crime, much of which now has a digital element. To protect our communities effectively, we will continue to explore innovative technologies and partnerships. We will continue to be a key contributor to local joint planning and delivery, helping drive a shift to prevention and early intervention across services. Objective: Keep people safe in the physical and digital world Activity: Implement new measures to reduce threat, risk and harm to vulnerable missing people. Key Milestones: Ensure Herbert Protocol continues to be implemented for those living with dementia whether at home or in care establishments. Promote the use of the Purple Alert app within communities to enable community awareness to find someone living with dementia if they go missing. Hold focus groups with those living with dementia, younger people and those in the business sector around the use of Dementia Safeguarding Tags. Develop a communications plan to launch the Dementia Safeguarding Tags with those living with dementia, business sector and wider public. Launch the Dementia Safeguarding Tags within communities of West Dunbartonshire. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights:
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How effective is the implementation of the Herbert Protocol in helping find people living with dementia who go missing? How well have Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division promoted the Purple Alert app? How effective is the Dementia Safeguarding Tag in assisting people living with dementia when they are out in the community? Activity: Work with partners to reduce the impact of cyber related harm. Key milestones: Deliver cyber-related harm awareness events to those most at risk including vulnerable adults and younger people, alongside partner agencies including Trading Standards. Increase preventative work to highlight dangers of cyber-crime including use of Youth Engagement Officers to deliver inputs to schools and Community Engagement officers to deliver inputs to older adults. Work with partners in education to prevent cyber bullying. Work with partners in education to provide parents with tools to keep their young people safe online. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How many cyber-crime awareness events have been held with partner agencies? How effective has the division been in reducing the impact of cyber-crime? How well are Argyll and West Dunbartonshire doing in providing information to parents to help prevent cyber-bullying? Objective: Design services jointly to tackle complex public safety and wellbeing challenges Activity: Develop partnership approaches to tackle drug related deaths, drug related harm and improve community wellbeing Key milestones:
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OFFICIAL Focus intelligence led proactive operations to divert those involved in drugs supply across the geography from travelling to supply drugs. Contribute to all drugs related death reviews as part of the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership in West Dunbartonshire. Provide drug supply awareness (known as County Lines) inputs to front line partners including social work, education staff, housing and environmental services. Enhance our approach to those exploited by Serious Organised Crime Groups in the drugs supply chain, safeguarding victims and maximising investigative focus on bringing those involved in the coordination of such activity to justice. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: Have intelligence-led proactive operations led to an increase in drug-related detections? How well received are our inputs at Drugs Related Death Review meetings chaired by the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership? How effective are Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division in encouraging the reporting of drug intelligence within communities? Activity: Implement a refreshed approach to Children and Young People underpinned by a Children’s Rights Approach to policing. Key milestones: Work with child protection partners to mitigate the risks posed to children and young people including online sexual abuse and exploitation. Ensure we meet our corporate parenting responsibility by upholding the rights and securing the wellbeing of Care-Experienced Young People. Create a refreshed Joint Investigative Interview (JIT) suite in Dumbarton Police Station to improve our response to child protection for children who have been abused or neglected. Provide a consistent point of contact for the school community, delivering and participating in inputs and initiatives to provide focus on early and effective intervention through education.
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OFFICIAL Introduce the Scottish Child Interview Model (SCIM) to ensure best practice of local authority and police working closely together to provide the best possible service to children at risk. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: What work has been carried out with partners to mitigate the risks of online sexual abuse and exploitation, and how effective has this been? Has the JIIT suite in Dumbarton been completed and how effectively is this being used? How many inputs have been provided within education establishments for young people? Has the roll out of SCIM taken place and how successful has this been? Objective: Support policing through proactive prevention Activity: Support the implementation of Distress Brief Intervention throughout West Dunbartonshire. Key milestones: Identify and train officers suitable for the launch of Distress Brief Intervention taking an incremental approach to ensure adequate service provision with Level 1 providers. Support officers in completion of both online and face to face training to ensure they are appropriately trained as Level 2 officers. Monitor referrals to Support in Mind Scotland in accordance with training provided for Level 2 referring officers. Promote Distress Brief Intervention as an additional tool to support those with low level distress. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How many officers have completed the training for Distress Brief Intervention? Is training, awareness and guidance in place for officers and staff within the required timescales?
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OFFICIAL How many referrals have been made that are suitable for engagement with Support in Mind Scotland? How effective are Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division in supporting the implementation of Distress Brief Interventions? Activity: Support the delivery of the National Water Safety Strategy to reduce accidental drownings and water-related suicides. Key milestones: Be a key stakeholder in a partnership approach to water safety in West Dunbartonshire. Engage with education to provide a positive impact into the secondary school curriculum Work with staff to improve water safety awareness and operational effectiveness. Adopt a positive media strategy to promote water safety. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How well are Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division contributing to the Partnership Approach to Water Safety? Have the number of water related incidents seen a change since the start of our educational activity? Is messaging around social media consistent across all partners to get the right messages across?
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OFFICIAL The needs of local communities are addressed through effective service delivery To create your Local Police Plan we have engaged and consulted with the public, stakeholders, community representatives and partners including other service providers to ensure we have a shared understanding of the local community and the role of policing within it. We will continue to improve the services we provide as society evolves, embedding accessibility and inclusivity into all that we do. We continue to be able to call upon additional operational support and specialist services to assist with incidents and investigations, large planned and unplanned events, and other situations where these resources are needed, ensuring our focus remains on the needs of the local community. Objective: Understand our communities and deliver the right mix of services to meet their needs Activity: Tackle residential and commercial housebreakings and other forms of acquisitive crime through preventative measures Key milestones: Deliver preventative messages and mediums to provide wide ranging education to all sections of our community including those who may not yet have reliable internet services. Provide inputs with elderly communities on fraud prevention and increase the capability of “cared for at home” network to educate those who may be housebound for the purpose of preventing frauds. Strengthen local partnerships making use of technologies, including ‘Call Blockers’ to reduce the likelihood of fraud. Deliver a programme of events with the business communities and financial institutions to raise awareness, encourage target hardening, target criminality and protect those vulnerable to acquisitive crime.
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OFFICIAL Continue to work with West Dunbartonshire Council, sharing information where possible and jointly promoting campaigns such as Shut out Scammers. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How are different platforms being used to push out education and prevention messages? How effective are prevention messages to differing age groups within our communities? How many funding applications have had success? How effective are the partnerships in Argyll and Bute in preventing frauds and other acquisitive crimes? How many referrals have been made? Objective: Support our communities through a blend of local and national expertise Activity: Develop a robust process to tackle anti-social behaviour including both indoor and outdoor violence Key milestones: Draft and implement a revised Information Sharing Protocol for ASB in conjunction with West Dunbartonshire Council and Registered Social Landlords. Focus priority actions with ASB partners to ensure victims are protected and those responsible are engaged. Implement Summer Safety and Festive Safety Plans in relation to the night time economy and licensed premises in conjunction with partners in West Dunbartonshire Council and licensees. Increase the number of trained Keep Safe Places present throughout West Dunbartonshire to assist in tackling hate crime and supporting vulnerable people to live independently within our communities. Improve our information sharing on youth related issues with partner agencies and the School Community, identifying and focussing on young people in
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OFFICIAL particular who are displaying behavioural difficulties, who are offending or at risk of offending in the school or in the wider community. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: Is our Information Sharing Protocol regarding ASB up to date and fit for purpose? How effective are our multi-agency ASB meetings at protecting victims? How many monitored licensed premises do we have in West Dunbartonshire? How have the number of Keep Safe places changed in West Dunbartonshire? How effective is Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division at tackling violent crime? Activity: Improve and encourage reporting of domestic abuse throughout all communities and target perpetrators Key milestones: Ensure domestic abuse investigations are progressed in accordance with Police Scotland’s forthcoming Violence against Women and Girls strategy. Provide inputs from specialist departments to frontline officers who routinely attend domestic incidents. Support local and national domestic abuse campaign material through social media, officers promoting at community councils and via the displaying of posters. Support businesses in our local communities to receive Domestic Abuse awareness training through Medics against Violence (MAV). Enhance local focus for domestic incidents through Multi Agency Tasking and Coordinating (MATAC) by proactively targeting domestic abuse offenders at a local level, supported by national specialised expertise and alignment with Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How effective is Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division at keeping victims of domestic abuse safe, and encouraging them to report incidents?
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OFFICIAL How supported do our response officers feel when dealing with domestic abuse incidents? How is our support for local and national campaigns received? How many businesses have we engaged with to encourage sign up to the Medics against Violence inputs? Objective: Support the changing nature of communities Activity: Through intelligence led policing and proactive engagement with all road users, reduce death and serious injury on West Dunbartonshire’s road network. Key milestones: Deliver a calendar of campaign activity, in partnership with key stakeholders, to improve driver attitudes/behaviour and reduce injury on the road network throughout West Dunbartonshire. Work with GPs and social work departments to ensure those suitable for DVLA assessments for retaining driving licences are supported by partner agencies. Make our roads safer by positively influencing driver, cyclist, pedestrian and horse rider behaviour through high visibility patrolling by specialist Roads Policing Officers and use of Operation Close Pass and Lose the Blinkers. Carry out high visibility speed detection in local communities at locations of most concern. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How effective are Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division’s activities in improving road safety in West Dunbartonshire? How well is the division doing in encouraging referrals to DVLA where someone may not be suitable to continue driving? How well received have Operation Close Pass and Lose the Blinkers been in promoting road safety? Have road deaths and serious injuries been reduced in West Dunbartonshire?
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OFFICIAL The public, communities and partners are engaged, involved and have confidence in policing Our values are at the heart of everything we do. Our human rights based approach to policing along with ethical and privacy considerations are of the utmost importance to the service we provide. The communities we serve should feel confident that we will always police in a way that is fully underpinned by our values of fairness, integrity, respect and human rights. The safety and wellbeing of the people we serve are enhanced by providing services that work efficiently. We will listen and seek to understand the changing needs of diverse communities, bringing both professionalism and empathy to our interactions and making changes to our services when required. Engaging with people strengthens relevance, responsiveness and accountability and builds trust. We will improve and refocus our engagement activities where these are not reaching diverse communities and are not representative of the society we serve. Objective: Embed the ethical and privacy considerations that are integral to policing and protection into every aspect of the service Activity: Enable and support effective engagement and communication with the public, including promotion of our Local Police Plan Key Milestones: Ensure Your Police Survey is accessible for all including those who do not have access to electronic means. Utilise forms of communication including Neighbourhood Watch Scotland Alerts, Rural Watch, local newspapers and community newsletters to ensure effective engagement for those who do not engage directly with Police. Conduct focused engagement events with our local communities, paying particular attention to seldom heard groups who might not engage digitally with Police Scotland. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights:
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OFFICIAL How well are we engaging with the public in continual dialogue to ensure effective and inclusive input to the Local Police Plan? Objective: Protect the public and promote wellbeing across Scotland by providing services that are relevant, accessible and effective Activity: Promote and improve rural communities and environmental wellbeing so that people can flourish and feel safe. Key milestones: Lead on the Divisional Partnership against Rural Crime group ensuring all key partners are involved and included. Support awareness of livestock worrying offences and coordinate local campaigns focusing on consequential outcomes and publicise successful prosecutions. Build local and national intelligence profiles of those involved in rural theft through use of technologies. Increase use of Rural Watch to detect and intercept suspect vehicles. Raise awareness of up to date security methods and produces and share proven prevention tactics and techniques to make fuel more difficult to steal from rural locations. Support equestrians to have safe and responsible access to the countryside and promote equine road safety. Improve prevention and detection of wildlife crimes. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How well supported do those in the rural communities feel by Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division? How effective has the livestock worrying campaigns been in preventing livestock attacks? What have we done to build local intelligence profiles? How many members are signed up to Rural Watch and how well used is this platform been in raising awareness of rural crime?
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OFFICIAL How well are we promoting up to date security methods through letters to victims of rural crime and proactively on social media? How well have we supported the equine community to be safe on the roads? How has the prevention and detection of wildlife crime changed? Objective: Work with local groups and public, third sector and private sector organisations to support our communities Activity: Engage with third sector groups and partners in West Dunbartonshire Council to support refugees, including those displaced by the conflict in Ukraine. Key milestones: Participate in community planning to ensure that displaced people have a distinct route to accommodation, support and care. Work with third sector groups to raise awareness of Police Scotland and the support services we provide amongst refugees Expand the Keep Safe initiative to be inclusive for refugees to use and access. . Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: Does qualitative feedback from third sector refugee groups indicate that refugees feel supported by Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division? How many community events have we attended supporting refugees? How well have we promoted the Keep Safe Initiative to be inclusive for refuges?
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OFFICIAL Our people are supported through a positive working environment, enabling them to service the public The safety and wellbeing of our officers and staff are at the heart of Police Scotland’s commitments. The challenges for policing are significant and the part policing plays in daily life will become ever more important as society faces huge challenges. Policing is also coming under increasing scrutiny and pressure in relation to our actions. We will create the environment for our staff to be able to work effectively and equip them to make decisions, ensuring they are trusted and empowered to do so. Objective: Prioritise wellbeing and keep our people safe, well equipped and protected Activity: Enhance our communication throughout Argyll and West Dunbartonshire policing division to focus on our people, ensuring they have a strong identity. Key milestones: Engage with staff and officers across West Dunbartonshire to develop a communication strategy that fits their needs. Produce a monthly divisional bulletin that is people focussed and celebrates achievements of officers and staff through a person centred approach. Ensure enhanced local representation from Scottish Police Federation to ensure we are listening to concerns raised by our people and that their views are acted on. Continue to develop and monitor responses to the staff survey and ensure that our responses are visible to our officers. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How has local communication evolved to suit the requirements of officers and staff? How well is our bulletin being received by frontline officers and staff at addressing the items they wanted to be included?
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OFFICIAL What local footprint do we have for local divisional federation representatives at all ranks? What progress have we made since the latest staff survey in supporting the needs of our people? Objective: Support our people to be confident leaders, innovative, active contributors and influencers Activity: Establishment of Divisional Improvement Team to ensure local officers are well connected and supported. Key milestones: Increase our capability for Specially Trained Officers (Taser deployments) for all communities throughout Argyll and Bute providing a safe geographical coverage. Continue to promote wellbeing champions and access to support services such as Police Treatment Centres, occupational health and Employee Assistance Programme. Promote Your Safety Matters for all officers and staff in Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division. Establish staff led improvement group to ensure all officers and staff are listened to and that change is driven from the grassroots of our service. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How many officers are Taser-trained, and what is our spread of Taser-trained officers throughout West Dunbartonshire? How well are our officers being supported in accessing support services and are these being well used? Are we promoting Your Safety Matters in a meaningful way? How has our staff-led improvement group led to change in West Dunbartonshire? Objective: Support our people to identify with and demonstrate Police Scotland values and have a strong sense of belonging
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OFFICIAL Activity: Develop and implement divisional people plans to support the implementation of the People and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategies. Key milestones: Review and evaluate existing approach Support officers through lateral and vertical development by identifying those suitable for both local and national training. Develop and support our probationary Constables and Sergeants through the national structured continuous professional development programme. Make progress towards ensuring that our workforce is representative of the communities it serves and undertake positive action recruitment with under- represented communities. Enhance support to first line managers through creation of a supervisory toolkits relevant to West Dunbartonshire. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How does Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division proactively promote and support equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives? Do our people feel like they are being developed in accordance with their ambitions? How well are we at supporting positive action recruitment? Is the supervisory toolkit fit for purposes and being well used, how are we ensuring feedback and regular updates?
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OFFICIAL Police Scotland is sustainable, adaptable and prepared for future challenges Ongoing political, technological, economic and societal changes as well as unforeseeable emergencies on a local and global scale require the police service to adapt and respond to future challenges in order to maximise the benefits of future opportunities. This includes working to reduce the impact of our activity, estates and fleet on the environment. Police Scotland aims to make a significant contribution to the Scottish Government’s 2040 carbon neutral target and 2045 zero greenhouse gas emissions target. Everyone has a role to play in improving financial sustainability, making efficient use of resources and eliminating waste to deliver best value. Procurement of and demand for goods and services will remain under scrutiny, ensuring resources are used in the most efficient way possible to meet the greatest need. Objective: Use innovative approaches to accelerate our capacity and capability for effective service delivery Activity: Seek out shared learning and training opportunities with partners Key milestones: Awareness inputs to response and community front line officers on services available for families affected by drugs in conjunction with the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership. Encourage shared water safety attendance at training events alongside Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and other Community Planning Partners. Promote dementia awareness training with West Dunbartonshire Community Volunteer Services and the Health and Social Care Partnership. Partnership involvement in delivery of Distress Brief Intervention Training Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: Have frontline officers felt a benefit to the awareness sessions around families affected by drugs?
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OFFICIAL Have Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division supported water safety training and learning sessions? How well prepared are frontline officers to provide a compassionate response to people living with dementia? How many officers are trained to provide Distress Brief Intervention referrals? Objective: Commit to making a positive impact through outstanding environmental sustainability Activity: Develop and implement innovative and sustainable methods to deliver a modern policing service in West Dunbartonshire. Key milestones: Identify training and funding for cycling equipment for our officers. Better utilise pedal cycles for officers in smaller villages to provide visibility and approachability Continue to support the roll out of electric vehicles. Foster biological diversity and improve wellbeing of staff by establishing green space for social, recreation and relaxation activities. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How many cycle trained officers do we have in West Dunbartonshire? How accessible are alternative transport methods for officers carrying out high visibility patrols and community engagement? Are electric vehicles being utilised within West Dunbartonshire and what is the footprint of vehicle availability across our hubs. Objective: Support operational policing through the appropriate digital tools and delivery of best value Activity: Support the implementation of the digital data and ICT strategy including Mobile Working, national Core Operating System and Digital Evidence Sharing Capability Key milestones:
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OFFICIAL Support the training of officers in receiving Mobile Devices for notebook purposes. Support the development of the national Core Operating System by ensuring local officers are able to use the system effectively and this is quality controlled. Update expected: Y1-3 Quarterly Performance measures and insights: How well are Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Policing Division doing to roll out the use of mobile devices to operational officers? What local training and awareness is available to support officers in using the COS systems.
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OFFICIAL Governance and performance Policing by consent is the bedrock of our approach. Public trust and confidence can only be maintained through the legitimacy engendered by effective governance, transparency and accountability. Our Performance Framework links to our local and national plans enabling monitoring and measurement of progress on our priorities for policing and strategic outcomes. Key to delivering excellence in service provision is working collaboratively to support the Community Planning Partnership and the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. Our Local Police Plan reflects the priorities that local communities, businesses and organisations have told us matter most to them. We will continue to work with our communities and partners to listen to concerns and ensure we respond effectively to emerging issues. An overview of divisional performance against our strategic outcomes and shared objectives is provided by the Divisional Commander at the West Dunbartonshire Housing and Communities Committee on a quarterly basis. The performance reports are a matter of public record and are stored on the West Dunbartonshire Councils’ Website. Local Area Commanders regularly liaise with and provide updates to the community and elected representatives at various forums and, to complement this, Community Policing Officers provide local policing ward updates to Community Councils and residents’ groups.
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OFFICIAL Equality, diversity and inclusion Our work is underpinned by our commitment to equality and diversity, both in our dealings with the public we serve and our own staff. We promote the core policing values of human rights, integrity, fairness, and respect within our organisation and the communities we police. We recognise that effective consent-based policing must reflect the needs and expectations of the individuals and local communities we serve. Our aim is to ensure that our service is fair, consistent and transparent and that we focus on our key objective of protecting the most vulnerable in our society. The Code of Ethics for policing in Scotland sets out the standards of behaviour expected of all staff. It encapsulates Police Scotland’s core values and statutory obligations under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. The Code sets out both what the public can expect from us and what we should expect from each other. The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) Equality Outcomes sets out their commitment to not only comply with equality legislation, but to ensure that the implementation of their equality actions positively contributes to a fairer society through advancing equality and good relations in all that we do. We are committed to developing and promoting best practice in the refresh of our Equality outcomes for 2022. These can be found along with our commitment and duties to equality, diversity & inclusion at: https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/how-we-do-it/strategic-planning/policing- together-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy/ or via the QR code.
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OFFICIAL This plan has been subject to an Equalities and Human Rights Impact Assessment (EqHRIA) in compliance with the Scottish Public Sector Equality Duty. Separate EqHRIAs will be undertaken for the activities described in this plan as required. Engaging with us Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division Dumbarton Police Station Stirling Road Dumbarton G82 3PT We are here to help Dial 999 for an emergency that requires urgent police attention. For non-emergency contact call the 24- hour non-emergency contact centre on 101. If you have information about a crime in your area and wish to provide it anonymously, call Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111. If you have any concerns or issues you wish to discuss, you can contact your local Community Policing Team by phoning 101. For more detailed information about your local Community Policing Team and other services that Police Scotland provides, please visit our website at www.scotland.police.uk If you would like this information in an alternative format or language, please phone us on 101 to discuss your needs. Service users who are deaf or have a hearing impairment can contact Police Scotland via Next Generation Text (NGT) on 18001, 101 for non-emergency, or 18000 in an emergency.
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OFFICIAL Meaningful and effective engagement involves genuine dialogue, respect, integrity, transparency and accountability. It provides an opportunity for people to shape our services and influence decisions made. Insight from effective engagement helps identify practical solutions and determine changes required to meet the needs of the communities we serve. Police Scotland is committed to continuous improvement in all that we do. If you have something to tell us about our service, please contact us at: https://www.scotland.police.uk/contact-us/ Further information about our wider engagement can be found in our consultation and engagement hub at: https://consult.scotland.police.uk/ Police Scotland has a number of active social media channels that provide a range of information and insight into policing, both nationally and in your local area. A full list of our social media accounts can be found on our website. Our local channels can be found at: Twitter: West Dunbartonshire Police Facebook: Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Police Division Please note that our social media channels are not monitored 24/7 and should not be used for reporting crime. Please dial 999 in an emergency, and 101 in a non- emergency situation. Inclusive and accessible engagement. We aim to embed accessibility and inclusivity into our services to make them work for everyone. This Local Police Plan was subject to an Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment (EqHRIA). A summary of the EqHRIA has been published alongside this document at [still in development].
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OFFICIAL This Local Police Plan can be made available in various alternative formats. For more information, please contact us via our online form: https://www.scotland.police.uk/contact-us/. Deaf, deafened, hard of hearing or speech-impaired callers can contact us via Text Relay on 18001101.