'Public Confidence & Police Visibility: a Review’ in Scottish Institute for Policing Research Annual Report 2017-18

The focus for this project emerged from ongoing collaborations between the academic researchers and Police Scotland from within two of the internal Police Scotland governance groups for stop and search (the Research and Operational Review Group (REORG) and the Stop and Search Strategic Group (SSSG)) and also from discussion within Police Scotland’s National Violence Prevention Board (NVPB) and conversations with the chair of the Public Confidence Steering Committee. In these fora, questions had arisen as to whether there are links between some recent rises in violent crime in Scotland and the fall in stop searches since 2016. Through discussions at REORG it has been established that a wider consideration of visible policing methods, including but not limited to stop and search, and their impact on communities would form a useful evidence-base to guide future operational practice. ACC Cowie had recently met with all three researchers (Aston, O’Neill and Hail) to discuss how changes to policing policy and practice (such as stop and search) and its impact on public confidence is also a priority for the Public Confidence Steering group. The project has been funded by SIPR under the Police Community Relations Collaborative Projects funding