Introduction
For decades Policing was founded upon local connections and awareness of problems by the local ‘beat bobby’. The evolution of Computer Aided Dispatch resulted in an era of policing that became reactionary and demand driven. As the old saying goes, ‘you can only expect what you inspect’ and policing became driven by response times and how quickly officers could move on to the next job to ‘clear the screen’.
Recognising this problem there was a drive to adopt problem-solving policing in the 1980’s which has been a feature of British policing ever since. It is a proactive approach that involves identifying problems before they result in criminal activity, rather than reacting after the event.
This month, the College of Policing published new guidelines that aim to further encourage a consistent problem-solving culture across policing. We are fortunate in this guest blog to hear from Superintendent Dickon Turner who is Chair of the Avon & Somerset Police ‘Problem Solving Workshop’ which drives the forces problem-solving philosophy, response and evaluation. Notably, it has also collaborated with the UWE Bristol Policing Programme, resulting in enhancements to the training received by Police Constable Degree Apprentices in their ‘Becoming an Evidence-Based Police Practitioner’ Module.
As Dickon prepares to retire from policing later this month, we extend our gratitude for his 30 years of public service and wish him well in his future endeavours. Here are his reflections on solving problems during a varied and rewarding 30-year police career. Over to Dickon…
Initial impressions
In 1993 I joined Thames Valley Police looking like a 12-year-old. I struggled to find my place in a competitive macho culture where winding-up drunk people in order to arrest them was the norm and stopping 3 cars (hoping for an arrest) on the way to a burglary victim you had been deployed to was common. Luckily, I was selected to be a tutor constable then a beat manager in West Reading. Both these roles taught me the importance of investing energy into longer term work which I have found so rewarding through my career.
The early years on the job
In the 90s crimes were mostly pretty simple – virtually no-one had a mobile phone, loads of cars were stolen and fraud was mostly cheque-kiting. I found my niche though, after a 2-week attachment to the Child Protection Team in Bristol. This turned into a year, then a detective qualification, acting Detective Sergeant and some very difficult but gratifying investigations. Like the couple who tortured their toddler (30+ injuries including cigarette lighter burns) and were sent to prison, or the grandfather sentenced to 8 years for raping his 8-year-old grandson. Though the story was hard to hear, the hardest was dealing with the boy’s mother (and offender’s daughter) who asked me so many questions through her tears – like “what do I say to him when he is older? How do I deal with my mum (who was standing by the offender)?”
After a short spell as uniform sergeant at I went back to Child Abuse Investigation. This was my favourite role. I had a great team, fantastic relationships with partner agencies and dealt with a lot of harrowing cases. I investigated 13 child deaths in that time – mostly natural causes, a few suicides, but a couple of manslaughters too. It is such a privilege to be finding answers for a family at the very worst point in their whole life. Many of these will stick with me for ever.
Evidence-based Policing in practice
As Detective Inspector ‘Prevent’ in Counter Terrorism I learned a lot about intelligence and covert policing which I had no exposure to before, then promoted to Detective Chief Inspector in charge of Offender Management. Another busy job – 105 staff managing about 3000 offenders across Avon & Somerset. Taking a leading role with prisons, Probation and other agencies allowed me to successfully advocate for more resources to manage the riskiest people in our communities – sexual, repeat, juvenile and domestic offenders. I also developed the first domestic abuse perpetrator programme (called Drive) in Force using money from the Home Office, PCC and National Lottery. For the first time I was using an evidence base, research and good practice from elsewhere in the country to reduce risk, prevent offending and make best use of limited resources.
The importance of Neighbourhood policing, SARA and problem-solving
I end my career in charge of Neighbourhood Policing for Somerset and Force Problem Solving lead. Neighbourhood policing is the foundation of everything in UK policing. This is where we gain, maintain or rebuild trust in policing by engaging with individuals, groups, schools and other organisations to understand crime patterns, anti-social behaviour and solve problems. We use the SARA model (Scanning, Analysis, Response and Evaluation) to understand causes before responding in order to tackle underlying issues and prevent escalation or repeat issues. Using the best data, intelligence, information from partners and analysis, this can reduce crime and long-term demand. For example, in Cheddar Gorge, a hotspot for repeated car cruises, working with land owners and the local council the installation of gabions made the area less attractive and has significantly reduced the problem for local residents Problem solving is particularly important now, because over the last 30 years crime has become more complex. Far fewer vehicle crimes and burglaries but far greater risk and vulnerability – for example, a 14-year-old child from Liverpool may be exploited to sell drugs on the streets of Weston Super Mare who may in turn threaten local kids to deal drugs or carry weapons. Anti-social behaviour, petty theft, assaults, and/or murder can all result. We need all our intelligence, analysis, flexibility and partnership working to sort all that out!
Positive impact of the PCDA
In 2022 and 23 I have been lucky enough to receive a number of Police Constable Degree Apprentices into my neighbourhood teams. Invariably these apprentices bring energy and fresh ideas. Some are reluctant to come to an area of policing perceived to be less exciting than Response Policing but quickly learn about the benefit of long-term relationships and apply problem solving approaches. They tend to consider serving our communities instead servicing of a list of calls from the public.
Concluding thoughts
How many other jobs have everything above plus appearing on TV and radio, giving evidence in Crown Court, attending post-mortems, being threatened by Bob Marley’s drummer, or being urinated on by a drunk woman (a career low point), pursuing stolen cars, interviewing paedophiles……? Anyone in policing now has my utmost respect and best wishes – stay safe out there.
Further resources
Readers interested in finding out more can refer to these helpful resources:
Evidence-based guidelines to support the effective implementation of problem-oriented policing.
College of Policing Crime Reduction Toolkit Problem Oriented Policing
Editorial Team
Paul Williamson (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Eve Middleton (Tripartite Assessor – Policing); Eve Smietanko (Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).
If you would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact paul.williamson@uwe.ac.uk