PA 18-4-1779 The police response to vulnerability and risk: a public health approach to policing

Abstract

Preventing and mitigating the life-long harms associated with childhood adversity is a clear international priority. Many organisations are striving for long-term, sustainable solutions to improve the wellbeing of populations. As International trends for crime decline and demand related to vulnerability (i.e. child maltreatment and domestic violence) increases, it is essential that the police respond using an early intervention approach to break intergenerational cycles of violence.The research aimed to understand the current system for the response to vulnerability by a police force in Wales, UK. Objectives included understanding police perceptions on their ability to respond to vulnerability and identifying the current protocols for the management of vulnerability by the police and associated agencies.In October 2016 – January 2017, mixed methods research was conducted with a police force in Wales. Over 370 hours of operational policing was observed, 27 interviews and seven focus groups were conducted with police staff. Police safeguarding referral data for a 12 month period was also analysed to ascertain the scale of vulnerability.The police encounter high levels of vulnerability related demand, with over 60 000 safeguarding referrals submitted in a 12 month period. Staff held diverse levels of understanding on vulnerability and the effects of childhood adversity or trauma. A varied capacity and opportunity to assess and respond to vulnerability was also reported. Challenges included cross-organisational working, highlighting the need for a shared understanding across services.Traditional policing methods, training and systems need to adopt to this scale and type of demand. A range of recommendations have been developed to ensure policing can be more effective in preventing problems before they escalate. Policy implications include how police are trained, ensuring they respond to vulnerable individuals in a trauma-informed way. Implications of the findings for partnership working will be examined.

How the police conceptualise and view the relevance of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) for policing: a qualitative investigation

“…Future training should explicitly acknowledge potential trauma in service providers and signpost to support services. Training could also highlight the benefits of ACEs and trauma-informed knowledge in supporting colleagues (Ford et al, 2017). However, while mental health literacy in police has been associated with greater help-seeking, other potential barriers, such as perceived negative impact on career progression (Lane et al, 2022) need to be addressed as part of a changing police culture.…”

“…As well as being conceptualised as an additive risk factor for mental and physical health conditions in later life (Anda et al, 2006;Hughes et al, 2017), recent research confirms that ACEs can increase the risk of crime involvement across the lifespan (Craig et al, 2017), both in generalist offenders, as well as those who commit serious offences (Levenson and Grady, 2016;Reavis et al, 2013). This is further evidence by the disproportionally high rates of ACEs in young offenders and in those serving prison sentences (Ford et al, 2019;Fleming and Nurius, 2020).…”

“…The shift towards a culture where individuals believe in the value of traumainformed working requires staff to be aware of prevalence and impact of early trauma (Elliott et al, 2005), and ACEs training has been shown to result in positive attitude change for service users and staff in a number of sectors (Miller-Cribbs et al, 2020;Steen et al, 2022). In addition, there is limited evidence that ACEs interventions lead to positive attitude change in police, but limited evidence of change in behaviour (Ford et al, 2017).…”

“…, 2022). In addition, there is limited evidence that ACEs interventions lead to positive attitude change in police, but limited evidence of change in behaviour (Ford et al. , 2017).…”

Understanding the outcome of police safeguarding notifications to social services in South Wales

“…A 2015 inspection highlighted that through an inconsistent response, the majority of services in England and Wales were not meeting the needs of the vulnerable, and that police staff needed training to deepen their understanding of vulnerability (HMIC, 2015a). In response, UK police services are following international models (ACERT, 2017; Equal Justice USA, 2018) and developing trauma-informed training for frontline staff (Ford et al ., 2017a; Ford et al ., 2017b; North Wales Police, 2017; West Midlands Police, 2017).…”