Community Policing
Citizen-Focused Policing
Citizen-focused policing is a new way of policing in which the needs and expectations of individuals and local communities are always reflected in police decision-making and service.
Explore this section:
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Find out how the UK police service handle calls from the public.
Community Safety Accreditation Schemes
Find out how 'Accredited Persons' contribute towards community safety.
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Read about the Quality of Service Commitment and how customer service performance is measured.
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These annual summaries give the public information about how they are being policed.
We want to change the way people experience policing and community safety services on the ground, by focusing on the needs of the individuals and communities that receive and use police services.
We believe that citizens must feel that the police and the criminal justice system put them first.
A radical change in police approach
It is this simple: the needs and concerns of citizens should always be integral to the way policing is conceived, managed and delivered.
This is not a bolt-on to existing ways of doing business, but something that requires a cultural and operational change. Citizen-focused policing does not only apply to the public-facing parts of the organisation, but to everyone within all forces, at all levels, whatever their function.
Five critical elements
There are five key workstreams to the citizen-focused policing programme:
- improving the experience of those who have contact with the police
- embedding neighbourhood policing into local communities
- effective community engagement – which includes consultation, marketing and communications, and public involvement
- public understanding and local accountability of policing
- organisational and cultural change to bring about increasingly responsive services where feedback from frontline staff and the public is used continuously
Read the citizen-focused good practice guide
We've created a fully interactive guide about citizen-focused policing. It explains techniques forces can use to improve user satisfaction and confidence - it's a good, practical tool and an easy read; its content is based on the experiences of forces across the country.
Meeting citizen-focused standards will play a key part in force performance and systems, and processes and policies must all work to really deliver for the customer.
The guide with all its interactive links
This is the guide with dozens of links to useful information about the process of citizen-focused policing. It is broken up into two sections.
Interactive Citizen-focused Good Practice Guide
The guide without the interactive links
There is also a version of the good practice guide without working links, in one chapter - ideal if you just want to print it out and take it home.
Citizen-focused Good Practice Guide without working links
Case studies
There are useful case study evaluations of citizen-focused policing in Cheshire, Merseyside and Northumbria. These provide insight into tested methods police are using to engage with the community in their daily work. A summary document of the three case study evaluations is also available.
Victims and witnesses
The Office for Criminal Justice Reform (new window) (OCJR) as part of the Ministry of Justice (new window) published a Citizen Focus - A Practical Guide to Improving Police Follow-Up with Victims and Witnessess. This guidance provides forces with good practice advice on improving police performance provided to victims and witnesses.
The Practical Guide is part of a series of good practice guides on Citizen Focused Policing and has been put together in conjunction with the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of Police Authorities, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA). The guide draws on good practice from twelve police forces and is divided into key themes including systems and processes, leadership, training and performance management.
Surveys conducted by OCJR show that victims and witnesses are generally satisfied with the ease of contacting the police and with the initial response they get. However, fewer are satisfied with the follow-up service they receive, for example, being kept informed about a case's progress. The Practical Guide is intended to help forces improve on this.
More information about the Guide can be obtained from Nick Poyntz, OCJR Victim & Witness Unit (nicholas.poyntz@cjs.gsi.gov.uk).
Further information
For more information on citizen-focused policing, please contact the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA). (new window)
