Community Policing
Local Policing Summaries
Since April 2006 there has been a statutory requirement that police authorities produce annual local policing summaries.
Local policing summaries are a means of getting information to the public about how they are being policed. The government is committed to strengthening community engagement in policing and believes that the provision of information on how local policing is being delivered is central to this.
If local communities are to have an informed view and actively engage in policing, they need to be better informed about how policing is being delivered and understand the priority issues, as well as having a better idea of how to access, engage and influence local policing. Providing better information on local policing is also important as it supports the need to make policing truly accountable and transparent to the public.
Though the requirement is on police authorities, we expect that this will, in reality, be a joint endeavour between authorities and forces and that other criminal justice and community safety agencies may be involved to reflect partnership activity.
Guidance available
We have devised guidance to aid police authorities and forces in the production of local policing summaries. Download the following:
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a sample report – this gives police authorities and forces an idea of what a local policing summary could look like.
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a practical guide to local policing summaries – this gives police authorities and forces details of the minimum standards which all summaries are required to meet and other information which may be included in the summaries. There is also technical guidance on design and writing copy.
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background to local policing summaries – this gives police authorities and forces the background to the legislation.
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Good practice guide: maximising impact - this gives police authorities and forces guidance on meeting their legislative requirements and advice on how to maximise the impact of their summaries going forward.
A template based on the sample report (in Quark and Word) is available for authorities/forces to use should they wish to do so.
