Opinions sought on Wick police – town seen as deprived and where 'confidence in policing is lower'
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Wick has been identified as an area of "deprivation" that the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) deems suitable for an online survey on how policing in the town can be improved.
The SPA seeks the thoughts and opinions of local residents to help inform future initiatives and shape policing in Wick with an online survey.
The Authority says: "National research has indicated that confidence in policing is lower in areas that experience deprivation in some way.
"Deprivation in this context can mean many different things – for instance not having local access to a GP surgery, infrequent transport links etc. The Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland want to move beyond this high level data and work with selected communities across Scotland to learn and gain an understanding of these areas and confidence in policing in order to try and enhance it."
Using a range of data, such as Scottish Government statistics, the SPA says that Wick has been identified as an area suitable for this project. "We want to listen to the views of local people and, where we can, co-design initiatives to address issues that are raised. We then want to review these initiatives and see if they have had any impact on views and confidence in policing. It is anticipated that this project will run until April 2024."
The SPA says that the aim of the survey is to gain an understanding of confidence and people’s views of policing in Wick. All responses will be anonymous and will inform work in the area aiming to enhance experiences of policing in Wick.
It stresses that no personal data gathered in the survey will be shared with Police Scotland and will only be handled by the SPA.
The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 created the SPA and set out its five core functions:
- to maintain the police service;
- to promote the policing principles set out in the 2012 Act;
- to promote and support continuous improvement in the policing of Scotland;
- to keep under review the policing of Scotland; and
- to hold the chief constable to account for the policing of Scotland.
These five functions demonstrate the dual, integrated responsibilities of the SPA: its oversight role in scrutinising policing in Scotland and holding the chief constable to account; and its supportive role in maintaining and improving the police service. The SPA is also responsible for the management and delivery of forensic services in Scotland.
The SPA and Police Scotland are also working with community groups to gather residents views on policing in Wick.
Share your feedback at this link: ow.ly/49aF50NKGwR
The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and should you have any questions and/or require this survey and/or privacy notice in another format please contact the project team at:
- Email: ProjectDeprivationAndConfidence@spa.police.uk
- Phone: 07384875935 and 07384875913
