Influencing policy development: The lived experience voice in a review of policing
“Statistics won’t capture what people want from the police and what people think the police’s role is in their lives and it’s always better to speak to people about those kinds of questions, who have had experience of the criminal justice system…they give a personal perspective.”
Stephen Walcott, Researcher, The Policing Foundation
The Police Foundation have been undertaking a strategic review of policing to set the long-term strategic vision for policing in England and Wales. The first phase of the review identified how public safety has changed in the last two decades. The second phase examines the response to the changing public safety and crime landscape identified in phase one with a focus on the role of the police.
As part of this work, the Police Foundation researchers facilitated consultation sessions with our New Gen lived experience forum, our women’s forum as well as our northern and southern forums – thus allowing the researchers to interact with a wide range of people. The aim of the consultations was to understand how experiences of the criminal justice system filter through to the everyday person and whether there were differences in perceptions across people’s demographics.
The forums brought to the review opinions from those who had been in the criminal justice system. It also suggested solutions to the issues raised in phase 1 – adding another level of evidence to underpin possible future recommendations. In particular, the consultation informed the ‘legitimacy’ aspect of the review – which explores the relationship between the public and the police and helped contextualise findings from academia, surveys and experts in the field.
While the Police Foundation work is still on-going, the lived experience forums has proved to be helpful in framing the researchers thinking about the issues raised. The report is widely anticipated within the police service and politically and will be published in March 2020.
