Citizen Focus & Local/Community Engagement  

Importance of Local Engagement and Consultation

Local (community) engagement is the process of involving people in decisions that affect them. This can mean involving communities in the planning, development and management of services. Or, it may be about tackling the problems of a neighbourhood, such as crime, anti social behaviour or drug misuse.

The development of community safety work requires effective community consultation and engagement. That is not simply a box to be ticked or a formula to be followed.

In the planning and overseeing of policing or the development of crime prevention and community safety work there is a fundamental need to ensure that the communities needs and priorities are identified and included. The foundation of such a citizen focused approach to policing and community safety work (as opposed to a  'pure crime management approach' for instance) is effective engagement with communities.

Most recently the publication of the  Casey Report  Engaging People in the Fight Against Crime (Summary) has illustrated the importance to the current government of effective strategies for engaging local people in crime and disorder reduction.

Community Engagement and Policing

The Home Office Crime Reduction website offers the following of community engagement for policing policy:

"The process of enabling the participation of citizens and communities in policing at their chosen level, ranging from providing information and reassurance, to empowering them to identify and implement solutions to local problems and influence strategic priorities and decisions.

The police, citizens, and communities must have the willingness, capacity and opportunity to participate. The Police Service and partner organisations must have a responsibility to engage and, unless there is a justifiable reason, the presumption is that they must respond to community input."

Community engagement in policing can operate at three principal levels to ensure that local people are informed, consulted and involved:

1.  The 'Regional Police Authority level,' setting the dominant philosophy for policing and its regional and national and priorities and functioning.

2.   The 'Basic Command Unit (BCU) level', scrutinizing the delivery of  policing and community safety services, advising on improved practice and being consulted on the development of local community safety plans and agreements.

3.  The 'neighbourhood level', focusing on local priorities and problems within ward and sub municipality areas. 

Community Engagement in Community Safety 

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 was explicit in the need for community consultation in the development and implementation of community safety strategies. However, it did not go into the 'territory of engagement'. However, the Police and Justice Act 2006 identifies in the Act itself, in the supporting statutory instruments and in related guidance the key role of communities in the development and delivery of crime and disorder reduction.

Community engagement and consultation requires dialogue to bridge the gap between communities and their service providers and to give the basis for 'citizen focused' community safety. The Police and Justice Act 2006, and the essence of the police reform programme (citizen focused policing), provides an additional hard edge to the need for effective community engagement and consultation (see also community cohesion).

  Engagement Links

Neighbourhood Watch

Link to the national Neighbourhood Watch website.

Community Power Pack

Published in April 2008 and developed for the UK government, the Community Power Pack '....contains all the information you need to run a participative event on Empowerment'. It is aimed at groups who wouldn't normally take part to let their views and experiences be known.

Passport to Community Engagement  

The last of the Crime Reduction Centre's Passport series aimed to help CDRPs and DATs engage with those living in their local area.