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Issue 30, July 2010

From a record number of applications, SIPR Member, Inspector Steve Ritchie, has been chosen as a Fulbright Police Research Fellow for 2010-11.

Each year, just five awards are offered to active UK police officers and staff from all ranks to conduct research, pursue professional development and/or assess best practice affiliated with any US institution. Steve will be joining the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

A Police Inspector, Steve was born and resides in Scotland. He gained a BSc from Napier University in Edinburgh in 1979 before joining Central Scotland Police. Having worked in a range of roles, including underwater-search, he transferred to Grampian Police in 1990. With the support of a Fellowship from the National Police Leadership Centre at Bramshill, he has undertaken postgraduate and PhD research with the Robert Gordon University. This has examined performance management practice in the UK Police Forces and Steve will be submitting his final thesis shortly before his departure to the US. When not working or researching, Steve sails a boat in Greece with his wife. As one of the first recipients of the Fulbright Scottish Police Research Award, his main aim is to understand the effects of different drivers for policing activity between the US and Scotland.

The role of databases in crime control is among the issues to be examined at a one-day conference taking place in Glasgow next month.

An expert panel of speakers from the UK and The Netherlands will gather at the Institute of Advanced Studies on Tuesday, December 8th to critically examine issues surrounding the use of databases in crime control and as a weapon in the war on terror.

The conference is being organised by the Institute for Advanced Studies, Glasgow, and the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, a consortium of 13 Scottish Universities supported by investment from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council.

SIPR Director Professor Nick Fyfe, who is based at the University of Dundee, explained how the use of databases amongst crime detection agencies has changed.

"The importance of databases in the prevention and detection of crime is now a routine part of contemporary discourses of crime control," he said.

"This meeting will provide an opportunity to critically examine the use of DNA, financial records and passenger information in the fight against crime and in the European war on terror."

Attendees at the event will include university researchers and invited delegates from the Scottish Government, Police Services, and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Home Secretary Alan Johnston MP recently announced proposals for the records of most unconvicted people arrested in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be removed from the DNA database after 6 years.

With this in mind, the meeting will provide an opportunity to reflect on how the use of databases raises important legal and ethical questions about the surveillance of human populations. It will also look at the wider social and political implications of increasing concerns about security.

More information about the Institute for Advanced Studies can be found at www.instituteforadvancedstudies.org.uk.

The `unique collaboration' between Scotland's senior police officers and the academic research community is now viewed internationally as a model of good practice and is increasingly shaping the approaches being taken by other collaborative research bodies in the UK.

In his second Annual Report, Professor Nick Fyfe, Director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, highlights the growth in research capacity which has been created by the Institute, and highlights key areas of research activity now being explored by academics in conjunction with Scotland's eight police forces.

Money laundering, e-fraud, policing the night time economy, and radicalisation are areas of research which may inform more complex policing activity in the future, but it is also recognised that more has yet to be understood about the investigation of rape, the sharing of intelligence between the police and community partners, and interviewing people with learning disabilities.

Professor Fyfe, of the University of Dundee, said "The key to the success of the Institute during its first two years has been the unique collaboration between Scotland's Chief Constables and the Universities. This has led to real engagement between academics and police professionals who have been increasingly interested in understanding what research evidence has to tell them about how they do their job better. One of the most visible successes has been the range of topics discussed under the general banner of knowledge transfer, and this is now attracting the interest of the international academic and policing communities."

The importance of the Institute being recognised as having international standing has led to invitations being extended to 'Visiting Professors' to contribute to the Institute's three networks - Professor David Kennedy, from John Jay College, New York, is associated with the Police-Community Relations Network; Professor Anders Granhag of the University of Gothenberg joins the Evidence and Investigation Network; and Professor Philip Stenning of Keele University is engaged with the Police Organisation Network.

The Scottish Institute for Policing Research will also be meeting shortly with colleagues in the Dutch Police Academy, the Centre for Police Studies in Belgium, the Norwegian Police University College, and others to discuss a programme of comparative research which will allow Scotland to learn from and contribute to discussions about policing in other parts of Europe.

The visibility of the SIPR as a critical mass of expertise has attracted further success through an additional £900K in external funding. This very much meets the expectations of the Scottish Funding Council whose funding of the Institute was intended to create the environment for capacity growth.

Looking to the future, the Institute is developing organisational relationships with the international academic community, developing a Graduate Programme in Policing in conjunction with the Scottish Police College, and exploring ways in which the reputation of, and the intellectual property within, Scottish Policing might be developed and shared with others. At the same time it is hoped that these relationships will bring international knowledge and good practice into Scotland.

Chief Constable Patrick Shearer, Vice-President of the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (due to be president from 1 April 2009), said "There is no doubt that the Scottish Institute for Policing Research has established itself as a credible reference point for knowledge improvement. The range of topics now being debated with the benefit of evidence from internationally recognised researchers is testimony to the desire for enhanced professional knowledge across the Scottish Police Service."

Individual comment from Professor Fyfe can be accessed by contacting him on 01382 384425, or Chief Constable Shearer on 01387 242201

      tioners themselves often report anecdotally that they spotted something 'out of the corner or their eye' or that a particular individual 'just looked out of place'. It is as if experienced surveillance personnel have a 'sixth sense'. To what extent though, is this faith in 'an instinct for detection' justified? Changes that are more attuned to our natural heritage are easier to spot (sudden movements from people for example), changes to inanimate objects are much harder (hence the difficulty of spotting unattended bags for example). The evolutionary psychology perspective views our skills as having evolved in the so-called 'hunter gatherer society' of small social groups, engaged in communal tasks. As we move towards a more complex and technological society our environment is less and less suited to our evolutionary adaptations: interactions are dehumanised and denaturalised. The digital environment becomes less predictable than the natural environment. The prism of the evolutionary approach not only helps explain perceptual phenomena, more importantly it presents an opportunity for developing solutions. Rather than expecting the human operator to adapt to the new technology, technological solutions should be designed and optimised around the human.

As digital imaging technology improves and camera technology drops in price, the scope of CCTV systems increases. Greater and greater pressure is placed on the observer of CCTV imagery to keep up with the ever increasing cognitive load. The role of cognitive psychology is to develop innovative solutions to assist in the presentation of relevant data and imagery and the exclusion of irrelevant material. The problem presents an opportunity for police and law enforcement agencies to set a new, multidisciplinary research agenda focused on relevant and pressing issues of national and international importance. Modern video technology can allow far more realistic training and testing scenarios to be created for research. Only by understanding the cognitive processes in these tasks better, particularly by understanding them in the real contexts of surveillance tasks, can law enforcement agencies hope to keep pace and overtake the developments of threats to security.

Both articles emphasise the role of organisations such as SIPR in enabling the knowledge exchange required to overcome the natural barriers to progress in research across diverse disciplines.

For more information, contact:

K. C. Scott-Brown and P. D. J. Cronin
Centre for Psychology, University of Abertay Dundee,
Bell St, Dundee, DD1 1HG
Tel. 01382 308590 e-mail k.scott-brown@abertay.ac.uk
Tel. 01382 308592, e-mail p.cronin@abertay.ac.uk

Bibliographic Details.

Scott-Brown, K. C., and Cronin, P. D. J. (2007), An instinct for detection: Psychological perspectives on CCTV surveillance. The Police Journal. 80 (4), 287-305.

Available, Online or in paper format.


Scott-Brown, K. C. & Cronin P. D. J. (2008) 'Detect the unexpected: A science for surveillance' Policing: An international Journal of Police Strategies and Management. 31 (3), 395-414.

Available, Online or in paper format.

Mr Peter Wilson, former Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary, has been awarded an Honorary Professorship in the School of Social and Environmental Sciences at the University of Dundee.

Mr Wilson retired from the police service in May 2008 after a very distinguished career that included being awarded the Queen Police Medal in 1998, being President of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) in 2005-06, and, from 2001 to 2008, Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary.

From 2005, Mr Wilson worked very closely with Scotland's universities by taking the lead on behalf of ACPOS for the establishment of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR). The SIPR is a collaborative project bringing together researchers from 12 Scottish universities, led by the University of Dundee.

"The idea of a research institute for Scotland which could provide an evidence base on which to develop policing policy and practice originated with Mr Wilson and it was his commitment to this project that lead to the discussions with the Scottish Funding Council and a successful application under their Strategic Research Development Grant scheme," said Professor Nick Fyfe, founding Director of the SIPR.

"The result is a unique institute. There is no other policing research centre in the world that can boast such a wide-ranging partnership between the police and university research community."

Mr Wilson represented ACPOS on SIPR's Executive Committee until he retired and now chairs its international Advisory Committee.

Mr Wilson said "I am delighted that I will be able to continue making a contribution to the work of the Institute through the generous award of a Professorship by the University of Dundee. The imaginative collaboration between the Scottish Police Service and the University sector in Scotland has already been described as ground breaking by police organisations and universities across the world. I look forward to working with Professor Fyfe to demonstrate further the benefits of evidence based policing methods within Scotland, and to policing and academic communities internationally where there is great interest in what is being achieved."

During his police career Mr Wilson was also awarded an LLB from the University of Edinburgh and the Diploma in Applied Criminology from the University of Cambridge.

Scotland in the European dimension of policing will be the focus of a conference on Tuesday 2nd September featuring a number of high ranking police officers and academics from Scotland, England, Germany and The Netherlands.

The second annual research conference by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) will explore policing Scotland in the European context, according to Director Nicholas Fyfe, Professor of Geography at the University of Dundee.

"We have seen the growing importance that Scotland places on engagement with European nations," he explained.

"There is a long history of close co-operation between Scotland and European states on policing matters, particularly in relation to international criminal investigations and police training programmes."

While policing in Scotland and other parts of the UK have often looked across the Atlantic for new ideas and thinking, contributors to the plenary session of the conference will show from a number of different viewpoints how important it is to understand the significance of Europe for contemporary policing.

The morning's session will feature presentations by the Minister for Community Safety, senior police officers and academics, all exploring how developments in Europe create opportunities and challenges for law enforcement.

The afternoon will be devoted to three parallel sessions on police-community relations, evidence and investigation and police organisation.

The keynote address for the one-day conference will be delivered by Jurgen Storbeck, the Director General of Homeland Security in the Ministry of the Interior from the German state of Brandenburg, on changing challenges for homeland security in Germany and Europe.

Established in 2006 and supported by investment from the Scottish Funding Council and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, SIPR is a collaboration between 12 Scottish universities established to carry out high quality, independent research and to make evidence-based contributions to policing policy and practice.

For further information, please contact:
Dr. Nicholas Fyfe, Director, SIPR, University of Dundee at: 01382 384425
Or Graham MacDonell, Communications Officer, ACPOS at: 0141 435 1241

At the First SIPR Conference, the Police-Community Relations Network featured the "Shoot/No Shoot" project being undertaken by Paul Robertson, a PhD student at Abertay University. This was in its fairly early stages of development then, but Paul and his colleagues have been working hard to develop the software for use on a Nintendo Wii games console, and to make it far more realistic as a training tool for police to test firearms officers' performance in situations where a gun may need to be used.

For further information, see:
BBC Online

Thirty of Scotland's leading Wildlife Crime authorities will be joined by experts from the Metropolitan Police and the RSPB for a Conference on 'Forensic Investigation of Wildlife Crime', which is being held on 13th December at the University of Strathclyde

The meeting, co-hosted by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW) and the Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Strathclyde, will hear from Wildlife Crime Officers, the Procurator Fiscal Services, and researchers from the Universities of Dundee, Glasgow and Strathclyde. Although this meeting has been planned for some months, its occurrence, immediately following the news of the killing of a rare sea eagle gifted by the people of Norway to Scotland, is very timely.

The speakers will be reflecting on the potential benefits of forensic science in the investigation of Wildlife Crime and the challenges (legal, investigative, organizational, educational, practical etc.) of providing the best service to the criminal justice system.

Michael Russell, Environment Minister, said, 'A crime against Scotland's wildlife is a crime against Scotland itself. I am determined to see incidents of bird poisoning, badger baiting and other appalling acts stamped out. I recently announced a review of the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crimes and look forward to seeing its results early next year. I encourage any initiative like this which will assist in the detection and successful prosecution of wildlife crime.'

James Govan, Senior Scientist (Biology) with the Scottish Police Services Authority Forensics Services, Glasgow, who initiated the meeting, said, 'The overall theme of the meeting is to assess the current contribution of Forensic Science to the investigation of Wildlife Crime in Scotland. Hopefully by the end of the day we will have answered the question of whether this meets with expectations and if not, what would be required to achieve a sensible Forensic Wildlife Crime strategy in Scotland.'

Professor Nicholas Fyfe, Director of SIPR, said, 'The prevention and prosecution of Wildlife Crime are areas where Scotland has made significant progress in recent years. Moreover, Wildlife Crime is now recognised as a problem that does not just affect wildlife and the natural environment but also has a major impact on communities and businesses that rely on nature and wildlife tourism. This meeting will provide an important opportunity for leading experts in their fields to identify the contribution of forensic science to fighting Wildlife Crime.'

Nicholas Fyfe has been appointed Specialist Advisor to the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament for their inquiry into the effective use of police resources. The inquiry has been established following the commitment of the Scottish Government to provide additional resources to recruit extra police officers. Key questions to be considered by the committee include:

• How many police officers do police forces need to effectively tackle all elements of their work?
• What is the role and remit of Chief Constables in prioritising resources?
• Which traditional police functions should always be carried out by police officers and which can be carried out by others?
• What role do police authorities or joint police boards play in determining policing priorities?

The report of the committee will be published early in 2008.

Associate Director, Professor Jim Fraser, has been chosen to lead a Scottish Government review of Scotland's procedures for keeping DNA samples from people accused of violent or sexual offences.

For further information, see:
The Herald BBC News Channel 4 News The Scotsman Scottish Government News

Higher education to help police with their enquiries

A consortium of 13 Scottish higher education institutions (HEIs) has netted cash of more than £2.1 million to carry out research relevant to the needs of Scotland's police forces. The consortium has been offered the financial reward for their research proposal from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS).

In addition to the Council's grant of £1.1 million and £1 million from ACPOS, the consortium will top this up with their contribution of £6.5 million. The collaboration of 13 HEIs, lead by the University of Dundee, will use the cash to set up the Scottish Institute for Policing Research.

The Institute's aims are to strengthen the evidence base on which police policy, practice, and training are developed; build policing research capacity in Scottish HEIs; and encourage and help the development of national and international links with other researchers, policy makers and practitioners involved in policing research.

The Institute's research will focus on three areas:

• police-community relations - researchers will look at the relationships between the police and their communities including the policing of vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations, public order and conflict situations, as well as policing styles and consultation with the community;
• evidence and investigation - this research will look at the role of police in the collection, analysis and effective use of intelligence and evidence in the investigation of crime and major incidents; and
• police organisation - research in this area will centre on issues of management, policy, leadership, force structure and culture, and assess different approaches to policing and the relationships between police forces and other organisations.

SFC Chief Executive, Roger McClure said: "Everybody would like to see crime reduced, victims protected and criminals caught. I am delighted that the unique collaboration brings together for the first time the experience of Scotland's universities and its police."

Peter Wilson, Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary said, "The creation of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research is a major milestone for policing in Scotland. For the first time, through an imaginative collaborative effort with Scotland's world class universities, we will create an opportunity for the development of evidence-based analysis of what works in policing.

"While police practice and procedure has evolved over time, the objective assessment of our approach will be tested at an international level, leading to solid benchmarking and more effective use of resources. Our vision is to further the delivery of the highest standard of policing service for the people of Scotland."

Nick Fyfe, Director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research and Professor in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Dundee, added: "The establishment of the Institute is a very important, exciting and timely development. Building on the wide-ranging expertise that exists within the consortium of 13 HEIs, the Institute will carry out high quality, independent research of relevance to the Scottish police service and which will enhance the international reputation and recognition of policing research in Scotland.

"By providing a single focus for the research community and the Scottish police service, the Institute will also facilitate the efficient and effective transfer of knowledge that is so important to developing sound, evidence-based policing policy and practice. At a time when issues of risk and security have never been so prominent and policing itself is undergoing significant change, the strategic need for research that addresses the complex issues and challenges that the police face has never been greater."

For further information from SFC, please contact:
Elizabeth Bell,
Communications Officer,
Tel: 0131 313 6560,
email: ebell@sfc.ac.uk

For further information from ACPOS, please contact:
David Steele
Communications Manager,
Tel: 0141 435 1240,
email: communications@acpos.pnn.police.uk

For further information from the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, please contact Roddy Isles, Head of Press, University of Dundee, Tel:01382 384910, email: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

• the consortium of HEIs involved in the Institute are: the Universities of Dundee, Aberdeen, Abertay, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, St Andrews, Stirling, Strathclyde, and Glasgow Caledonian University, Robert Gordon University, Napier University, Bell College. Attached in Annex A is an extract from the Institute's strategic planning explaining in greater detail the reason for its creation;
• the funding will be spread over a four-year period, and will come from the Council's Strategic Research Development Grant (SRDG). The purpose of the SRDG is to strengthen areas of academic research that are of importance to Scotland, but do not receive funding or major levels of funding; and create opportunities to bring together existing strengths to continue to improve research quality and resources. SFC will administer the funding from ACPOS;
• the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) is a non-departmental public body responsible to - but operating at arm's length from - the Scottish Executive. It distributes more than £1.5 billion of public funds annually on behalf of the Scottish Executive;
• the Council provides financial support for learning and teaching, and research and associated activities in Scotland's 20 higher education institutions (HEIs). As well as providing financial support for learning and teaching in Scotland's 43 further education (FE) colleges, the Council provides resources to enable colleges to offer bursaries to students on non-advanced courses; and
• the Council is responsible for working with Scotland's colleges and universities to develop strategies in support of ministerial priorities and securing coherent, high quality provision of further and higher education and supporting the undertaking of research. In addition, SFC has a statutory function to provide Scottish Ministers with advice and information on matters relating to further and higher education. It is also responsible for ensuring that the quality of further and higher education provision is assessed and enhanced, and is required to monitor the financial health of both sectors.