Research Project

Policing young people in the contemporary urban realm: Dundee's Community Warden Scheme

Researcher: Dr Donna Marie Brown University of Dundee

Personal profile of Dr Donna Marie Brown...

Introduction:

This research project aims to evaluate the different ways that young people are policed in the contemporary urban realm. In particular it focuses on the influence of Dundee's Community Warden Scheme on young people's ability to establish relationships with the local people and places that constituted their residential community. The primary research for the project involved engagement with a range of stakeholders within Dundee's community policing programme, including: Community Wardens, Police Officers, Social Workers, Youth Leaders, Young People, Community Members and Local Authority employees. Over 50 participants were interviewed for the research, and over 100 hours of ethnographic 'walk-outs with the Community Wardens were completed.

Findings:

Dundee's Community Warden Scheme provided a highly valuable and alternative form of policing that complimented, as opposed to contradicted, the aims and ambitions of Police Officers involved in community policing initiatives.
Dundee's Community Wardens worked very closely with the police (and a range of other agents and institutions involved in community policing) and the joined-up partnership approach, based upon intelligence sharing and open communication, provided a highly effective model for targeting low-level crimes and incivilities.
Dundee's Community Wardens were generally viewed very positively by the communities in which they patrolled, not least because of their dedication in responding to pressing local problems and their ability to establish longer-term relationships with community members.
The visibility and regular presence of the Community Wardens was considered as highly significant in reducing crime and the fear of crime by the Community Wardens and the community members alike.
Whilst the Wardens were provided with a range of general and site specific training, the importance of their personality - in terms of how approachable and friendly they are - was considered as more significant by the young people involved in the project. This was carefully considered in the recruitment process.
When the Community Wardens came in to contact with 'problematic young people', they were well positioned to target the causes rather than the symptoms of their behaviour - be that through personal intervention or the referral of the young person to a relevant professional. This goes some way in reducing social problems as opposed to simply displacing them.
Relationships between young people and Community Wardens took time to develop as the young people were initially suspicious about the role of the Wardens.
It was generally believed that it would be detrimental to increase the powers of the Community Wardens as this would negatively influence their relationship with the local communities they work with.

Impact:

The findings of the research have been delivered to a range of academic, policy and practitioner audiences and therefore have had theoretical and practical impacts:

A report produced for Dundee City Council -'An evaluation of Dundee's Community Warden Scheme' (Brown, 2010) - was used as an evidence-base to make the case for the ongoing funding of the Community Warden Scheme. The research carefully highlighted the pronounced improvement in 'police-community' relations that could be developed through the Wardens approach to community policing.

The findings have been presented to the National Community Warden Co-Ordinator for Scotland and will provide part of the evidence-base for the National Review of Community Wardens.

The research findings have also been presented to representatives of the Scottish Government, to international participants at the Stockholm Criminology Symposium Conference and the SIPR annual conference, and to national participants at the Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference. Alongside my involvement in the European Policing Institute's Collaboration, this has generated a lot of interest from both academics and practitioners within Norway, Belgium and Sweden about how the Community Warden modelled could be applied in these contexts.

Publications: For a list of publications associated with the project, please visit www.dundee.ac.uk/geography/staff/dmbrown.htm