Title: Engagement
Headings: Engagement and communication
Engagement and communication
Engagement
Contents
Introduction
Community engagement
Service design and delivery
Further information
Core policing commitment
Why the police need to engage
Democratic mandate
Intermediate strategic
Neighbourhood policing
Further information
Engagement and police legitimacy
Police effectiveness
Perceptions of police fairness
Stop and search example
Next steps
Benefits of effective engagement
Achieving results
Effective management of engagement
Training
Failing to engage
Further information
The confidence cycle
Using engagement information
Whom the police should engage with
Further information
Neighbourhood priorities
Understanding communities
Neighbourhood profiles
Factors affecting communities
Further information
Creating neighbourhood profiles
Case study
Community impact
Further information
Community impact assessment
The threat, risk and harm to communities
Risk assessments
Information sharing
Factors
Health and disability
Equalities/discrimination factors
Economic circumstances
Personal circumstances
Family circumstances
How to engage with communities
Communication plans
Legal framework
Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011
Localism Act 2011
ECHR, equality and the duty to engage
Public sector equality duty
Accountability and transparency
Democratic accountability
Case study
Force level accountability
Neighbourhood level accountability
Engagement feedback
Levels of participation
Further information

Content: Neighbourhood policing has shown that public confidence improves when local people are involved in decisions about the issues that most concern them. Engagement and police legitimacy
The impact of poor police and community relations on public perceptions should not be underestimated. Negative pre-existing opinions of the police are predictive of negatively received contact. Fair decision making and positive public interaction and engagement can improve these perceptions and increase ‘institutional trust’, thereby enhancing police legitimacy. This, in turn, helps efforts to reduce crime by encouraging greater respect for the law and fostering social responsibility, making people more likely to help the police and not break the law. Police effectiveness
In encounters with the police, research indicates that the quality of the treatment received is more important than the objective outcome. However, while personal treatment appears to be valued over criminal justice outcomes, an inadequate police response to an incident may have a significant impact on the confidence of the community. See critical incident management. The ways in which the police engage and interact with the community, and the negative and positive experiences of the public when accessing policing services (including victims, witnesses and offenders) can influence subsequent perceptions of police fairness and legitimacy, and confidence in the police. The perceived legitimacy of particular policing functions can be increased if community engagement contributes to evidenced-based policy making.