Police training aimed at better victim rapport

A study set up by the College of Policing has discovered a new way to improve the experience for victims when dealing with police.

All front-line officers from Rochdale and across Greater Manchester Police will have to take part in ‘politeness’ training after the study found that building a rapport with victims helped achieve co-operation.

The study involved 600 officers from Greater Manchester Police taking part in the ‘randomised controlled trial’, the research compared results for one group of officers who were randomly selected to receive specialist communications training, with another group who did not.

Officers receiving the training were taught the importance of their approach when dealing with victims. This included techniques such as thinking about words and phrases that may create barriers to victims; explaining the available options to the victim; using phrases to focus on what the police can do for the victim and ensuring that officers check they have done all they can for a victim before leaving the incident.

Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan, said: “Policing in the UK is done with the support and consent of the public - that is the fundamental basis of our model of policing.

“Greater Manchester Police is very aware that the manner in which officers and staff speak to and deal with victims of crime and members of our communities can have a lasting impact.

“In seeking to increase the satisfaction of victims, we have introduced training for staff which helps them to build empathy and understanding and make the right decision in every interaction.

“GMP is currently delivering that training to all front-line staff and will continue to emphasise the vital role that all interactions have for gaining the support of the public of Greater Manchester.”

The study, based on research in Australia and the USA about police attitudes, found that a higher proportion of victims who had contact with the trained officers “strongly agreed” they appeared interested, and made them feel reassured, trained officers were found to give a better quality of service compared with officers who were not trained. Also those officers who received training were more likely to hold positive views about delivering a quality service and recognised the value of building empathy and rapport with victims.

College of Policing Head of Research Analysis and Information Rachel Tuffin said: “We knew from research in Australia and the US that police officers could change attitudes, by making sure the public felt fairly treated and involved in decisions.

“When Greater Manchester Police asked us to help with training to improve victim satisfaction, we spotted a great opportunity to carry out the first UK trial of this type on police training, and the first internationally to focus on victims.”