The informal tripart relationship between the state, neighbourhood police and community groups: community safety perceptions and practices in a Midlands neighbourhood in the UK
ISSN: 1757-8043
Article publication date: 31 July 2023
Issue publication date: 20 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the tripart relationship between British police officers, Local Authority representatives and community members based on a Midlands neighbourhood case study. It focuses on experiences of the strengths and challenges with working towards a common purpose of community safety and resilience building.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected in 2019 prior to enforced COVID lockdown restrictions following Staffordshire University ethical approval. An inductive qualitative methods approach of semi-structured individual and group interviews was used with community members (N = 30) and professionals (N = 15), using a purposive and snowball sample. A steering group with academic, police and Local Authority representation co-designed the study and identified the first tier of participants.
Findings
Community members and professionals valued tripart working and perceived communication, visibility, longevity and trust as key to addressing localised community safety issues. Challenges were raised around communication modes and frequency, cultural barriers to accessing information and inadequate resources and responses to issues. Environmental crime was a high priority for community members, along with tackling drug-related crime and diverting youth disorder, which concurred with police concern. However, the anti-terrorism agenda was a pre-occupation for the Local Authority, and school concerns included modern slavery crime.
Originality/value
When state involvement and investment in neighbourhoods decline, community member activism enthusiasm for neighbourhood improvement reduces, contrasting with government expectations. Community members are committed partnership workers who require the state to visibly and demonstrably engage. Faith in state actors can be restored when professionals are consistently present, communicate and follow up on actions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
With thanks to Kelly Cartlidge, Grace Hill, Manikandan Soundararjan for research support, Tom Read and Natalie Argent for recording assistance supervised by Paul Ottey, the student interpreter Muhammad Majid Ali and Professor James Treadwell for undertaking one interview and engaging in project shaping conversations.
Funding: for this research was provided by the Miller Centre at Rutgers University.
Citation
Page, S. and Griffin, S. (2023), "The informal tripart relationship between the state, neighbourhood police and community groups: community safety perceptions and practices in a Midlands neighbourhood in the UK", Safer Communities, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 266-280. https://doi.org/10.1108/SC-03-2023-0009
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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