British Transport Police

ABSTRACT Across the globe suicide rates are creating concern, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) argues that suicide is the responsibility of everyone. The WHO recognises that police have an important role in suicide prevention and the management of mental health crises. We suggest that police officers and staff are inevitably impacted by the emotional labour of meeting the demands of this aspect of the role. We argue for more research attention on the experiences and views of police who work with suicide. This study comprised qualitative reflective interviews with police in the UK, Guyana and New Zealand, with the focus on identifying commonalities in experience across the three locations. Four themes were generated through reflective thematic analysis: (1) the context; (2) the traumatic impact; (3) the difficult aspects of this work and (4) organisational opportunities for supporting police officers and staff. Our data illustrated that suicide is qualitatively different from other forms of death, and the nature of the work did have considerable emotional and traumatic impact on police. We conclude our paper with several recommendations for police forces to build their welfare support for staff. These recommendations could help promote a healthier workforce and recognise the specific issues associated with this part of the role.

The objective of this study is to help investigators identify the characteristics of pickpocketing cases that are related to their solvability and detection and to use them to develop a predictive model for guiding case-screening decisions. It is based on a population of 36,260 pickpocketing incidents that took place on railway property policed by the British Transport Police between 2010 and 2015. Ten solvability factors were identified that explained 44% of the variation in detection outcomes and were used to calculate a solvability score for each incident, which indicates whether or not cases should be screened in for further investigation. The predictive model is five times as accurate as existing screening practices and can be used to discriminate between highly solvable cases likely to be detected and low-solvability cases with poor prospects of being solved. The use of a case-screening tool based on this predictive model could, depending on the solvability threshold selected, result in 30% rather than 90% of unsolved cases being investigated, saving over 20,000 h of investigation time a year wasted investigating difficult, if not impossible, to solve cases. A small number of cases that are currently solved would, with statistical case screening, remain undetected.

Purpose – This paper aims to demonstrate the effective development of creative and innovative capability in a rigid bureaucratic public sector environment of an area of the British Transport Police, championed by the Area Commander and informed by extant literature. Design/methodology/approach – The focus is on an intervention that addressed two related issues suggested by extant literature, cognitive blocks to creative thinking and organisational barriers. A diagnostic assessment of the climate for creativity prompted reflection leading to simultaneous interventions, combining supervisory and senior management support with a structured process of creative problem solving focusing on problems generated at a strategic level. Findings – This has proved highly effective. At the end of the first year, five six-week cycles had already resulted in more than 600 new ideas, of which 52 were in the pipeline and 13 had already been endorsed. Few required financial investment and have increased effectiveness and optimised use of resources – literally doing more with less. Evidence is emerging of a climate more supportive of creativity and innovation. Practical implications – Positive outcomes have significant implications for the enhancement of creativity and innovation through intrinsic motivation. This example has potential for other public service organisations. Originality/value – Simultaneous interventions across multiple levels are rare. That this has been achieved in a rigid bureaucratic environment public sector organisation adds to the unique value of this contribution.