Historical Perspectives: the relationship between police

and community in twentieth-century Scotland

Leverhulme Trust RPG-387Richard Sparks, Neil Davidson (Law)

Louise Jackson, Linda Fleming, Davie Smale (History)

Our project: police and community in C20th Scotland

• Historical mapping of relationship between police officers and the diverse urban and rural communities they served

• To historicise our understanding of ‘Community Policing’ (origins; mythologies)

• To contribute to current debates about local policing and community policing

Our project: methods• Historical recordsPersonnel recordsStation occurrence booksPublished memoirsNewspapers

- Mitchell Library Glasgow- Highland Archives- National Registers of

Scotland

• 40 Interviews- Recruited through RPOAS- Highlands and islands;

Glasgow and Lanarkshire- Youngest born 1924,

began service in 1945

Today’s presentation• Highland and islands• Idealisation of the village bobby (progenitor of

‘community policing’)• What were characteristics of the model of

policing delivered in these areas?• How different were they to the experience of

urban policing in Scotland?• How did they change?• Strengths and weaknesses: what can we learn

from this?

Highland counties 1900-c.1960Highland counties 1900-c.1960 Glasgow 1900-c.1960 (street Glasgow 1900-c.1960 (street policing)policing)

PopulationPopulation Depopulation (outward migration) until WWII; sparse distribution

Growth (immigration); dense distribution

CommunitiesCommunities Distinction between:a) older settled population (partly closed with high levels of self-regulation and low levels of internal social conflict) and b) transient population (labour and military camps; ‘tinkers’ and vagrants)

More fluid and open, but also high levels of social conflict: sectarianism; class and politics.

Police presencePolice presence Officers and families embedded and visible; ‘insiders’

Aloof but visible; migrant

Police rolePolice role GeneralistAdmin/advice/service/communication

Street constable: protection of property; street order; increasingly specialist (with movement into and between specialist units).

Characteristics of Characteristics of networks & relationshipsnetworks & relationships

Individualised and interpersonal; friendship.

Individualised and interpersonal

PartnershipsPartnerships informal informal

Table A: comparison of Highland counties and Glasgow c. 1900-1950

Table A (cont.)

Highland counties 1900-c.1960Highland counties 1900-c.1960 Glasgow 1900-c.1960 (street policing)Glasgow 1900-c.1960 (street policing)

Crime ratesCrime rates low high

Police discretionPolice discretion

Very high level of autonomy High level of autonomy within tasks

Police authority and Police authority and legitimacylegitimacy

Positional status / deference Positional status / deference

Police tacticsPolice tactics Diffusive; consensual; moral force.Use of warnings.

Consensual and moral force, but with recourse to: confrontation; physical force.

Policing whom?Policing whom? Migrant males (navvies; labour; ‘tinkers’; military; vagrant); the one local criminal

Political dissenters; house-breakers; the anti-social (‘neds’)

Policing for whom?Policing for whom?

Settled community

State: national security. Property owners; ‘Law-abiding’.

Partisan?Partisan? Perceived alliance with landowners in some areas. Police emphasise impartiality

Perceived association with Protestant community. Police emphasise impartiality

Highland counties 1900-c. 1960Highland counties 1900-c. 1960 Highland counties c.1980<Highland counties c.1980<

PopulationPopulation depopulation slow growth

CommunitiesCommunities Older closed settlements Fluid and more open

Police presence Police presence (geography)(geography)

Embedded Coverage of large areas; trunk roads

Police rolePolice role GeneralistAdmin/advice/service/communication

Increasingly specialist

Relationships and Relationships and networksnetworks

Individualised and interpersonal Structured

PartnershipsPartnerships Informal formal

Table B: Changes in Highland counties by late C20th

Table C: Strengths and weakness of earlier model of policing for building trust and legitimacy

HighlandHighland Early C20th Late C20thStrengthsStrengths Embeddedness: Potential for deep

qualitative relationships based on mutual trust Role as generalist: builds up trust Discretion: response is personalised and bespoke to meet individual need

High levels of professional training Emphasis on structures and procedures: impartiality Improvement in resources and working conditions (resilience)

WeaknessesWeaknesses Discretion: too dependent on character and personality Potential to be viewed as partisan Lack of professional training Lack of specialist knowledge

Emphasis on structures and procedures: lack of flexibility Lack of embeddedness (movement of officers)