Intensive Community Engagement:Locally Identified Solutions and Practices (LISP)

Tim CurtisThe University of Northampton

Feb 20141

2

Big problems

• What is the cause of ASB?• How do we have a drug-free county?• Do immigrants cause higher crime rates?• How to get youths to behave?• How do we tackle apathy?• How to improve perceptions of Policing?• Which call-outs are more important?

3

WHAT TO DO1. Justification for LISP (What are the issues identified? What is the evidence for this?)2. What community assets/vulnerabilities are in the area? (what makes this area already

mostly successful?)3. Who shares the problem? (stakeholders & networks)

Identify who are directly involved in this issue? (individuals, agencies, businesses, residents etc). How are all people/agencies involved associated?

4. Problem Rich Picture How do stakeholders see the problem? Where do the issues arise? What parts of the neighbourhood are great/? Map the results

5. Form a working group (Made up of stakeholders who are engaged and able to make changes)

6. Solution Rich Picture Engage working group in RP process - What do the solutions look like from the stakeholders perspective? How can they be achieved? What would the neighbourhood look like if all the issues were solved?

7. Agree Interventions & Evaluation (Who is doing what, when, how, by when, what does success look like?)

8. Escalation: what will make the interventions fails? What are you going to do about it to prevent that happening? Who will you need to approach to unblock barriers to progress?

How to LISP- getting to ‘maybe’

Community policing is a ‘complex problem’

• Recognised by policy makers, the PCC and Chief Constable• A category of problems that are ‘resistant’ to the National Decision

Model approach• Can’t agree on what the problem is, let alone what the solutions

should be• Cannot be solved by projects, committees or joint working by

professionals• Needs to be co-produced ‘with’ communities rather than solved by

experts ‘on behalf’ of communities• The police cannot own the solution but can organise the community• Requires ‘Intensive Engagement’ with communities to understand

the problem better

Ackoff, Russell, "Systems, Messes, and Interactive Planning" Portions of Chapters I and 2 of Redesigning the Future. New York/London: Wiley, 1974.

7

Problems with current approach

• Police only see a part of the problem• Other agencies and the residents are seen as a

problem, rather than part of the solution• The Police like to solve problems• The Police can’t solve all of the problems that

influence their performance • The Police spends a lot of resource on repeats

of ASB and SAC

8

The Vision

• PCSO's are all trained problem solvers • PCSO's are well practiced and proficient at problem analysis with

communities and delivering Rich Picture engagement in order to do so • The Force ensures that PCSO's are able to access expert direct support in

delivering local engagement with communities. • Interventions are evidence based and developed with the communities

involved • LIPS are solutions focussed and become Locally Identified Solutions and

Practices (LISPs)

9

‘Hard’ problem analysis- the standard approach

10

Early days- SARA

• Scanning - spotting problems using knowledge, basic data and electronic maps;

• Analysis - using hunches and IT to dig deeper into problems’ characteristics and causes;

• Response - working with the community, where necessary and possible, to devise a solution; and

• Assessment - looking back to see if the solution worked and what lessons can be learned

11

14

Instead, we need to ‘motivate’ change

15

Challenges

• How to DO problem-oriented policing better• How to integrate it into the Police systems and

methodologies• Shifting from a “strategy that could only be applied

short-term, in certain circumstances and to deal with particular issues.” to

• Normal business• Have clear lines of responsibility & accountability in

and outside Police through a (shared) agreement – LISP• Shift from ‘problems’ to ‘solutions & practices’

16

LISP JOURNEYgather information & intelligence

17

WHAT TO DO1. Justification for LISP (What are the issues identified? What is the evidence for this?)2. What community assets/vulnerabilities are in the area? (what makes this area already

mostly successful?)3. Who shares the problem? Stakeholders & networks

Identify who are directly involved in this issue? (individuals, agencies, businesses, residents etc). How are all people/agencies involved associated?

4. Problem Rich PicturesHow do stakeholders see the problem? Where do the issues arise? What parts of the

neighbourhood are great? Map the results 5. Form a working group (Made up of stakeholders who are engaged and able to make

changes)6. Solution Rich Picture

Engage working group in RP process - What do the solutions look like from the stakeholders perspective? How can they be achieved? What would the neighbourhood look like if all the issues were solved?

7. Agree Interventions & Evaluation (Who is doing what, when, how, by when, what does success look like?)

8. Escalation: what will make the interventions fails? What are you going to do about it to prevent that happening? Who will you need to approach to unblock barriers to progress?

18

20

Benefits for communities

• Solutions focussed not problem- oriented• Gathering different perspectives from all types

of citizen• Helping citizens to see that different people see

problems differently• Focusses on capabilities and assets, not deficit

and blame• Allows (hard to hear) residents to speak on

their own terms

21

Benefits for the PCSO

• Demonstrates and legitimates what you already do

• Creates an evidence base for you to influence behaviour & Police strategy/resourcing

• A clear basis of action in partnership with other statutory agencies

• Doesn’t require ‘resources’ or funding• Can be done ‘on the fly’

22

TASK 1: RAPID APPRAISAL

first engagement with a neighbourhood‘good enough’ datainformal engagement

Time for the walkabout

23

Contexts and methods

• Street walking• Victim support• Community meetings

• Get the residents – talking to you– explaining what they see ‘I’m not sure I understand fully,

can you draw that?’– doing rich pictures– remember grass roots, not ‘tips’

24

Essential distinction

• ‘Grass-tips’ - usual suspects/’professional’ community activists– Consultees are only partly connected to their

community and not well informed about community politics, (or not demonstrated) or

• ‘Grass-roots’- unusual suspects– Consultees are not well informed about the

interests of the organisation consulting– Or might be ambivalent about the Police

Make a list of people you know in each category

25

Working out a ‘perspectives’ map

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

EXERCISE: On the flipchart paper in front of you, draw a picture of

‘what you saw’

34

TASK 2: DEVELOP NETWORKS

getting to the grassrootsfinding capable people

35

Social Capital- networks

• How many acquaintances does an individual have?

• Who knows who?• How do they solve

problems?• Who do they go to

get problems solved?Rough Guide to Social Capital: How do you get a problem solved with no money?

37

EXERCISE: draw over your original rich picture, the people that you would expect to find in this

locality

38

TASK 3: ASSETS AND CAPABILITIESDOES YOUR RP LOOK A BIT THIS?.........

addressing the deficit model

40

Traditional development vs ABCD

• Needs, deficiencies, problems

• Negative mental map• Client mentality• Resources go to social

service agencies• Undermines local

leadership• Dependency• Separates community• Outside in

• Capacities, assets, dreams, strengths

• Optimistic mental map• Citizen participation• Minimizes bureaucracy,

resources to community• Builds local leadership and

confidence• Empowerment• Builds connections• Inside out

Discovering Community Power: A Guide to Mobilizing Local Assets and Your Organization’s Capacity by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight, with Sarah Dobrowolski and Deborah Puntenney (2005).

41

Categories of Assets

• Individuals– Skills, talents, capacities– Dreams, visions

• Associations– Families, friends, groups, teams

• Institutions– Businesses, schools, libraries, police, fire, non-

profits• Physical environment

– Greenspaces, transportation• Local economy

42

A B C D Processes

• Map of community’s assets– Rich picture format

• Individuals mobilize, contribute gifts, talents• Internal connections

– Develop a vision, “common good”– Define and solve problems– Multiple pathways for leadership

• External connections– Reinforce internal strengths– Appropriate to community’s vision

• It is a guide for relationship building, not just data.• Knowing others in your community that have similar

interests allows groups to gather for a common cause

44

TASK 4: ANALYSE COMPLEX ISSUES

avoiding jumping to solutionsunderstanding the problem bettersolving the right problems

45

46

Solving the right problems

• “Successful problem solving requires finding the right solution to the right problem.

• We fail more often because we solve the wrong problem than because we get the wrong solution to the right problem”

• Russell Ackoff 1974

47

What we need is to understand how different stakeholders ‘see’ the problem in the first place and appreciate how they go about problem solving

48

Chapter 1 of Dialogue Mapping: Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems, by Jeff Conklin, Ph.D., Wiley,

October 2006.

“Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.”

Lawrence J Peter

49

Wicked Problems• The solution depends on how the problem is framed and vice-

versa (i.e., the problem definition depends on the solution)• Stakeholders have radically different world views and different

frames for understanding the problem.• The constraints that the problem is subject to and the

resources needed to solve it change over time.• The problem is never solved definitively.• You don’t have the right to get it wrong

50

Avoid taming the problem

• Simplistic causes “it’s all because…..”• Tackle a small part of the real problem• End of a project means the problem has been

‘fixed’• Solution is definitely right or wrong.• Problem is just like one that we have seen

before.• Solutions can be tried and abandoned.

51

ENRICHING OUR PERSPECTIVES

use ‘rich pictures’ (RP) to understanding different worldviewsuse RP as an engagement tooluse RP as a problem analysis tool

This is NOT the only community engagement methodIt is my favouriteIt works for me most of the timeI teach it to my students

52

Metaphorical language is superior to literal language because it captures experience and emotions better and because it can communicate meaning in complex, ambiguous situations where literal language is inadequate (Palmer & Dunford, 1996 p. 694).

53

What to put in a rich picture

• Structure, e.g. – departmental or organisation boundaries,

– geographical considerations,

– people and institutions.

• Process - activities, information or material flows. • Climate - the relationship between structure and

process, and any associated problems.• ‘Soft facts’ - concerns, conflicts, views.• Environment - external interested bodies, factors

affecting the organisation.

54

Hints and tips

• Start with a person in the middle• Think about ‘boundaries’

– The limits of your ‘system of interest’– External factors: that affect your system, but is not

affected by changes inside your system• Think geographically

– map emotions and reactions in specific locations– map known data on the same RP

55

57

TASK 5: IDENTIFY SOLUTIONS & PRACTICES

behaviours and practices as well as projects

58

What does success look like?

• For you?• For the victims?• For the perpetrators?• For the other stakeholders?

59

Getting agreement

SOLUTIONS – One off events, projects or facilities

What? Why? (What is the intend

effect?)

With whom? How? By when? Measures of success

PRACTICES – ongoing behaviours or activities to sustain success

What? Why? (What is the intend

effect?)

With whom? How? By when? Measures of success

61

Evaluation & Escalation

• Evaluation• What factors will indicate ongoing success?

– i.e. How many crime incidents are being prevented• How are they to be measured?• Escalation• When, how or why should this LISP be escalated

up the Police for action at a higher level?• When, how or why should this LISP be escalated

outside the working group for action?

CASE STUDIESAsian Gold Burglaries

Street Drinking & Drug Abuse

Justification for LISP

Problem Rich Picture

TEAM WORK