Abertay University’s new research to help officers improve interactions with LGBT and care-experienced young people
Academics at Abertay University are working with Police Scotland on a research project that aims to help frontline officers improve how they interact with LGBT and care-experienced young people.
Led by Professor Jim Moir of Abertay’s School of Business, Law and Social Sciences, the project involves exploring young people’s interactions with the police and examining the extent to which empathy and understanding of different ‘seldom heard voices’ is apparent in Police Scotland.
The term ‘seldom-heard’ refers to communities that are historically under-represented and may be less likely to engage with police for a variety of reasons including race, religion, sexuality, disability, and age, as well as communities isolated through geography or economic disadvantage.
The latest findings from the research were recently presented to Police Scotland at a public dissemination event attended by academics, non-governmental organisation (NGO) team members, and Police Scotland staff and serving officers. The findings showed that many LGBT and care-experienced young people in the study expressed having difficult encounters with the police.
Following the presentations, representatives from Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) were invited to reflect on the findings and recommendations, and to provide assurances of the SPA and Police Scotland’s ongoing commitment to the communities and the issues raised.
Professor Moir said:
I’m delighted that Abertay was selected to take part in this important project that is all about supporting the police to improve how they engage with seldom heard communities. The more our police officers represent the communities they serve, the more they understand their needs and concerns and the better they can work together with the public to make communities safer and stronger.
The project was funded by the Scottish Institute of Policing Research (SIPR) which is a collaboration between Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, and 15 Scottish universities including Abertay. The partnership was initially established in 2007 to carry out high-quality, independent research and to make evidence-based contributions to policing policy and practice.
SIPR has been running for 15 years and aims to support internationally excellent, multi-disciplinary policing research to enable evidence-informed policy and practice.
In May 2021, the SIPR launched the ‘Seldom Heard Community Grants’ which invited all interested parties to apply for funding for projects which would support Police Scotland to further enhance its engagement with underrepresented groups.
Following a successful bid to the scheme, Professor Moir sought to utilise Abertay’s expertise in a range of disciplines, including psychology and sports development, recruiting a team of colleagues from across the University to support his work on the project.
Professor Moir added:
All of our findings were accepted by Police Scotland in good faith and I’m confident that the force will use our research to improve their policies and practices in relation to the LGBT community, those from disadvantaged backgrounds and others seldom heard groups.
The interdisciplinary group, composed of Dr Corinne Jola (Division of Psychology and Forensic Sciences), Dr David Scott (Division of Sport and Exercise Sciences) and Ms Jan Law (Division of Sociology), worked on the project for a year and a half and is part of the ongoing collaboration with SIPR and Police Scotland over positive steps to improve training for police recruits and officers in engaging with young people in the LGBT community.
Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond said:
This important research underlines our commitment to listening to all our communities so we can continually improve how we represent, reflect and serve them. I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this work and we are already considering the recommendations made so that we can continue to design our services to best meet the needs of our communities.