Emily Gilbert (UK), Jim McKee (UK)
The satisfaction of victims of crime in London has declined. A randomised controlled trial was set up to test the effects on reassurance calls on satisfaction. A sample of some 7,000 victims of ‘screened out’ vehicle crime was selected. The treatment group received a reassurance telephone call. The control group only received a victim letter. The treatment group showed significant increased satisfaction. This was much more pronounced for victims reporting online than those reporting by telephone. The positive effect was also stronger in respect of demographic groups that have usually been less satisfied, and with those who had their vehicle broken into as opposed to the vehicle itself being stolen. The results of this experiment are highly relevant to the policing of volume crime, addressing the challenge to maintain legitimacy, whilst being efficient in servicing demand.
Biographies
Emily Gilbert is a Principal Research Officer at the London Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC), where her work focuses on the Public Voice programme. Her research interests include attitude measurement, data quality, and the use of new technology and innovative methods for data collection, as well as public perceptions and experiences of the police. She gained her PhD in Survey Methodology from the University of Essex.
Jim is a serving officer in the Metropolitan Police. He has undertaken a wide range of challenging policing roles. He spent many years working in counter-terrorism. This included a decade deployed overseas, firstly in Turkey and then in East Africa, where he delivered ground-breaking operational and capacity building work to disrupt terrorist threats to the UK. In recent years Jim has led proactive work to tackle gang violence across London, established a new mechanism to task and coordinate specialist teams against serious and organised crime and he is now leading root-and-branch change to radically improve the Met’s capabilities in counter corruption and professional standards. This presentation on improving victim satisfaction through reassurance calls was prompted by Jim’s previous role as lead responsible officer for volume crime in London, which included teams responsible for investigating crimes reported by phone and online.