New police call handling system ‘instrumental’ during pandemic, review finds

Police Scotland’s new call handling system was “instrumental” in enabling the force to maintain an appropriate level of service throughout the pandemic, according to a new report.

Changes to the police call handling procedures were recommended by HM Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) following the deaths of Lamara Bell, 25, and her partner, John Yuill, 28, after their car went off the M9 motorway near Stirling on July 5 2015.

A passer-by called police but the force took three days to respond and, by the time officers finally arrived, Mr Yuill was dead and Ms Bell died four days later in hospital.

Police Scotland was fined £100,000 at the High Court in Edinburgh last year after admitting failings which “materially contributed” to the death of Ms Bell.

The first phase of the new Contact Assessment Model (CAM) call handling system was introduced in 2019 and its full roll-out was speeded up following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and completed in April 2020, five months early.

In a report published on Wednesday, HMICS said the introduction of CAM is a “significant step forward for Police Scotland in improving the service delivered to the public”, and helped during the pandemic.

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Craig Naylor said: “CAM was instrumental in enabling Police Scotland to maintain an appropriate level of service to communities across Scotland during an unprecedented and challenging period.

“Our findings are positive, endorse the concept and ambition of CAM, and it is important to acknowledge the considerable progress which has been made in this area of policing.

“Its roll-out across Scotland was accelerated when the impact of the pandemic started to be felt.

“CAM was able to be adapted depending on what level of restrictions were in place at any given time, in different parts of the country.

“And while it is clear its long-term potential benefits were adversely affected by Covid-19, it had a crucial role in maintaining public trust and confidence in policing.”

Police Scotland deals with around 3.4 million contacts each year, resulting in 1.5 million incidents being created.

The service now uses an assessment framework, known as Thrive (which stands for threat, harm, risk, investigative opportunity, vulnerability and engagement) to consider the needs of each caller, the circumstances of each call and the incident to ensure the appropriate response is provided.

HMICS noted the ability of Police Scotland to divert incidents to more appropriate organisations had been hindered during the pandemic and said staff in the Contact Command and Control Division (C3) need to be more proactive in transferring incidents to partners to ensure those most in need receive the most suitable response.

The report also highlighted that CAM has not delivered the intended benefits in terms of reduction in demand for local policing officers.

It contains eight recommendations for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond said: “This review underlines the significant progress made in how we respond to calls from the public and partners.

“We are grateful to HMICS for the endorsement of our Contact Assessment Model (CAM), which enables us to better assess threat, risk and harm to help ensure people get the right help when they need it.

“This important review will also assist us to drive further improvements in this vital area of policing.”

A Scottish Police Authority spokesman said: “We welcome the HMICS’s independent assessment of Police Scotland’s contact handling which will help inform continuous improvement in how policing responds to requests for service.

“The authority closely monitors Police Scotland’s approach and response to contact from the public and our Police Performance Committee is scheduled to consider this HMICS review in detail at its meeting next month.”