Citizen Focus Hallmarks

What?

Citizen Focus is an evolving concept. Until recently it has been difficult to identify the links between policing improvement activity, standards, values and public confidence and satisfaction. The Citizen Focus Hallmarks have been produced to enable forces to better understand the characteristics of Citizen Focus and how
they can be used to continuously improve quality of service. They have been produced by the ACPO Standards and Qualities Portfolio and the NPIA Citizen Focus and Neighbourhood Policing Programme.

Clearly identifiable, Hallmarks traditionally act as a recognisable standard of quality. The Citizen Focus Hallmarks are exactly this and are intended to be
interwoven throughout the ‘whole system’ of policing from neighbourhood teams, response patrols, protective services and the wide variety of supporting functions.
They should be used in decision-making and to improve the experience that people have of policing services. If Citizen Focus is the excellence that we are striving to achieve, critical to success is promoting and focusing on the key enablers of excellence; effective leadership and communication, concentrating on people, partnerships and processes.

Why?

Being citizen focused is central to ensuring communities remain confident that the police service will protect them and deliver effective services in everything it does. The Hallmarks are intended as a first step to systemising quality. The aim is for forces to use them to plan, deliver and evaluate their services to help ensure that improvements to the delivery of policing are designed from the public perspective and enhance the experience and perception that people have of the police. The test of success will be increased public confidence in the police’s ability to provide the protection and quality of services expected, taking into account individual’s needs, expectations and priorities.

How?

The four Citizen Focus Hallmarks with the detail for each are set out below:

Understanding People

Understanding the people a force serves.
Understanding staff, and the internal culture of the force.
Understanding partners, stakeholders and regulators and their differing influence, motivation and levels of co-operation.

Understanding Services

Staff understanding the force vision and values and their contribution to achieving them.
Understanding the quality of the service expected and delivered from the public perspective.
Staff understanding what services are provided by the organisation and the standards expected of them in developing and delivering them.
Leaders and staff understanding how their area of work impacts upon the overall experience that individuals have with the organisation.
Clarifying responsibility and accountability with partners to align services and make them as effective as possible.
The public understanding what services the police deliver, how to access them and what standard of service they can expect.

Designing Services

Considering the actual or potential impact of services on people as part of the service design and review process.
Providing opportunities for staff, the public and partners to be involved in decision-making processes at appropriate levels.
Giving staff, the public and partners access to relevant information and the support necessary to be effective in their involvement.
Co-ordinating public engagement activity with partners.
Providing clear and accessible feedback to staff and the public on actions taken as a result of their involvement.

Delivering Services

Delivering adaptable services driven by public demand and priorities.
Encouraging and training staff to improve service delivery.
Agreeing service standards with the public, partners and stakeholders and achieving them.
Evaluating the effectiveness of service delivery from the public perspective.
Including a wide range of partner agencies in delivery.

The Citizen Focus and Neighbourhood Policing Programme is supporting the use of the Citizen Focus Hallmarks in the following ways:

We have developed a self assessment tool for forces to use to assess their own progress against delivery.
Our field officers are conducting visits to each force to support understanding and use of the Hallmarks and gather effective practice in how they are being implemented.
We are capturing effective practice on our Community of Practice extranet and we are sharing this through our neighbourhood policing website and
newsletter.
We are developing guidance on how the Hallmarks can be used in policy development.
We are developing tools to assist forces to better understand their staff and their communities and to gain a deeper understanding of the experience people have of policing.

Who?

The National policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is a policing organisation that provides a central resource to the police service, working for ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers), APA (Association of Police Authorities) and the Home Office to improve the delivery of Policing. The NPIA, through the Citizen Focus and Neighbourhood Policing Programme (CFNPP), will support ACPO and
forces in embedding the Policing Pledge in their service delivery.

For more information contact Jayne Pascoe
Tel: 0207 147 8020
Email: jayne.pascoe@npia.pnn.police.uk

Download the latest Citizen Focus Hallmarks factsheet

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