The Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) is providing funding to support a Rapid Research Project which will provide a comprehensive review of academic research and grey literature (including wider evidence e.g. from policing organisations) into the citizen and community experience of interactions with police using Body Worn Video (BWV).

This is to gain insight into the lessons that can be learned, the factors driving confidence and acceptance of BWV that can be used to inform the design and deployment of BWV within Scottish operational policing.   

Police Scotland has considered and undertaken an initial appraisal of research evidence, including international academic research, an evaluation of BWV in the North East and a public and stakeholder survey on the use of BWV within armed policing. A 12-week national public and stakeholder consultation is taking place during the summer months to enable a conversation on the use of BWV across operational policing. This will involve a national survey available in accessible formats and a series of focus group discussions with different population groups, including seldom-heard communities.  

Police Scotland is committed to ensuring that communities and partners are engaged, involved and have confidence in policing. Engagement on BWV is designed to ensure ethical and privacy considerations that are integral to policing and protection are embedded into every aspect of the service. 

This proposed commissioned evidence review will bring together academic research evidence and grey literature on use of BWV in policing. This will form a key element of the service’s approach to fully develop, understand and consider a robust evidence base ahead of implementation of BWV on a national scale. The research findings will also support engagement with and future updates to the Justice Committee, in partnership with the SPA.

Purpose and objectives 

The purpose of this evidence review is to explore the research and grey literature and review findings and learning. The review should provide evidence into the following:  

• Citizen and community experience (including diverse communities, survivors, witnesses and perpetrators) of BWV, identifying case studies on the impact of BWV on outcomes for survivors from a policing and criminal justice perspective. 
• Consideration of the use of BWV on human rights and ethical practice.  
• Factors driving public confidence in the use of BWV. 
• Good practice in the use of BWV through benchmarking with other police, blue light and public services. 

Outputs 

• Case studies of citizen and community experience of BWV.
• Principles for good practice in the use of BWV and the situations these apply. 
• Identification of police forces for Police Scotland to potentially collaborate with in sharing knowledge and learning. 
• Approaches to engaging and involving citizens and communities in assessing practice

Eligibility

Applications are welcome from researchers with priority given to staff based at one of the 14 SIPR member universities.

We encourage interdisciplinary partnerships and proposals submitted across member institutions (and can include national/ international academic and non-academic partners). Additionally, creative ideas which engage practitioners with research are particularly encouraged.

Value

A total of £10,000 will be available to one successful team, and we welcome proposals which include co-funding from other sources.

Assessment

Given the short turn-around required, applications will be subject to one single review stage which will include assessment by an independent panel comprising of senior national/ international academics, civil servants, as well as policing personnel. Applications will be considered against set criteria including:

• Suitability of investigative team (Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator’s experience and expertise in the field of study)
• Feasibility (a project’s ambition and ability to deliver outcomes to budget and within timescales)
• Potential benefits/impact (project legacy and potential to influence policy and practice); and
• Longevity (preference may be given to applications which articulate an intention to build on the funding provided from SIPR by through attempt to attract larger grants from external funding).

Criteria

Applications are welcome from researchers with priority given to staff based at one of the 14 SIPR member universities.

Applications must be submitted to Monica Boyle (m.boyle@napier.ac.uk) by no later than 23:59 Sunday 26th September 2021.

Only one application is permitted from the same applicant for this call. The PI can be included as a Co-investigator in one further application as long as the two applications are not linked.

This project is a rapid research project and applicants must be able to complete the project by no later than Tuesday 20th December 2021.

Applicants will also be required to report where this funding has enabled the generation of external income as well as where this project has been included as an impact case study.