Collaboration for Change
The fact that we are hosting SPACE is recognition of Edinburgh Napier’s strong collaborative partnerships with Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, and a range of related organisations. SPACE will build on the national and international reputation of our Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) and on our expertise in developing Scotland’s policing research and innovation. We will lead SPACE in collaboration with partner institutions Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of St Andrews.
At Edinburgh Napier we have delivered a wide range of impactful initiatives, such as our evaluation of the use of naloxone by police officers in Scotland to address the country’s high rate of drug-related deaths. This research found that police officers were often the first responders to overdose incidents and were in a position to save lives. We demonstrated that the use of naloxone by the police was feasible and acceptable to most officers and community members. Our findings and recommendations were a key factor in the decision by Police Scotland to roll out the mandatory carriage of naloxone for all frontline officers across the country, a first for the UK.
We also played a key role in changes to the law, policy and practice of stop and search, pushing Police Scotland towards fewer, fairer, and more transparent practices. Our research identified good practice and recommended nineteen improvements, including ending non-statutory (consensual) searches, helping to improve public confidence in policing.
Recommendations from other research projects are, for example, empowering policing colleagues to drive evidence-based change, improving policing practice and service delivery, and advancing better outcomes for the communities they serve. We have considered police officer wellbeing, most recently exploring neurodiversity across policing, as the health of the workforce is a significant factor in operational excellence.
As technological advances increasingly affect the policing landscape, we have implemented research to consider the accessibility of digital police contact, amongst other initiatives. I was invited by the Scottish Government to Chair the Independent Advisory Group on Emerging Technologies in Policing, and the group’s recommendations are ensuring ethical issues are considered in the scrutiny and oversight of new technologies and policing.
Leading on Safety
SPACE will focus on three urgent areas of policing: Safety, Prevention, and Analytics, underpinned by Confidence and Ethics. We will lead the Safety theme, focusing on officer wellbeing, reducing crime through public health approaches, and harnessing data and AI to improve decision-making and operational effectiveness.
Our work in SPACE will open up engagement with policing bodies at a UK level, including the National Police Chief’s Council, so we can share our research findings more widely and generate greater impact nationally. It will also enable us to distribute £250,000 to support new research and knowledge exchange activity in Scotland over the next three years.
Through SPACE we will continue to ensure that policing is shaped by the best scientific expertise, and that policing researchers innovate and challenge approaches, resulting in better policing that ultimately will keep us all safe.