Local policing is at the heart of our approach

Ordinary day-to-day interactions between police and the communities of the North West of Edinburgh cannot be overstated, says Neil Wilson

The importance of the ordinary day-to-day interactions between my team and the communities of the North West of Edinburgh cannot be overstated. It is through these seemingly routine exchanges that we gain insight and develop our understanding of the issues faced. In a rapidly changing and complicated world, it has never been more important to nurture these connections.

We can only truly get to grips with our greatest challenges by working in close partnership, not only with statutory services and third sector organisations, but with the communities we serve. Every contact leaves a trace and communication is key to understanding each other, both at the organisational and individual levels. Gaining the full range of perspectives helps us all to build a more vivid picture, enabling us to shape tailored and effective responses.

Put simply, when we speak to each other, and genuinely listen to one another, we understand each other better. When we add purpose to those conversations by recognising our common interests, rooted in the success of people and communities, we empower each other to make things better for us all.

In a column last year, I wrote about the presence and impact of child criminal exploitation in our communities. This complex issue highlights just how vital collaboration is. Working with partners under the banner of The Pilton Project, we are striving more than ever to embed a truly collaborative approach in a community disproportionately impacted by the exploitative practices of organised crime. Already we are seeing how strengthening relationships at grassroots level across the third sector, other statutory agencies and, crucially, the people who live here, enables us to deal with harmful behaviour more effectively.

The Pilton Project seeks to empower the community by pooling skills and experience and fostering a truly collaborative, can-do approach. My teams are recalibrating the way we approach and follow-up when we identify needs of individuals and households in our communities, particularly following enforcement action.

By its nature, policing routinely shines a light on moments of crisis in people’s lives. Through the relationships we have with community navigator services, substance abuse harm reduction teams, housing and mental health services, to name but a few, we are able to connect people more directly, and meaningfully, with the support they really need. And those same relationships enable all of us to better understand the true nature of those needs and become better at addressing them proactively.

People are not one-dimensional and places are a rich tapestry of ideas, expectations and needs. When we are present in the areas we serve, when we build relationships with the people who live and work there – and when we seek, sincerely, to understand the complex reality of them – we can create the conditions for them to thrive. That’s the ambition we have with The Pilton Project – to put collaborative practice at the heart of our work and to constantly remind ourselves of our core purpose to improve the safety and well-being of people and communities.

While the world around us may feel complex and fast moving, some things remain constant and help to ground us in what matters most. There are many challenges facing policing, however, the tenet that "the police are the public and the public are the police”, an idea rooted in Sir Robert Peel’s founding principles of modern policing, is still very much relevant today.

Neil Wilson is Chief Inspector, North West Edinburgh City Division

Local policing is at the heart of our approach - Neil Wilson