ALARM SCOTLAND

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ALARM SCOTLAND CONFERENCE
Bob Ovens Deputy Chief Constable
Stirling University 21 September 2004
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Bob Ovens Deputy Chief Constable Dumfries
Galloway Constabulary
ACPOS LEAD

• Child Protection
• Sex Offenders
• Bichard Inquiry

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AIMS

• Set the scene for the Scottish Police
• Service to meet the challenges of
• effectively responding to
• Child Protection
• Managing sex offenders in the community
• Responding to Bichard recommendations

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MARIA COLWELL
born 25.03.1965 died 07.01.1973 (aged 7)

• Conclusions Failures attributed to poor
• Inter agency working
• Information sharing
• Assessment and communication
• Accountability
• Training and
• - roles and responsibilities
• - policies, procedures, recording practices

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VICTORIA ADJO CLIMBIE
born 02.11.1991 died 25.02.2000 (aged 8)

• Conclusions Failures attributed to poor
• Inter agency working
• Information sharing
• Assessment and communication
• Accountability
• Training and
• - roles and responsibilities
• - policies, procedures, recording practices

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KENNEDY MCFARLANE
born 17.04.1997 died 17.05.2000 (aged 3)

• Conclusions Failures attributed to poor
• Inter agency working
• Information sharing
• Assessment and communication
• Accountability
• Training and
• - roles and responsibilities
• - policies, procedures, recording practices

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Every child in Scotland, regardless of their
background, should be able to reach their full
potential. No child must fail or be damaged
because professional barriers, funding
inflexibility or poor information exchange let
them down
(Jack McConnell 2002)
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INFORMATION SHARING CHILD PROTECTION
when professionals pool their knowledge of a
childs circumstances, a more holistic view of
their needs emerges, enabling a more effective
assessment to achieved. Any such approach must
be underpinned by robust information sharing
protocols and agreements .
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Child Protection is a statutory duty which
carries a considerable level of risk and there
can be no guarantees as we do not operate in a
risk free environment
(Chief Executives and Chief Officers 2004)
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DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY

• Information which is
• Not in the public domain
• Obtained in the expectation that it will
• only be used for a specific purpose
• Of a sensitive nature
• eg information provided to Social Worker,
• Doctor, Police Officer etc

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DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY

• Such information must
• be kept secure
• have access limited
• and there must be a genuine professional need to
  know

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DISCLOSING SENSITIVE INFORMATION

• Information is not Confidential
• Consent to Disclose
• Overriding public interest
• Court order or other legal obligation

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COURT DECISIONS FAVOUR OF BREACHING CONFIDENCE

• Disclosure for purposes of Crime and
• Disorder Act 1998
• Prevention and detection of crime
• Apprehension and prosecution of offenders

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PUBLIC INTEREST

• Judgement between possible consequences
• of decision to disclose or not.
• Public interest can include
• Administration of Justice
• Securing public safety
• Protecting vulnerable people

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PUBLIC INTEREST cont.

• Considerations
• The proportionality of disclosure
• Impact on or benefit to offender
• Impact of non disclosure to victim
• Disclosure supporting rights and
• freedoms of other individuals
• Necessity of disclosure to achieve aim

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BICHARD INQUIRY

• In June 2004, Sir Michael Bichard published
• his report into the murders of Holly Wells
• and Jessica Chapman in Soham in 2002.
• The report contained 31 recommendations
• covering 4 main areas
• Information systems
• Information management
• Child protection
• Disclosure

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BICHARD INQUIRY

• The report covered common themes of
• Leadership
• Resourcing
• Training
• Processes
• Policies and standards

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BICHARD INQUIRY
Scottish Police Service Approach

• Scoping the Issues
• Identifying associated problems
• Challenges and Risks
• Options for Progress
• Application of 3 x 3 system

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RISK MATRIX
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BICHARD REPORT
The key purpose is to consider the risk or
likelihood of an offence being committed against
the vulnerable. Accordingly information must
be relevant to the purpose for which the
disclosure is being made. Information must be
credible, clear and capable of being
substantiated if challenged
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RISK ASSESSMENT

• Experience from the use of Risk Assessment
• Tools for the management of sex offenders
• in the community
• Lessons
• what tool to use
• factors to be considered
• value/weighting to be placed on factors
• predictive accessory

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RISK ASSESSMENT

• Lessons continued
• Academic research to validate tools
• Multi agency approach
• Training
• Consistency
• Evaluation

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ISSUES

• High Medium Low Risk
• Need to Prioritise
• Proper Assessment
• Best use of Resources
• Protect the Public
• Public Expectations
• Dynamic Situations

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Any Questions?