Case studies

Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS): online consultations on policing priorities 2003-5

Context
The MPA is an independent statutory body, established under The Greater London Authority Act 1999, and came into effect in July 2000. Members of the Authority scrutinise and support the work of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

An MPA/MPS review revealed that their consultation processes did not give them an in-depth understanding of community issues, and responses tended to be made in isolation at a given point in time and that feedback to participants was also limited. Dialogue by Design ran the first online consultation on policing priorities in 2003, and has run similar processes in 2004 and 2005.

Task
To develop a more sophisticated approach to consultation that enables a deeper understanding of the issues raised, more informed contributions directly relevant to the policing context of London, and transparency and feedback to respondents on how they contributed to the process.

Process
In 2005 The MPA and MPS invited about 1,700 community, local government and other public sector organisations in London to participate in a consultation to identify policing priorities. The results will be used to develop policing priorities for 2006/09.

In Session 1, participating individuals and organisations were asked to identify the key policing issues for 2006/09; each participant could list up to 10 issues.

In Session 2, these responses were displayed in a structured format that enabled participants to explore the issues and develop a deeper understanding of others’ concerns. 302 organisations and individuals used up to 7 points to prioritise the issues they considered particularly important. They could also submit additional comments into a textbox. The results of this session were then similarly displayed and participants asked to comment on the results and evaluate the process.

Participation
418 people participated in Session 1 between 4 April and 16 May 2005; 302 organisations and individuals contributed to Session 2 between 31 May and 27 June 2005.

Results
The results of these consultations are published on the MPS website.

This work has also lead to Dialogue by Design running workshops on designing and managing consultation and community engagement processes for the MPS.