Police Scotland - Pledge

Police Scotland is committed to supporting our communities, especially those identified as being vulnerable and at risk. We do this in our daily working practices, liaising closely with national & local partners. We have worked to integrate trauma informed practices in many of our key areas of business and have adopted the use of NHS Education for Scotland (NES) materials. This has added value to many of our specialist courses, including our detective training courses where our teams develop the skills to investigate crimes often perpetrated against some of the most vulnerable people in society. In addition, we have committed to providing specific training to all probationary officers as part of their initial programme. Police Scotland recognises the fundamental need for a whole system approach and the value of partnerships. Crucially, this includes engaging with those who have lived experience to help our understanding of how practices and procedures can make positive impact. Providing the right service to the right people at the right time is at the core of what we do, and to do so we must listen, engage and act on feedback. We will continue to promote an approach which sees trauma being incorporated in our prevention policies. This includes work under our Corporate Parenting Plan and also supporting individuals to recover from substance abuse, to aid those with mental health challenges, or someone experiencing a crisis. We recognise that prevention must be at the heart of our approach in order to improve quality of life for our communities. Supporting our employees, who deal with the effects of trauma as part of their daily work is also essential. Our Wellbeing approach is centred on this to ensure our officers and staff are well and able to support our communities. We are committed to being trauma informed.