Step Five: Binding the Problem Solving—Implementation

Rigorous delivery and implementation of policing tactics are essential—and these issues do not always go hand in hand with policing culture. Packaging a collection of policing tactics into a strategic programme to design in more sustainable improvement takes the use of tactics up to an organisational strategic level. To put it simply, how a bundle of tactics is translated into a strategic programme and ‘designed’ and ‘delivered’ as business as usual dictates the type of results obtained. Initiatives without integrity do substantially worse than those with strong integrity (See Coulter 2010; Grove et al. 2012). This is a logical follow from the previous discussions around theories of change. However, throughout this monograph we refer to the concept of ‘implementation’ as a catch-all term for issues such as programme integrity, theories of change and designing and delivering programmes well. This is a whole systems approach to better policing. Such a term is used because our practical experience demonstrated to us critiquing police colleagues for lacking ‘programme integrity’ was not well received. Staff tended not to hear the former and focused upon the latter word and the lack of ‘integrity’ was sometimes seen as a personal affront!