DANIEL DONNELLY
The 21st century has given birth to "surrogate" police officers in the form of community wardens. This comes at a time when traditional multi-talented police officers find it difficult to solve all of society's problems owing to the increasing diversification of their work. Yet we still hear calls for the disbandment of wardens, the latest one at the weekend from the Scottish Conservative Party, suggesting the money be redirected to pay for more police officers. Seems a sensible proposal, except for the fact that over the years wardens have shown they can fulfil a much wider role in the community because of their regular availability, more so than police officers with their ever-increasing workloads.

Wardens are a response to the need for more visible patrolling and are an effective method for tackling antisocial behaviour, dog-fouling, litter, environmental and noise issues. As with community policing, a lot of wardens' work goes unseen, but they do have the potential to invigorate communities, empower local people, facilitate environmental improvement and advance community safety. Wardens can also be a conduit for involving young people and, more importantly, to engage those difficult-to-access minority groups in local decision-making. Interestingly, research in England has found that women and members of ethnic minority groups appear much more willing to become "police community support officers" than police officers, thus offering a partial solution to the difficulties of police recruitment from these groups. Wardens offer a consistency of interface between partnership agencies and the public, giving community members more control over safety issues in their areas. A regular warden patrol system interacting constantly with people is more representative than a community meeting with 20 individuals or local partnership agencies making decisions on their own.

The future of community wardens in Scotland is very much in the hands of the Scottish Government and, to a lesser degree, local authorities. Since 2003 local authorities have received government funding for the warden programme, which ceases in March 2008, and the government is to decide on future funding in coming weeks. Recent research funded by the Carnegie Trust for Scotland supports the retention of community wardens. While wardens in Scotland are not a replacement for police and do not have police powers, they are, according to Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, a reassuring resource for people. Even senior police management are supportive of community wardens, particularly if they are based within and employed by the local authority. The general view is that wardens are a useful resource and play a key role in the evolving "extended police family". On the other hand, the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, takes the view that crime and antisocial behaviour are matters for police and have said that funding for community wardens would have been better spent on police officers.

That said, there are signs that some enlightened SPF leaders are beginning to consider ways in which their organisation could include non-police officers in their membership. At an international police union network meeting in Texas in November 2006, Joe Grant, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, suggested that the unions "reconsider their opposition to the extension of police duties to a second tier of police and that the overriding priority in union responses should be a commitment to a cohesive and well- co-ordinated police service". Current changes in the organisation of policing, according to Grant, should be viewed as opportunities rather than threats, and police associations should contribute to developments in policing. Here we have a progressive police leader emphasising the need to review long-held views and look forward to an active partnership in the future modernisation of police workforce arrangements.

The status given to community wardens will depend on the standpoint of the group, organisation or individual making the observation. However, the summing up by the sheriff at Greenock in 2006 in a case in which a youth was found guilty of disorderly behaviour and assault on a community warden is worth noting: "Behaviour of this type, particularly attempts to threaten or interfere with the work of community wardens, will be treated in exactly the same way as if it were police officers."

It is not easy to assess the impact of community wardens as there are difficulties in evaluating the qualitative element of their work, similar to community policing. However, a number of studies in Scotland and the UK have substantiated enhanced community safety and improved quality of life for communities as a result of interventions by wardens.

  • Dr Daniel Donnelly author of Community Wardens in Scotland - Practioners' Views, funded by the Carnegie Trust for Scotland.