Edinburgh Napier expertise will be at the heart of future law enforcement and public health research in Scotland.
A recent Expert Advisory Group event hosted by the Scottish Government established five key priority areas; vulnerability, mental health crisis, triage decision making, organisational wellbeing and information sharing.
Researchers, policy makers and practitioners from across criminal justice and health will now use this as a platform to identify funding opportunities and collaborative projects which can direct future strategy.
Both Police Scotland and the NHS’ 10-year strategies underline the importance of partnership working in effectively supporting vulnerable people and communities.
The one-day Expert Advisory Group event brought together 26 senior leaders and practitioners from academia, Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service, the Scottish Police Authority, the Scottish Government, the Violence Reduction Unit, SACRO, the NHS, the Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare, and people with lived experience.
The Edinburgh Napier project team, funded by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), includes Inga Heyman, Dr Jennifer Murray, Associate Professor Nadine Dougall, Dr Liz Aston and Dr Andrew Wooff.
The aim of the collaborations are to strengthen research and professional practice partnerships, better supporting the strategic links between law enforcement and public health and ultimately improving the clinical and criminal justice outcomes for those with lived experience.
It is hoped that more efficient research activity will cut the time between projects being launched and their impact on frontline policing, the NHS, the Third Sector and people’s lives.