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Police Constabulary
Overcoming resistance to change
This Police Constabulary needed to reduce the amount of inaccurate data being input by their staff. In order for the current behaviour to change the staff needed to understand the reasons and benefits for change and to realise the extensive impact that their role has on the police force and the public.
Every day thousands of pieces of information are entered into the Constabulary’s system. This information is used in a variety of ways to prevent and solve crime. Inaccurate information leads to connections not being made and in the worst case loss of life. Accurate data entry is critical to Police operations – without this they cannot serve and protect the public.
Everyone involved in front line policing has stressful and demanding jobs and it is not always possible to ensure accurate data entry. Everyone is aware of when inaccurate data affects them – wastes their time, puts them in danger, reduces public confidence – but not always aware of how their mistakes impact on others and the huge range of people that can be affected. They are all part of the crime solving process and if their data entry part of this process is inaccurate then lives are put in danger and crimes go unsolved.
Cognac Solution:
Through the Big Picture process of interviews and analysis we realised the overriding need was to illustrate the impact and knock-on consequences of inaccurate data on other people.
We chose a lottery theme with a hard-hitting twist. The lottery theme illustrates how one tiny mistake impacts a lot of people and can lead to massive consequences. The light-hearted approach draws people in, but then draws them down towards a very hard-hitting message. The familiarity of lottery imagery engages people and makes the message ‘sticky’. The use of slogans like ‘It could be you’ challenges the ‘It’ll never happen to me’ attitude.
Pin balls of mistakes pop into the ‘mistake lottery’ machine, and people who use the data, or are affected by it, get mixed in too. The consequences drawn by the machine range from time-wasting to loss of life, and further impact is achieved through the hard-hitting newspaper headlines underneath. By conveying a sense of community (e.g. ’ourchallenge’) and understanding (e.g. acknowledging there are ’unavoidable mistakes’) ensures the audience is engaged without raising defences.
Results:
The Big Picture is being launched now within this Constabulary and once results have been measured we hope to spread the Picture and its vital message to other Constabularies within the UK.
