Putting customers at the heart of what we, the public services do...
We all want services that are efficient, effective, excellent, equitable and empowering. But how do other public authorities drive customer-focused change within their organizations? The road to achieving customer service excellence is never easy; but we can learn from each other.
This breakfast briefing spotlighted the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) 'R4 Project' and was an opportunity to share in the PSNI's experience of developing a project that is an important cog in its customer-facing policing strategy.
Tackling public confidence and satisfaction levels...
Driven by its Service Excellence Board and embodied within its Policing with the Community 2020 Strategy, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) R4 Project was developed as part of its commitment to deliver 'personal, professional and protective' policing. The Project is an important part of the Police Service's approach to customer service and service delivery. It has involved a redesign of the police contact management process. Other projects include the resource to risk process, which aims to place more police officers in frontline roles; criminal justice streamlining; and other local crime and justice initiatives such the development of an integrated offender management programme.
The R4 Project was developed following the identification of four key areas that have often led to complaints by the public:
The Project has addressed call handling and data capture processes; and it has addressed issues relating to access to police services, police visibility and response, and keeping victims of crime informed. As such it has set out to put customers at the centre of service delivery and streamline a variety call-handling processes and centres that deal with routine switchboard calls, and emergency and other non-emergency calls. Improvements have aimed, among other things, to enable switchboard operators to direct calls appropriately and, overall, ensure a more effective response that will improve customer confidence and satisfaction levels.
In presenting the project Chief SuperintendentAlan Todd discussed its conception and development, and how it is changing the police's approach to policing - to one focused on the citizen as customer and consumer of police services.
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