NSW Police: Serving Our Community - Customer Service Institute of ...

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Australian issue # 46 MAY 09
The Official Journal of the Customer Service Institute of Australia
Customer and
Employee
advocacy go
hand in hand
NSW Police
are putting
customers
first
Enrol in
Australia’s
only Certified
Customer Service
Manager Course
BUPA Leads
The Way With
iPhone App
CSIA- Australia’s Peak Customer Service Association

excellence | Cover Story
serving our
community
This month Customer Service
Excellence sat down with NSW
Police Commissioner Andrew
Scipione and Assistant
Commissioner Catherine Burn
to talk about the Police Force’s
bold new customer service
programme, the challenges it
has faced and the policing way
of the future. By Isabel Staas
communities want
their police to be
accessible, professional
“Our
and helpful, to take
appropriate action at all times and to keep
them informed about developments in their
matters,” announced NSW Police
Commissioner Andrew Scipione when he
publicly launched the NSW Police Force
Customer Service Charter in February this
year.
Mr Scipione has responded to this
challenge by leading The NSW Police
Force Customer
Service Program which aims to make
NSW Police the most customer focused
police force in Australia.
It is a bold agenda. In order for the
Customer Service Program to be effective,
a shift has to take place in the culture of the
Force. As Mr Scipione told CSE when we
sat down with him recently, “We need to
develop the mindset that this is the way we
do things around here. It has to become
ingrained in the fabric of the force.” Two
major initiatives have been undertaken in
this cultural change effort; first, the
Customer Service Charter and second, a
major certified training program.
The Customer Service Charter was the
result of meticulous research and
community consultation. The Charter has
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een nominated for a 2009 Australian Service
Excellence Award. Assistant Commissioner
Catherine Burn is the Corporate Sponsor of
the Customer Service Program. In 2007 she
was part of a team which met with the NSW
Ombudsman who asked them to examine
their customer complaint levels. At this time
Ms Burn was in charge of the Professional
Standards Command and Andrew Scipione
was in the process of taking over the
commissionership. Ass Comm. Burn
explained to me how this simple request
became a far reaching and ambitious program
of cultural change, “It didn’t take us long to
realise that this was about more than just
complaints. It is a far bigger issue and from
January last year we have embarked on a
journey to address the root causes rather than
simply respond to the negative results.”
The first step taken was to begin a dialogue
with NSW Police ‘customers’, essentially the
wider community. This community
engagement began with a series of focus
groups which were designed to solicit honest
opinions about the Police Force from
members of the public. The focus groups
were attended by the Commissioner and the
police minister at the time, David Campbell.
“What surprised me was how many people
held this organisation in such regard” Says
Mr Scipione of the results of the focus groups.
“It was a great opportunity to feel the pulse of
the community. Because they didn’t know
who the work was being done for there was
an opportunity to reflect on some candid and
honest opinions. From day one of my
commissionership I pulled the assistant
commissioners aside and set out a task for
them. I told them we need to connect in a way
we have never connected before with those
that we serve in the community.”
NSW Police used the results of these focus
groups as well as consultation with other
stakeholders to formulate the NSW Police
Customer Service Charter. Importantly, in the
eyes of Catherine Burn, was the consultation
which was held with officers of NSW Police.
“About 16% responded to the call for
submissions, that’s 2800 officers! Ideas were
taken from these submissions and incorporated
into the final version.”
“We could have just copied a charter;
plenty of other police forces have one and it
would have taken us three days. That would
have been the easy way out and it wouldn’t
have worked. Instead we undertook a journey,
which lasted a year, which was an essential
part of the process.” Ms Burn believes in the
power of the charter to help change the
attitude of officers to customer service as a
concept. “The commitments are so simple so
everyone can remember them.”
Criminal suspects and those under arrest
are fully covered by legislation and formal
police policy. Customers, as defined by the
charter, are listed as ‘victims, witnesses, the
community and police internal colleagues.’
These groups have never before been
protected by the policy and legislation
afforded to suspects and those in custody
before now. “The front line officer needs to
understand that 99% is about the community,
only 1% is about law enforcement and
interaction with actual criminals.
“Part of the journey we have undertaken is
to define who our customers are. We were
bold in doing this.” She says, referring to the
statement on the charter which excludes
people in custody or criminal suspects from
being afforded the charter promises. “I knew
if this wasn’t addressed effectively it would
have been a major road block in the customer
service journey.”
Mr Scipione explains the importance of the
distinction “If we exclude that group, the
suspects, we can focus on the people we
traditionally haven’t seen as our customers.
That is the 80% or more of the community
that we would probably never, ever come into
contact with unless they become a victim or a
witness.”
The program has also made a special effort
to put a human face on the public who the
police encounter. “The charter makes it so
much easier for the constable on the front desk
at a station or answering the phone to
understand that we really need to look after the
Cover Story | excellence
Information
Commissioner Scipione
joined NSW Police in
1980. Following
experience in general
and traffic duties he
worked as a detective
in the CIB and
Bankstown Detectives.
He was subsequently
seconded to the National Crime Authority in
1985. In 1992 he was appointed to the rank of
Detective Inspector at the Joint Technical
Services Group and in 1995 was promoted to
the rank of Detective Superintendent
(Commander) at the Special Technical
Investigation Branch (formerly JTSG). During the
period 1992 to 1998, he was also a Senior NSW
Police Counter Terrorist Advisor to SAC-PAV. In
1998 he was appointed to the position of Chief
of Staff to the NSW Police Commissioner and in
2001 was appointed as the Assistant
Commissioner in charge of Special Crime &
Internal Affairs. He was appointed as Deputy
Commissioner in February 2002 and as
Commissioner of Police on 1 September 2007.
He holds a Masters Degree in Management
(Macquarie University) a Graduate Diploma in
Police Management (Macquarie University) and
a Graduate Certificate in Security Management
(Edith Cowan University). He is a Fellow of the
Australian Institute of Management, a Member
of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
and a Graduate of the FBI National Executive
Institute.
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excellence | Cover Story
good people. It aligns those good people to
those that matter most to our officers, their
family and friends. It makes you start asking
questions in your mind, such as,’If my mum
went into the police station, because she was in
trouble or needed help or wanted some advice,
how would I want her treated’”, says Mr
Scipione.
“It provides guidelines for officers, a full
framework,” says Ms Burn. “Prior to this
program there was nothing from which our
officers could work from.” Now all employees
of the NSW Police Force are measured on
their ability to comply with customer service
standards, including the Commissioner.
“The NSW State Plan holds every Chief
Executive of every department accountable
for the requirements that have been set out for
their department,” says Mr Scipione. “We
believe that the Customer Service Program
will help us fulfil sections R1, R3 and S8.” R1
and R3 of the State Plan refer to reducing
crime and antisocial behaviour, S8 refers to
increasing customer satisfaction of government
departments.
(The State Plan can be viewed at http://
www.nsw.gov.au/stateplan/index.aspx).
How will this happen Both Mr Scipione
and Ms Burn believe firmly that connecting
with the community will help police fighting
crime immensely. “The benefits of this
program are real. We are to showing officers
that customer service isn’t some fluffy, feel
good concept. It is an essential part of their job
and it will help them do their job better,” says
Ms Burn. “We can increase community
confidence in us, increase cooperation, obtain
better information. We will have victims who
are more willing to come forward and report.
When they do report, if we look after them
properly, we will maintain the relationship and
they’ll turn up at court. At the moment, so
many of our failed prosecutions are due to
victims not willing to go through with
prosecutions. Better customer service is one
way that we can influence
this.”
Mr Scipione offers
real proof of the
way that
o f f i c e r s
engaging
in best
practice
Top: Catherine Burn, Matthew Hanlon, Michael Murphy, Phil Flogel. Bottom Left: In the classroom
Bottom Right: CSIA Trainer, Rebecca Potter with Tony Unicomb
customer service will help the police fight
crime. “A body of work came from the
International Association of Chiefs of Police
that highlighted the notion of getting back to
the basics. The key to ‘getting back to basics’
is understanding that the community is not
here to serve us; we are here to serve the
community. Work in the U.K. has proven this.
They are ‘Walking the Talk’, where town
meetings are held with police, local politicians
and the general public. These meetings allow
people to raise safety and crime concerns with
the police; it encourages honest dialogue. A
natural progression from this is where a team
will walk through the troubled areas of a town
and identify issues which can improve safety.
The community is involved, the local
government is involved and the police can
work with both groups to institute real changes
in order to prevent crime.”
How, one begins to wonder, will the top
brass drill this into frontline officers in a
meaningful way
Over the past four months, NSW Police
officers have undergone certificate four
training with a CSIA designed and accredited
course, customised for police customer service
managers. This training is an essential element
in the success of this ambitious culture change
effort. “Prior to this undertaking our customer
service strategy was wholly re-active. In the
past you received customer service training
after to being reported several times for
customer service related complaints. The
training wasn’t integrated nor was it
preventative. We are working on equipping
our staff better. We are educating them,” says
Ms Burn.
Assistant Commissioner Burn has
undertaken the Advance Course which is
nationally recognised as a Diploma of
Business. “Personally I think it’s pretty
impressive to have a Diploma of Business in
this field,” she says of the qualification. “The
officers should be very proud of the
qualifications they receive from this course. It
isn’t easy but the benefits are instantly
visible.”
“The training is a major part of our
maintenance program,” says Mr Scipione. He
and other executive level officers have received
training from CSIA which he believes is
essential for the customer focussed culture to
become embedded in the Police Forces daily
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Cover Story| excellence
We could have just copied a charter; plenty of
other police forces have one and it would have
taken us three days. That would have been the
easy way out and it wouldn’t have worked.
Instead we undertook a journey, which lasted a
year, which was an essential part of the process.
activities. “That means it needs to come
through at every level and as a sign at how
committed we are to the customer service
training that we are rolling out, it will be given
to senior people starting with me.”
The training will be completed by all 19,000
police officers and civilian staff by 2010. To
ensure this happens it has been included in
performance agreements. This is a key feature
of the sustainability plan designated to maintain
the momentum the program has gathered.
“Sustainability is about the messages you
send, it’s about reaffirming through
performance measures and standards and we
do that through the compass process. It’s about
continuing to embed this mindset at every
level through training, from the most junior
recruit to the most senior officer.” Mr Scipione
goes on to explain the momentum needed to
sustain the program in terms of Newton’s Law
of Inertia “Once you get something moving it
often self powers. If we remove the roadblocks
nothing is going to stop it. 19 000 is an
enormous organisation, spread across
thousands and thousands of kilometres in a
very busy state. We need this program to be
able to propel itself if we are going to
succeed.”
“We can’t afford to lose this momentum. If
we do we will never be able to start this process
again.” says Ms Burn. She understands more
than most how policy initiatives can fall by the
wayside in a conservative organisation like
NSW Police. “It is really essential that we have
launched this program from an operational
command. The Commissioner was very smart
to attach this to a high profile region, The
Sydney Metro Regional Command.”
Some of the team which CSIA have been
working with during this phase of the journey
will soon be returning to their regular duties.
“We have had a rotating team on this program.
Information
Assistant Commissioner
Catherine Burn
joined the NSW Police in
1984. She has spent
much of her career
working as a criminal
investigator, including
general detectives, homicide, strike forces
and special crime and internal affairs.
In 2002 Assistant Commissioner Burn
commenced as the Local Area Commander
at Burwood and in 2005 was transferred to
Redfern Local Area Command as the
Commander. She also spent some time as
the relieving Commander at City Central and
was the NSW Police liaison officer for the
Parliamentary Inquiry into Redfern and
Waterloo. She was appointed as Assistant
Commissioner, Professional Standards on 4
December, 2006.
Assistant Commissioner Burn holds a
Bachelor of Arts degree, an Honours Degree
in Psychology and a Masters of Management.
She was awarded the National Medal in
2000 and the Police Medal for 20 years
service in 2004. Assistant Commissioner
Burn has also been awarded three
Commissioner’s Commendations throughout
her career. She was awarded Burwood
Citizen of the Year in 2005 and has recently
been awarded 2007 Woman of the Year for
the Heffron electorate (Redfern). On January
26th 2007, she was awarded the Australian
Police Medal.
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excellence | Cover Story
It is fantastic for spreading the message
because they return to their commands within
three months and start spreading the word.”
says Ms Burn. She sees credibility as one of
the most important factors in creating the
culture shift required to make this program
stick.
“The Commissioner has been adamant that
the program stay with an operational area.
Reward and Recognition is also an important
factor in maintain and sustaining such an
ambitious program. Ms Burn believes that
officers gaining qualifications will be a reward
in itself. She has also gained approval to
present annual customer service awards to
outstanding officers.
Mr Scipione points out the most valuable
recognition an employee can receive. “It’s the
recognition from your peers that really matters.
The reward and recognition that truly matter
is when those around me know that I am a
person has taken mediocrity out of my
vocabulary. That I am a person who lives to
do everything to a standard that has been set
very high for a reason, purely because I
believe in excellence.”
The Police Weekly magazine publishes
compliments received from the public. It is
seen by both Ms Burn and Mr Scipione as a
great motivator. “Everyone reads Police
Weekly because it is where promotions are
listed,” jokes Mr Scipione. The magazine also
publishes best practice tips in customer
service.
“We have customer service policy holders
in every Local Area Command, that’s 130,
who receive newsletters and exchange tips
regularly. The communication strategy has
been a real victory.” says Ms Burn.
Recent independent mystery shopper results
out NSW Police at the top of a very impressive
group of organisations but both Mr Scipione
and Ms Burn are reserved in their claiming of
victory though. Mr Scipione is philosophical
about the progress they have made. He says
“You’ve seen how serious we are about this, as
the executive and as the chief of police.. It’s
too tempting in this day of instant everything
to celebrate the victory when you’ve won the
toss. This is an event that is going to go on for
a long time. Well after I’m gone the organisation
and the customers will still be there. It’s an
exciting time for NSW Police.”
The police have an advantage in this time of
cultural change says Mr Scipione. Firstly the
drive is there from the top. “People sense the
mood of the commissioner and the executive
that looks after department,” he says. Secondly,
the discipline which is ingrained in the
organisation is a central factor to the program’s
future success. “The police force is a disciplined
organisation. We make a living out of following
The front line officer
needs to understand
that 99% is about the
community, only 1% is
about law enforcement
and interaction with
actual criminals.
rules. Many police find themselves in positions
and doing jobs that no one else would want to
do. It’s a combination of firm direction and
discipline that comes from being an officer
which will help this program be sustained into
the future. I think if it is corralled in the right
way and pointed in the right direction; it’s a
very powerful tool.”
Mr Scipione concludes with another sage
perspective on this undertaking:
“Why do I see customer service as being
important Because serving customers means
investing into the safety and security of
communities.. After 9/11 people were
screaming out from leadership and they wanted
it from the police.
“And so I see this whole notion of improving
customer service as being the driver for us to
deliver the leadership that the community right
across this state is seeking today. I may see the
benefits in my time as commissioner, I would
suspect. I would hope, though, in generations
to come the leadership that will be brought by
this organisation will be improved and
increased. I hope that it will be at the level
where by police are held at the level of esteem
I know they deserve.
“The goal behind the goal in this for me
is to allow police to really bring leadership
to their communities and I think that’s a
really important thing to focus on. This
may not be seen to be the hard edge of
policing. But let me tell you, it sets you up
so you can bring the hard edge of policing
in when it’s needed.”
Isabel Staas is the
Editor of Customer
Service Excellence
Magazine. She is a
graduate of the
University of
Technology, Sydney
holding a Bachelor’s
degree in
Communications
(Writing and Cultural Studies. She has over six
years experience in retail customer service.
Isabel has contributed to the Sydney Morning
Herald among other publications. Most
recently was a contributing author in Lines of
Wisdom (Affirm Press, Melbourne).
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