Examples of Trauma-Informed Approaches in Police Scotland

Police Scotland also use trauma-informed approaches at an operational level across its various Divisions with excellent results.

U Division (Ayrshire)

• All operational response officers are trauma-informed to support victims of serious domestic abuse and serious sexual crime/child abuse, including an enhanced level of trauma understanding for Sexual Offence Liaison Officers (SOLOs).
• Operation TICC (Trauma Informed Contact and Care) was a collaborative initiative between Education and Police across Ayrshire, focusing on assessing the risks associated with domestic incidents and monitoring any behavioural, emotional, or mental health impact upon children.

J Division (Lothians and Scottish Borders).

• Probationers have received ‘Act Don’t React’ (ADR) training to promote equality and inclusion by challenging different behaviours to enhance confidence and seek positive resolutions. The results of the training include:
  • Use of Force by ADR trained officers being 17% lower than untrained officers.
  • Injuries to ADR trained officers being 29% lower than untrained officers.
  • Recorded assaults against an ADR officer being 6% lower than untrained officers. This is following an increase in recording (Chief Constables Assault Pledge) and a slightly higher arrest rate.
  • Recorded Complaints against Police for ADR trained officers being 49% lower than untrained officers.

Other approaches

• Trauma Impact Prevention Training (TIPT) piloted across N division (Highland and Islands).
• Trauma training package focused on ACEs and trauma in children and young people delivered to detectives and probationary officers in person.

Violence Reduction Unit

The Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU) released their latest five-year strategic plan in 2021.

Action 2 of the plan, ‘Addressing the Vulnerabilities’, seeks to understand the overall causes of violence towards reducing and ultimately preventing it.

It is recognised that the challenges and solutions to tackling violence are inter-connected, meaning that innovative and holistic approaches are needed to address the symptoms and the causes of violence.

In October 2022, SVRU also led workshops at Glasgow Clyde College on how to understand the impact that trauma can have on the lives of students.

SVRU has managed various ‘placed based’ projects aimed at tackling trauma and the issues that lead to criminality. An example is Wallacetown in Ayr.

Criminal Justice Services

Police Scotland has recently re-launched their Arrest Referral Strategy, which has included work to steadily
increase the number of Arrest Referral Champions in each custody suite.

To provide a trauma-informed support to custody, champions can access NHS Trauma Informed online
training as well as a variety of supplementary training webinars.

The training being delivered looks to deliver on as broad a range of subjects as possible and includes such topics as:

• The Management of Diabetes in Custody
• Themes and Learning from Police Custody and Prison Inspections from a Healthcare perspective
• The Management of Cardiac Conditions
• Acquired Brain Injury in the Justice System
• Naloxone in Police and Prison Custody
• Management of Alcohol Conditions in Custody

Police Scotland hosted a national Arrest Referral Event at Napier University in April 2025, bringing together key stakeholders across statutory and 3rd sector partners. The event helped to further develop partnership arrangements, and extend the scope and provision of the scheme across Scotland.