Health and Policing Consensus Statement

The social determinants of health overlap significantly with the social determinants of crime. Those at greater risk of health inequalities are often the same populations at risk of being a victim or a perpetrator of crime.  This means that police and health are often working with the same populations and seeing the same issues. Taking a public health approach to policing provides the opportunity to look further upstream to understand the root causes of these complex, interlinked issues and to embed a long-term, prevention mindset.

In 2018, a public health and policing collaborative was established to oversee partnerships and support implementation of the aspirations of the initial consensus. There have been significant developments over the past seven years, including:

• Development of a definition of public health approaches in policing (which has been internationally recognised and adopted across England).
• Development of trauma-informed practice definitions.
• A Delphi research study to achieve consensus on the research priorities across policing and public health leading to an NIHR funded research call.
• Development of a guide on public health approaches for Police and Crime Commissioners.
• Publication of a landscape review exploring the collaborative’s impact on policy, practice and evidence, and learning and good practice.
• Awareness raising through webinars, podcasts, knowledge hub and national and international conference presentations.
• Development of an anchor framework for policing.
• Collaboration with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to run an introduction to public health approaches for newly elected police and crime commissioners.
• Inclusion of public health approaches in the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Policing Vision 2030.

In February 2025, a roundtable co-chaired by Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer for England) and Chief Constable Serena Kennedy (Prevention Committee Chair, National Police Chiefs’ Council) brought together stakeholders from numerous bodies across both policing and health to discuss progress and agree collective priorities for the future. It was agreed by all parties that the 2018 consensus statement had provided a foundation for the successes seen to date, and that a refresh to bring it up to date with the current context would ensure that the work continues to drive forward.

This consensus statement represents a renewed commitment from the Association of Directors of Public Health, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, College of Policing, Faculty of Public Health, Home Office, Local Government Association, NHS England, National Police Chiefs’ Council, Department of Health and Social Care, and the Royal Society for Public Health to continue working in partnership for the benefit of our communities.

It provides a focus for policing and health services to work in collaboration to improve people’s health and wellbeing, prevent harm and protect our local communities.