Conviction: an exclusive excerpt from John Carnochan's book on how Scotland's public sector came together to combat violence

Now, Mr Carnochan, for the first time, has told the story of the VRU in a book, called Conviction: Violence, Culture and a Shared Public Service Agenda.

One of the Postcards from Scotland series from Argyll Publishing, it lifts the lid on how the police discovered they could not beat crime on their own.

Here, ahead of the book's formal launch, is an exclusive excerpt from Conviction:

Chapter 8: My Convictions

Karyn and I set up the Violence Reduction Unit in 2004. We did so as we were encouraged, supported and inspired by the vision of Willie Rae who was confident enough, smart enough and brave enough to confront Glasgow's violence problem and do the right thing.

Here are the Scottish figures from a decade ago and the latest figures:

Comparison of murders and assaults in Scotland 2004/5 and 2013/14

2004/05

Murders 142

Attempt murders 828

Serious assaults 6,775

Simple assaults 73,711

2013/14

Murders 61

Attempt murders 317

Serious assaults 2951

Simple assaults 60,357

These are testimony to the fact that the various actions and programmes described in this book have, literally, saved lives. Violence figures have, however, fallen in most of the western world so some may question whether the Scottish figures reflect this trend. Crime figures are notoriously difficult to compare because it can be hard to establish baseline figures. For example, the various categories of assault are defined in different ways in different countries and the definitions change. Homicide is a more reliable figure for comparison. If we use the Home Office Homicide Index to compare figures between Scotland and England and Wales then we can see quite clearly that Scotland's homicide rate is improving at a faster rate than it is south of the border.

Reduction of homicide rates in England and Wales and Scotland from 2004/5 to 2013/14:

England & Wales 32 per cent reduction

Scotland 57 per cent reduction

Despite this improvement in Scotland's murder rate I am aware of the continuing challenges facing young men, and their families, in the areas which have traditionally been blighted by violence. Many of the poorest and most deprived areas in the UK are in Scotland, particularly Glasgow. Most of these areas have been struggling for decades and remain deprived despite the investment of millions upon millions of pounds in redevelopment over many years.We have one of the most comprehensive and free social support systems in the world. We have a universal and free health service. We have free education. Yet, despite all of these services and support systems, many still fail to live healthy and fruitful lives. Violence may be down but it hasn't disappeared as an issue and there are still significant problems when it comes to health, employment and education. Ambition is woefully low in many of our deprived communities.

Indeed given the programmes, services and investment we must conclude that the problems are not simply about money or resources.

So what might make a difference? Throughout the book I've continually mentioned the early years. Scotland now has a key Scottish Government project called the 'Early Years Collaborative'. This is part of a national commitment to 'make Scotland the best place to grow up'. Given my conviction that people's early years experience has a huge impact on their future lives I welcome this development. However, I think that in Scotland we still have some way to go to change attitudes. Sometimes I think we don't actually like children and that perhaps we only tolerate them.

I also think there is a tension in the Scottish Government's approach to young children. On the one hand they say they want to put the good of children first while in their childcare strategy they are more motivated by getting women back to work after childbirth, and growing the economy, than in providing an enriching early years experience for all children. Personally I believe that if we are serious about early years we should be providing at least two years' paid paternity leave that can be shared between mum and dad. I also welcome the Scottish Government's health plans to increase the number of Health Visitors by five hundred. It is a good start though this initiative will only make a difference if Health Visitors are permitted and supported to do what they are good at - helping families and parents be as good as they can be.

I also support the Scottish Government's plans to introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol. This won't change things overnight but nonetheless it could make a difference. Importantly it shows that our politicians recognise the negative impact alcohol can have and their willingness to do something about it despite lobbying, complaints and legal action from the drinks industry. There are lots of other policy and fiscal changes that could be made that could help Scotland tackle inequality and become fairer. However, I believe that there are some subtle changes which may help us become more effective.

Asking an important question

At the VRU we always used to ask two questions when confronting any particular problem. 'What do we want to achieve?' and 'How are we going to achieve it?' It's important that we define the desired outcome - the What - at the outset as this lets us work back from that point.

By doing this we can identify which partners will be required and what the role of each partner will be in delivering the single agreed outcome, the How. This process helps us to establish which organisation or agency is best equipped, or best placed, to deliver that outcome.

Working in partnership has taught me to ask a third and vitally important question and that's Why is it we want to do it. The Why question is important because it will define the level and focus of commitment.

The Why question is hugely important if collaborations are required as partners must all agree at the outset, Why they are committing to a particular project, initiative or change. Asking the Why question reveals faulty thinking. Indeed, as well as the Scottish Government's childcare strategy, I can think of a few national strategies where the Why question exposes flaws.

For example, the ethos of communitysentencing is sound and its effectiveness in reducing reoffending is well evidenced. So we should do it. But often the reason we are doing it is to save on the cost of prisons. The result is short term cash savings rather than a reduction in recidivism. If we concentrated more on the latter I'm sure our results would be much better. If we are serious we should invest in community sentencing because it will reduce reoffending, crime, and prison numbers and help more people get into jobs so that they can lead independent lives and contribute to society and the economy.

Putting professionalism in perspective

Over the years I've repeatedly seen the emphasis senior managers in organisations place on technical and professional skills. I find it worrying that so many professionals believe they just need to do more of the same and everything will be ok; that what we need is more policy, more training and more processes and problems will be fixed. This slavish adherence to professional process is naïvely arrogant and

hopelessly ineffective. Not only does it ignore the value of human attributes but it often deliberately devalues them by seeing them as 'unprofessional'. I don't think that good frontline care workers, in any role, can do their jobs unless they take their whole self to work every day. To do their job properly they need to employ their compassion, their empathy, and their humanity. They need to care. Of course, they also need the time to care, the time to establish relationships, and the time to make a difference. We have to realise that being a frontline care worker is not just a job. It requires humanity, empathy and strength of character to make the difficult decisions, to have the hard conversations and to confront the uncomfortable truths. I'm not saying that technical skills are not important but I am saying that they are not more important than the human attributes that demand we care for our fellow humans. By allying the technical skills with the human attributes we will produce far more robust and caring services. I've never read a conclusion to a serious case review that said we didn't know what to do. We always seem to know what to do; it's just that sometimes we don't actually do it.

The role of policy and process is to support workers so that they can do their job, whether that is as a social worker, nurse, health visitor, teacher or police officer. Aristotle said that 'moral wisdom' is made up of moral skill, knowing what to do, and moral will, actually doing it. I agree.

All this leads me to believe that we need less professional development not more. We need fewer policies and less upskilling of the workforce. Our policies and supporting processes must allow employees to act more easily as compassionate, caring individuals who use their humanity to work out the best course of action.

Connection

The human brain has huge capacity. Most of that capacity is designed to establish and maintain relationships with other humans. Our brains are literally designed to help us connect with other human beings. This is why we are so adept at reading other people's body language and recognising emotions in facial expressions. We need each other to survive and thrive. Loneliness is as big a killer as tobacco smoke.

Without connection we are alienated and lost. Gang members connect with each other because no one else connects with them as individuals. People who are not cared for, don't care. Every day now I see evidence of this human drive for connection. The Commonweath Games 2014 is a fine example. I sat on my settee, watching the athletes exert themselves beyond breaking.

Watching their reactions when they won or lost, I found myself sharing their emotions, their tears of joy, their tears of disappointment. I was watching TV in my own home, crying with Lynsey Sharp and Jo Pavey. I don't even know them, I wasn't even there and Jo is English. I couldn't help myself. I was connected. I'm human.

Connection is how my brain works. I was connected to these athletes - just like I was connected to the families of murder victims and to the families of the murderers I arrested. Connection is not a conscious choice. It takes no effort. It's just the way we are, or at least how we are meant to be. To stay confidently connected, though, we need the help of other people.

There is a young man called James who works with Karyn and her team at the VRU. James has had a very difficult life and is now a fine example of what humans are capable of. I heard him speak to an audience that included the First Minister of Scotland. He said, 'I'm only here today because people like you care for people like me'. Immediately, the atmosphere in the room shifted. As a result the whole audience felt connected to James and to each other.

Reflecting on the past ten years and the changes that have happened in Scotland around violence prevention I am convinced that these reductions in violence represent the efforts and energies of a whole range of agencies and groups. But I think at its heart the changes have been made by people connected to other people who challenge the status quo and people who want to make things better.

Any success that the VRU has had was only possible because people connected around a single cause, a shared agenda and that was reducing violence to make Scotland safer. Like us those involved believed that violence is truly a wicked problem but that it's not inevitable - it's preventable. A famous slogan from Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential election campaign tells us 'It's the economy, stupid.' Well all my experience at the VRU has led me to a very different conclusion. It's not the economy which we should be trying to fix. It's relationships."

Conviction is Book No 9 in the Postcards from Scotland series. £7.99 (inc. p.&p) at www.postcardsfromscotland.co.uk

See Monday's Herald for an exclusive Face to Face interview with Mr Carnochan as he reflects on Scotland's troubled attitudes to hardmen, gangs and violence against women.