Case Study : Operation Snap continued ...
Evaluation
Projects like Snap are relatively new but are inevitably going to be asked to demonstrate their effectiveness as they become well known and if , as we hope , a national solution is developed . There are many possible approaches to evaluation .
Educational chats , warnings , prosecutions and convictions are all good output measures for evaluating third party reporting projects - and where licences are revoked or drivers are imprisoned we could argue that we can demonstrate outcomes too ( dangerous drivers are removed from the roads ).
There ’ s also the total number of submissions made ( important in showing public endorsement ), the types of activity being detected ( important for showing that seriously bad driving is being punished ), and the range of charges being made possible ( important for showing that it ’ s not just the worst of the worst that can be dealt with ).
Statistics should also be obtained on the proportion of submissions that lead to successful follow-up action , the type of offences that are particularly effectively identified , as well as issues like common faults with submissions , or points at which attempted submissions are abandoned .
An online survey at the point of submission could provide feedback and insight from those who are already engaging , whilst a similar approach could be attempted with those who are being accused , when we contact them . This kind of feedback should all be used to make the process as simple and effective as possible , so that if numbers of submissions increase ( as we probably have to plan for ), officers aren ’ t caught up dealing with queries or chasing missing information , for example .
But it would also be beneficial to know more about the why and not just the what . Why are some offences reported more than others ? Are they more prevalent , more irritating to drivers , or more easily captured ? Are there lessons here about offences that third party reporting projects might struggle to deter ? Does an increase in submissions equate to success in promoting the project , or is it in indication of increased offending ? Or increased dash cam usage ?
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