ANALYSIS: Despite widespread recognition of the importance of local policing in England and Wales, there is very little consistency or consensus around its delivery; a new research project by the Police Foundation will examine variations in local policing approaches, the rationale behind them, their relative strengths and weaknesses, and how different designs can meet future policing challenges, as Research Director Andy Higgins explains.

ANALYSIS: A new report from the Police Foundation assesses the implications, opportunities and risks for the police service of adopting new contact and engagement technology as it seeks to rebuild public trust and confidence; the Foundation’s Research Director Andy Higgins explains more about the key points from the report.

OPINION: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s recently unveiled plan for reform of the force is underpinned throughout by the introduction of “precise community crime-fighting”; Police Foundation Research Director Andy Higgins takes a closer look at what the term will mean in practice, how similar ideas have fared elsewhere, and why unifying neighbourhood and evidenced-based policing approaches could deliver significant benefits.

ANALYSIS: Calls to address the crisis of public confidence in British policing have become increasingly insistent, with many recognising that technology has a vital role to play in facilitating change; Andy Higgins, Research Director of the Police Foundation, outlines the organisation’s new project to examine how technology can build confidence and improve police-public interactions in the digital age.

ANALYSIS: As the Police Foundation prepares to report next month on Phase Two of the Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales, Research Director Andy Higgins looks back at the turbulent events of 2021 – from Covid to Clapham Common and accusations of institutional corruption – and considers what impact they may have on policing legitimacy moving forwards.

ANALYSIS: In September last year, the Police Foundation launched the Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales. The Police Foundation's Andy Higgins reflects on the publication last week of the first in a series of Insight Papers that will inform the Strategic Review's deliberations.

LONG READ: With the contraction of police budgets, neighbourhood policing has come under pressure in many areas. However, new College of Policing guidelines suggest it may yet stage a recovery. Andy Higgins of the Police Foundation describes a day with one of South Yorkshire's neighbourhood policing teams, and what it signals about the future of neighbourhood policing.

ANALYSIS: Neighbourhood Policing guidelines were issued by the College of Policing last week. Andy Higgins of the Police Foundation argues they are not just important for policing on the ground: their success or failure will tell us a lot about the capacity of our national policing infrastructure to deliver real reform.

ANALYSIS: PEEL's latest report on police effectiveness suggests that neighbourhood policing in the UK is not quite as endangered as the previous year. However, Andy Higgins of the Police Foundation warns that local policing is not out of the woods quite yet.

ANALYSIS: The Police Foundation's in-depth, five year exploration of local policing, Police Effectiveness in a Changing World, has recently come to an end. Here, Andy Higgins of the Foundation explores the key themes that have emerged from the study.

ANALYSIS: Crime weighting is increasingly being considered as a way of measuring the harm from crime, not just the volume of it. But numbers alone, even weighted ones, can't tell the full story. Andy Higgins of the Police Foundation explores ways of making crime statistics more rich and useful.

ANALYSIS: Since the end of the Neighbourhood Policing Programme (NPP) in 2009, the work of neighbourhood teams across the country has significantly diverged. The Police Foundation are undertaking a major project to track these developments, and are looking for police officer and staff insights into what's been happening neighbourhood policing in your area.

ANALYSIS: Last week the Police Foundation published its latest paper, A Natural Experiment in Neighbourhood Policing, from its Police Effectiveness in a Changing World project. Andy Higgins of the Foundation outlines the ramifications for neighbourhood policing, as the Foundation launches its new research project to explore its future.

ANALYSIS: Andy Higgins, the Police Foundation's Senior Analyst, examines difficulties the police have in deciding what they should believe and when they should believe it

ANALYSIS: Andy Higgins of the Police Foundation looks at the challenge police face in being empathetic to victims whilst reserving judgement during the investigation

OPINION: Andy Higgins, the Police Foundation's Senior Analyst, identifies some challenges for the Advisory Group's vision of policing - including on governance