OPINION: Senior Lecturer in Policing at Edgehill University Owen West reflects on the nature of the recent riots and their impact on legislation. He says the early signs are the new government is planning to adopt its predecessor's ‘bad law’ around minor protests.
ANALYSIS: The continuing and co-ordinated public disorder across the UK has brought renewed calls for more extreme responses from police, including the use of water cannons and turning to the Army; former chief superintendent and specialist in public order policing Owen West, now a Senior Policing Lecturer at Edge Hill University, argues that while those measures may not be effective, there are steps that forces can take to strengthen public order policing in the short to medium term.
OPINION: With the Metropolitan Police having come under significant pressure over the past week to ban the planned pro-Palestinian protest in the capital tomorrow (Armistice Day), Edge Hill University Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent and public order specialist, argues that history suggests prohibiting the march is likely to result in widespread violence, with dialogue and facilitation of a peaceful demonstration a much-preferred alternative.
OPINION: With UK policing facing a decline in public trust and confidence, officer morale hitting new lows, and a seemingly endless barrage of bad news and attacks from the media, Edge Hill University Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent, believes the time is right for a unified staff association for the profession of policing to advocate on behalf of the service and reclaim the strategic narrative.
OPINION: The UK’s new Public Order Act completed its late night passage through the House of Lords this week, with the Government using rare secondary legislation to secure its success; Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent and public order policing specialist, believes it is not only members of the upper house who regret the new law – police officers and commanders will face an impossible task in trying to interpret and implement the Act.
OPINION: As the World Cup heads towards its climax in Qatar, former public order specialist Owen West, now a Senior Policing Lecturer, believes some law enforcement attitudes and approaches to football fans suggest an unjustified level of prejudice not witnessed in any other sporting or social arena – one which needs to be re-thought to address legitimacy and confidence in policing.
OPINION: Measures around UK public order policing that were defeated in the Police, Courts, Crime and Sentencing Bill are now making their way through Parliament in the Public Order Bill, prompting impassioned debate along the way; Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent and public order policing specialist, argues that while the proposals may enthuse government supporters, they are not in the interest of the public or the police service.
OPINION: As UK policing once again faces criticism for its response to anti-monarchy protests – with officers accused of creating a ‘police state’ if they take action, and being ‘woke’ if they don’t – Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent, argues that it’s time for policing leadership to fill the vacuum in the public debate by defending and promoting the values of the service, or risk a further loss of public trust and confidence.
OPINION: ‘Degree gate’ – the apparent controversy over the value of policing degrees – has been a topic of conversation in UK policing circles and on social media for months; but for former chief superintendent Owen West, now a policing lecturer, the quality and depth of training, exposure to practical skills and enthusiasm of students suggests that much of the opposition to pre-join policing degrees must be based either in ignorance or cynicism.
