FEATURE: The latest figures released by Action Fraud, the UK fraud reporting agency run by City of London Police, show that overall reports of investment fraud have fallen but the amount of money stolen by fraudsters has increased, with cryptocurrency scams, ‘pig butchering’ schemes, and pension and recovery fraud all cause for concern, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A new study of a two-year hotspot policing approach in Dallas, Texas, has found that targeting a small number of ‘micro areas’ not only cut crime in those places but reduced crime city-wide, with researchers suggesting the approach offers an ideal, scalable solution to target violent crime – particularly for forces facing officer shortages – as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: Following an inspection into the force’s prevention, protection and prosecution of domestic abuse, and the support for victims, a new report by the Garda Síochána Inspectorate (now the Policing and Community Safety Authority) calls for more multi-agency measures, better management of offenders and the adoption of a force-wide domestic abuse strategy, among more than 50 recommendations aimed at improving current approaches, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Marking his first full year in post, Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing Ryan Teschner has launched a new three-year strategy for policing in the province, along with a promise to be a ‘right-touch regulator’ who will propel Ontario to become a global centre of excellence; he spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the aim of the strategy, his ambitions for the service, and how his role and the new organisation he leads has been welcomed by police agencies across the province.

FEATURE: A new report into the “effectiveness and efficiency” of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, warns that budgetary constraints have led to the lowest number of officers in the PSNI’s history, hampering the best efforts of the chief constable, his officers and staff to provide a high-quality service and build trust with communities, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A report on police investigations into crime in England and Wales, published recently by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, warns that overstretched officers, increased time pressures and a lack of experience are inhibiting the ability of officers and staff to develop an “investigative mindset” and hampering the quality and effectiveness of investigations, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: An independent review into regulating online pornography, undertaken by Conservative Peer Baroness Bertin, is calling for illegal online content to be given a renewed priority by police and the criminal justice system, to help reduce violence against women and girls as well as gain a better understanding of the links to domestic violence, toxic masculinity, and the mental health crisis among young people, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: An independent review of the South Australian domestic violence disclosure scheme (DVDS), delivered in partnership by Domestic and Family Violence Services and South Australia Police, has found applications to the scheme have more than doubled in six years, and it achieved a 99% satisfaction rate from applicants, with reviewers urging other jurisdictions looking to implement DVDS schemes or review existing ones to use the South Australian initiative as their model, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A new report from the Vulnerability Knowledge Practice Programme analysing police-recorded child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) highlights the scale of the crime, gaps in reporting, and threats that could contribute to further increases in CSAE, as well as legislation and other measures that could improve the police response, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A new report from the Financial Action Task Force explores the financial drivers behind the “heinous” crime of online child sexual exploitation, with the increasing prevalence of live-streamed sexual abuse of children and the financial sexual extortion of children creating millions of embarrassed and vulnerable young victims around the world every year, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: Pilots of a new approach to domestic abuse response in Avon and Somerset, with police officers working with independent domestic violence advisors to visit victims more quickly after offences, have achieved more engagement and support referrals for victims and greater support for police action; Detective Inspector Matt Cable spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the success of the pilots to date, and hopes that the initiative can be rolled out more widely.

FEATURE: A new report from the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse into the latest trends in child sexual abuse (CSA) offences in England and Wales has highlighted record levels of charges for CSA and long delays in court cases, but also significant geographical variations in data recording and trends that suggest the response to sexually abused children “depends on where they live”, prompting calls for a Government-led national prevalence survey to establish the true scale of the problem, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: A new Winston Churchill Trust report exploring the international policing responses to cybercrime, written by Queensland Police Service Detective Chief Inspector Michael Newman, has highlighted a range of learning opportunities and practical takeaways around prevention, detection, investigation, and capability to improve Australia’s law enforcement efforts to target cybercriminals, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: New research from the Youth Endowment Fund exploring how violence affects children and young people in England and Wales highlights “shocking disproportionality” across sectors such as youth justice and policing, and sets out five steps the Government should take – including around stop and search and diversion away from the criminal justice system – to address the problem, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: An evaluation of the UK Government-funded Project ADDER initiative has found that while the approach has led to more arrests of high-harm individuals, significant seizures of drugs and cash, and an increase in the number of users being referred to diversionary services through out-of-court disposals, a stronger focus on a ‘whole systems approach’ will be needed if the Project is to cut offending and reduce drug use, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: The continuing development of multi-channel public contact is a key issue for policing across England and Wales; in the last in the recent series of Policing Tech Forum webinars produced by PolicingTV, Content Guru Business Development Director Shub Naha, Humberside Police Chief Digital and Innovation Officer Scot Dunn, and David Jackson from the NPCC’s Digital Public Contact Programme, explored the opportunities for AI to improve service delivery as well as staff and officer wellbeing, but not to replace humans in the process.

INNOVATION: A Thames Valley Police trial of a mobile phone app-based tasking mechanism for hotspot policing has led to increased patrols, reduced costs and cuts in violent crime – and a scalable solution which researchers believe could be used for other policing activities, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A recent UK conference on the management of sexual or violent offenders (MOSOVO) saw speakers call for a shift in focus to encouraging desistance from offending, rather than reacting to events, with the need for greater sharing of good practice and closer collaboration with partner agencies also high on the agenda, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) has launched new guidance on how forces and violence reduction units can adopt and implement the multi-agency focused deterrence (FD) approach to tackle serious violence, which international research shows has cut crime by an average 33%; the YEF’s Dr Stevie-Jade Hardy spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about how FD works, the guidance and ‘on the ground’ support offered by the YEF, and ongoing evaluations of the scheme in the UK.

INTERVIEW: With the continuing advances and availability of 3D printing technology, New Zealand Police National Intelligence Director Dan Wildy spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the importance of the multi-disciplinary approaches being taken by the service in tackling a growing firearms threat favoured by organised crime groups, and the value of international collaboration.

INNOVATION: The roll out by two forces in Wales of operator-initiated facial recognition, which uses a mobile phone app to help identify individuals who are unable to confirm their ID, refuse to give details or give false information, is already resulting in benefits for the police and the public despite concerns voiced by campaign groups, as South Wales Police facial recognition lead Inspector Ben Gwyer told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INNOVATION: An initiative launched by City of London Police is helping those who end up in custody because of alcohol-related crime or excessive drinking to take steps to address their problems through a collaboration with Alcoholics Anonymous; as well as encouraging other forces to adopt the approach, Sergeant Richard Scullion – who oversees the initiative – believes there could also be wider benefits for officers, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: A review of the connections between sexual exposure and contact sexual offending is calling for non-contact sexual offences to be handled by police with the same focus and response as rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO), as the impact on victims is still significant, and many of those offenders who go on to commit RASSO have previously carried out non-contact sexual offences, as London Metropolitan University Professor Dr Fiona Vera-Grey (one of the report’s authors) told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INNOVATION: As forces increase contact channels to include digital and online routes, the likelihood of comms staff being exposed to harmful images has increased, says Rebecca Malpass, Digital Communications Development Senior for Derbyshire Constabulary; now a new AI-based image filter together with additional guidance for staff can help to protect individuals from being exposed to indecent images, as she explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.