INTERVIEW: With Warwickshire Police enjoying record officer numbers following the recent Uplift recruitment programme, and a strategic alliance with neighbouring West Mercia ending, the force took the decision to remodel its workforce and operations; Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the aims for performance improvements, and how the changes could future-proof the service to the public.

FEATURE: A police officer who endured years of sexual abuse is working to establish a network of victim survivor ambassadors across police forces in England and Wales to improve the service delivered to victims of sexual abuse and violence; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to the City of London’s PC Jon-Jay Needham about the benefits the independent advocate could deliver both for victims and policing.

FEATURE: A new approach to traffic policing is applying the evidence-based principles of the Cambridge Crime Harm Index to target serious traffic collision hot spots in Cumbria; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Sgt Jack Stabler of Cumbria Constabulary about the thinking behind the new Road Harm Index, and the benefits the initiative could bring for police, partners and the public.

ANALYSIS: The authors of a new report – the first in a series of five on policing ‘seldom heard groups’ published by Police Scotland, the Scottish Institute for Policing Research and the Scottish Police Authority – have called for more to be done to overcome the challenges of policing people with multiple social identities and characteristics such as race, religion, sexuality and disability, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Latest research from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime suggests the global market for cocaine has hit new record levels despite the interruption of parts of the trade during COVID-19, with a significant increase in production, the emergence of supply chain specialists, and traffickers exploiting new markets and international events such as the war in Ukraine, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: An EU-funded three-month mentoring scheme is connecting female police officers in The Gambia with experienced colleagues in Thames Valley Police; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Sarah-Jane Bray, who is managing the mentoring programme, about the shared challenges facing female officers, and the strong connections built between officers based more than 3,500 miles apart.

INTERVIEW: The focus of New Zealand Police’s road policing approach has been widened to include impairment prevention relating to drug-driving and fatigue; Supt Steve Greally, Director of the National Road Policing Centre, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the need for a holistic approach, the plans for roadside drug testing, and the impact on officers of dealing with the fatalities and serious injuries caused by poor driver decisions.

FEATURE: Australia is the latest country to give serious consideration to criminalising coercive control, a step taken in the UK in 2015; new research published by Melbourne’s Monash University suggests that while the majority of victim-survivors believe such a step would be beneficial, they also argue significant investment in police training and a ‘cultural shift’ in the policing of domestic abuse would be required to make any new offence effective, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: A new money-laundering taskforce led by the Australian Federal Police and including the Australian Border Force and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission will target the tens of million dollars believed to be laundered in the country every day that is the ‘lifeblood’ of Australia’s organised crime gangs, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A new report measuring police performance on tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in England and Wales has revealed more than half a million reported crimes in just a six-month period, as well as more than 1,500 police officers and staff facing VAWG-related public complaints or misconduct allegations – with warnings that the real level could be even higher – as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A new Independent Public Advocate scheme which will work on behalf of victims and families bereaved by major disasters has been launched by the UK Government, to provide support and hold agencies including the police to account – although not all campaigners believe the new initiative goes far enough, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: Four pilots of Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) are now underway in England and Wales, but only in Merseyside are the powers being trialled force-wide; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Supt Phil Mullally about the impact of SVROs, the use of associated stop and search powers, and the potential for the orders to reduce violent crime.

INNOVATION: A 12-month trial which allows officers from Queensland Police Service to use body-worn cameras to record interviews with domestic violence victims that can then be used as evidence-in-chief has been hailed a success for reducing the trauma experienced by victim-survivors and enabling officers to re-invest more time providing support, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: As stakeholders from across the criminal justice system gathered last month for a Met Police innovation hub to rebrand out-of-court disposals (OOCDs) ahead of the launch of new two-tier framework, it was confirmed that any new name for the measures would be likely to go out to public consultation to ensure that communities are given a voice, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Last year Donna Adams became the first female Commissioner of Tasmania Police; but while she acknowledges that her pioneering role will be “nice to reflect on” at the end of her career, she believes her diverse experience and a commitment to leading from the front will be more important in delivering positive change for the force, as she explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: The latest people trafficking report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has found that while overall the number of reported victims has fallen, the restrictions of the pandemic may have pushed some forms of the crime to more hidden areas, while wars and climate change have also raised the level of risk that potential victims are exposed to, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: The Canadian Police Knowledge Network has teamed up with human trafficking education and support charity Timea’s Cause to offer 100,000 officers across the country access to survivor-led training first rolled out by Peel Regional Police; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to organisation founder and trafficking survivor Timea Nagy about her own experiences, why this training is different, and the impact it could have nationally and globally.

FEATURE: The latest report into use of force by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has recommended reconsidering the issuing of firearms to all officers, and restricting the use of Tasers; but the Police Federation has warned that such moves would lead to more officers being attacked and injured, particularly with the continuing terrorist threat, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: International development organisations around the world are focused on achieving sustainable development goals, but their efforts are at risk of being undermined by financial crime; Oliver May, Leader for International Development Practice at Deloitte Australia, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the improving response of NGOs to financial crime and the need for law enforcement to help countries and organisations tackle that threat.

ANALYSIS: While significant steps have been taken to improve Police Scotland’s response to domestic abuse, a new thematic review of the issue by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland has highlighted outdated and problematic attitudes to the crime, substantial pressure on resources, and significant delays in securing digital evidence that are hampering that response, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: The successful trial of a new Tactical Response Model by New Zealand Police – launched following the tragic murder of Constable Matthew Hunt – provides enhanced training for officers and better frontline access to specialist capability, while ensuring that officers remain approachable and connected to their communities, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: More than 2,000 officers from Peel Regional Police will receive specialised, survivor-led human trafficking training to help them identify and support those who might be being groomed or are already being exploited, in a training project that’s the first of its kind in Canada, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: From criminal networks creating their own welfare systems, to new financial scams, corruption, and transnational counterfeiting of PPE on a huge scale, Covid led to new opportunities and ways of working for organised crime (OC); Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons looks at some of the criminal tools and techniques adopted by OC in response to the pandemic, highlighted during the 24-hour Conference on Global Organised Crime.

FEATURE: Hot-spot policing is widely regarded as a high-profile success of evidence-based policing; but recent trials in London suggest that cities which are already strongly policed see little impact on crime figures from adopting a hot-spot approach, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.