INTERVIEW: When the UK Disabled Police Association (DPA) was launched 10 years ago, disability was still not considered a protected characteristic in policing; Supt Simon Nelson, who steps down as President of the DPA after eight years in post when he retires from policing next month, believes the situation has now significantly improved – but as he explained to Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro, there’s still much more to be done.

FEATURE: A documentary film sharing the harrowing stories of Romanian domestic violence victims driven to kill their abusers, efforts to ensure Spanish support services are accessible for all, and a project to provide common operating standards for India’s two million police officers were among international initiatives to tackle VAWG discussed at a recent global conference, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports.

ANALYSIS: The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programme developed in the US was originally a post-arrest initiative, but has evolved to incorporate referrals from “any concerned individual”; with more than 60 schemes now operating or under development in the US, as well as a South African programme and interest from the UK, the LEAD approach is gaining traction and delivering results, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr-Munro reports.

FEATURE: With an increasing array of contact channels and growing complexity of calls, emergency service control rooms are facing a “data tsunami”; the solution, says David Jackson, Director of Business Engagement at the Police Digital Service, is the increased use of technology to identify relevant and useful data, and to monitor the impact of potentially traumatic contact on call handlers, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr-Munro reports.

ANALYSIS: The 2019 Government announcement of an additional 20,000 police officers recruited over three years was welcomed by the police service. The programme is on course to hit that target, but is it just a numbers game? And with some reported to be struggling, how does the service encourage its new recruits to stay?

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Demands have grown but tackling them is so complex that it is undermining common-sense policing, West Midlands Chief Constable Sir David Thompson QPM tells Policing Insight and PolicingTV Publisher Bernard Rix who met Sir David for a walk-and-talk as part of his Policing Friendship Tour across the British Isles and around the world, meeting people across the spectrum of policing.

ANALYSIS: Last week, the Home Secretary announced that volunteer police officers in England and Wales will be authorised to carry Taser, but is it the right move and will it happen? Policing Insight's Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports.

LONG READ: The use of naloxone by officers to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses is being trialled by several UK forces, having saved hundreds of lives in the US and Canada, and debates are ongoing in Australia and New Zealand – but not everyone believes it’s the best way forward; Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro takes an in-depth look at the impact the medication can have, how and where it is being used, and the barriers to a wider roll-out.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Former Cambridgeshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Alan Baldwin (centre-right in picture) believes clearing the vetting backlogs and attracting the right people into policing – including increased recruitment of under-represented groups – are essential steps for the future of the service in the UK, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Improving the ability of police IT software and systems to “talk to each other”, enhancing the recruitment process, and creating a “citizen-centric approach” to public contact were among the issues discussed by Simon Bradford, Salesforce’s Regional Vice-President for Public Sector UK, when he joined Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: With carbon footprints and sustainability high on the agenda for law enforcement agencies, Jersey Police Chief Officer Robin Smith believes the Crown Dependency force could be the first in the UK to run a fully electric fleet, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: World Health Organization Policing Consultant Professor Karl Roberts believes forces responded “incredibly well” to the pandemic, but should build closer relationships with public health agencies to improve the response to future challenges, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

LONG READ: The death of George Floyd shone the spotlight strongly on police use of force, but many police services and departments had already recognised concerns and were attempting to address the issue; however, the lack of data on the effectiveness of training in areas such as de-escalation have left it difficult to identify what works and why, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr-Munro reports.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Policing could already benefit from the significant advances available in modern technology, according to Allan Fairley of Accenture UK – but he believes the real barriers to progress are politics and personal agendas, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Surrey Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, head of the NPCC Finance Co-ordination Committee, says this year’s pay freeze was a “bitter blow” for officers, but believes there are still plenty of opportunities to find efficiency gains in UK policing, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix during a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Sopra Steria’s Public Safety MD Paul Bergin believes policing already has the technology to predict future crimes and identify future criminals; the bigger question is how that tech and data is used ethically, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen believes some gambling companies are on a par with drug dealers when it comes to targeting those with disorders and addictions, and the resulting harms can often include acquisitive crime; it’s an issue which she hopes the APCC will be able to tackle in partnership with other agencies, as she explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Former Lancashire Chief Constable Andy Rhodes, now Service Director of Oscar Kilo, is “passionate” about providing support for officers and staff, and believes the new Police Covenant will improve welfare for those in policing from the moment they join the job until retirement and beyond, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner believes officers were almost ashamed of admitting where they worked, after the force faced a series of challenges, controversies and critical inspections; now he’s determined to put pride back into the county’s policing, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Tour.

POLICE SUPERS CONFERENCE 2021: With mental health referrals increasing across the police service post-Covid, the need for a system that fully supports officers and staff mental wellbeing has never been more urgent. Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports from the Police Superintendents’ Association Conference on the impact of Covid, and what forces can do to improve their employees’ mental health.

POLICE SUPERS CONFERENCE 2021: Earlier this year, the Chair of the College of Policing Lord Nick Herbert launched a fundamental review of the College. At the recent Superintendents Association Conference, he revealed some early findings and the likely ‘direction of travel’ for the College.

Police Supers Conference 2021: Whilst the number of Black, Minority and Ethnic officers joining the police service is improving, the number in senior positions remains low at 4.3 per cent. This year’s Police Superintendents' Association Conference explored how representation in the senior ranks could be improved and how things might be about to change. Tina Orr Munro reports.

ANALYSIS: The Covid pandemic and multiple lockdowns have not prompted a “significant increase” in domestic homicide deaths, according to a new police and government report published last month; but the research does raise several areas of concern, including domestic abuse risks associated with lifting lockdowns, and the “entrenched and enduring” nature of the problem, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Avon and Somerset PCC Mark Shelford is leading the force’s hunt to find a new chief constable following the departure of Andy Marsh; but while traditionally the top job has been filled by existing chiefs or deputies, the force is widening the recruitment pool to include assistant chief constables and overseas applicants who possess the right leadership and Peelian qualities, as Mr Shelford explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Tour.