Innovation

INTERVIEW: The Suicide Trauma Education Prevention (STEP) initiative initially launched in Hampshire Police is now looking to extend nationally and raise awareness among senior UK officers; STEP founder Spencer Wragg told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the call for mandatory Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) referrals for every officer or member of staff who attends a suicide, the need for a review of the impact of discipline investigations, and how his own experiences have shaped his approach to the issue.

INNOVATION: When public sentiment – including trust in police – can shift overnight following a viral clip or local incident, the need for policing to be able to engage with and have an up-to-date grasp of local sentiments has never been stronger; Michael Simon, Chief Strategy Officer at Zencity and a speaker at this weekend’s Cumberland Lodge Police Conference, argues that harnessing the latest technology – rather than door-knocking and telephone surveys – can provide policing with a real-time, in-depth understanding of the ‘voice of the customer’.

INNOVATION: With police leaders facing traditional challenges alongside often unrelenting change and the development of new technology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice professors Dr Maria Haberfeld and Detective Corey Simpson outline the qualities and attributes that leaders of the future will need – including social intelligence, change intelligence, and artificial awareness intelligence.

INTERVIEW: Humberside Police has become a story of turnaround success, from being the first UK force to be rated ‘inadequate’ to becoming graded in most areas as ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’, and technology has played key part in the transformation; Police Insight’s James Sweetland spoke to the force’s Chief Digital and Innovation Officer Scot Dunn about the role artificial intelligence has played in that journey, the importance of focusing new tech on supporting victims, and the difference a national policing centre could make.

INNOVATION: A wellbeing programme for investigators in Essex Police and Kent Police, which combines awareness and training with one-to-one meetings and online resources, has been highlighted as good practice by the College of Policing; Health and Wellbeing Delivery Manager Janine Jury spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about how the programme works, the buy-in from officers and senior leaders, and the potential benefits for victims as officers “pay forward” the compassion they’ve received.

FEATURE: With evidence-based policing (EBP) now a strong focus for many law enforcement agencies, Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood looks at the 10 benchmarks for the approach set out by Dr Cynthia Lum, a former police officer and now Professor of Criminology at George Mason University – and one of the foremost authorities on EBP – during her presentation at the last Building Bridges at Blue Conference.

INNOVATION: The use of an evidence storage and sharing app rolled out across Hertfordshire Constabulary has seen positive outcomes more than double compared to the force average, with investigation times reduced and demand on digital forensic unit and data storage also cut; now more forces across England and Wales are looking at adopting the technology, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: By combining a suite of national innovations with its own local solutions, Suffolk Constabulary has transformed its contact management and response functions; Assistant Chief Constable Eamonn Bridger tells Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass how the force moved out of an HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services ‘inadequate’ public contact rating to no longer being assessed as a ‘cause for concern’ - all within 10 months.

INNOVATION: Police forces across England and Wales have been urged by Chief Constable Rob Carden, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Digital, Data and Technology Co-ordination Committee, to “embrace technology in a way we’ve never done before”, to ensure they can play their part in delivering the Government’s “very ambitious” Safer Streets Mission, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: With the use of predictive policing driven by artificial intelligence (AI) becoming increasingly prevalent, University of Virginia Postdoctoral Researcher Maria Lungu argues that to address fears of overreach, bias, and a range of ethical concerns, government generally and law enforcement in particular should ensure that all data-driven tools are grounded in democratic values of due process, transparency and accountability.

FEATURE: This year’s Cityforum Transforming Police Public Contact event, supported by Policing Insight as media partner, saw experts from across the sector discuss key issues around contact management; in this article – a shortened version of the full report from the event – Dr Rick Muir, Policing Advisor to the Home Secretary, looks at some of the debates from the day, including the strategic challenges, potential quick wins, and how the discussion has broadened to consider ways police-public interaction can improve trust and confidence.

FEATURE: At a time when scrutiny of policing has never been greater, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the work of the European PRECRISIS initiative to tackle insider threats, and how this impacts and influences the vetting and ongoing insider risk safeguarding of police officers and staff.

INTERVIEW: Merseyside Police’s two-pronged approach of piloting serious violence reduction orders and increasing high-profile uniformed foot patrols as part of a hotspot project has led to a drop in overall crime, and a 50% cut in violent crime in some areas; the force’s Supt Phil Mullally spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about how the two initiatives work together, the opportunities to improve community relations, and why “excellence in the basics” is better than “reinventing the wheel”.

OPINION: With the training schedule for the new Neighbourhood Policing Pathway (NPP) beginning next month, and first measures under the new Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee due to be in place across England and Wales in July, former South Wales Police detective Steve Dodd, a subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, looks at the opportunities and challenges for the NPP, and the role of community intelligence-led policing methodology within it.

FEATURE: New research exploring the impact of a police-sent, low-cost text message ‘nudge’ reminding Class A drugs offenders to attend a mandatory drug assessment has highlighted the increased chances of helping offenders to “make it through the door” towards treatment, improving compliance and potentially reducing recidivism and offending, reports Policing Insight’s Keith Potter.

INNOVATION: Following on from the Cityforum roundtable on transforming police public contact earlier this year, and with the Government’s policing priorities highlighting the issue as crucial to modern service delivery, Content Guru Co-Founder and Deputy CEO Martin Taylor looks at the strategic reform, innovation, and future of police public contact.

FEATURE: A new survey of more than 2,100 digital forensic examiners, investigators, analysts and agency managers from 97 countries highlights both the overwhelming levels of data involved in criminal investigations, and the “outdated methods” still in place across law enforcement which are creating “bottlenecks and barriers” to the greater use of artificial intelligence in tackling those investigations, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With the three-year European PERIVALLON initiative – which aims to build a better intelligence picture of organised environmental crime, and develop tools and solutions to combat it – drawing to a close later this year, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the work of the project so far, and what more needs to be done by law enforcement and others to tackle the problem.

FEATURE: Adopting and implementing a ‘carrot and stick’ approach to those likely to be drawn into organised crime groups (OCGs) – by coupling increased surveillance and police action with the opportunity for rehabilitation and pathways out of crime – can prevent young people from entering OCGs, reduce recidivism, disrupt gang activity, and increase arrests of established members, according to the results of a pilot scheme by West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: With a wide range of potential applications for artificial intelligence (AI) in the law enforcement arena, Fernando Escudero, Tech Analyst at Spanish AI specialists ISID, takes a look at some of the most effective and beneficial current and potential police uses of the new technology.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, Chief Philip Lukens looks at the potential of agentic software engineering which, by empowering software with autonomous decision-making capabilities, can offers huge possibilities in analzying data and predicting crime patterns, but also raises concerns around accountability, bias, privacy, and the possible lack of human oversight.

INNOVATION: With the European Union’s draft Civil Security for Society Work Programme 2025 – which attracts significant funding from the Horizon Europe programme – already available online, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the opportunities for police forces in the UK, New Zealand and Canada to form consortia and submit innovative proposals tackling issues ranging from AI-driven cybersecurity to crime prevention and crisis response.

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.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens explores the potential offered by intelligent holographic surveying, which combines AI, augmented reality and holographic imaging to create 3D images that can help police recreate crime and accident scenes, assist in search and rescue operations, and simulate scenarios for tactical planning and emergency response.