Opinion

Opinion: Following a two-year battle with the Ministry of Justice for the release of a report into digital courts, Director of Transform Justice Penelope Gibbs says not all the risks highlighted in that report have been mitigated.

Interview: Police users have been complaining for years about the fact that systems can’t talk to each other: it’s also been a recurring complaint in Policing Insight’s police ICT user survey. Now a group of suppliers have come forward to say that things don’t need to be this way and the solution is surprisingly simple. Here, Policing Insight talks to one of them, Clare Elford, Managing Director of Clue which supplies investigation case management software to many forces and other organisations.

Opinion: Cuts to vital local community services have put the police service under increasing pressure as it attempts to plug the gaps. Firesouls CEO Dan Ebanks says the Social Value Act 2018 may provide the answer to getting more resources into local organisations that, in turn, would alleviate some of those pressures.

INSIGHT: The College of Policing states officers and staff reporting concerns about a colleague should be fully supported through the process, but for one individual who ‘blew the whistle’ the reality was very different. Here is their story.

Insight: According to the RSPB, there were 68 confirmed incidents of 'raptor persecution' in 2017, but only four prosecutions. Bedfordshire Police Superintendent Nick Lyall, who has recently taken over as chair of the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group, outlines his aims for the Group and the challenges of policing crimes relating to birds of prey. 

Opinion: As the Police Foundation's latest research once again shines a light on policing's lacklustre response to fraud investigations, Policing Insight's Bernard Rix says sky-high statistics appear to have left the service too stunned to respond. Is the policing response to fraud the proverbial 'frog in boiling water'?

Opinion: Since 2013, Thames Valley Police has supported over 300 academic programmes of study by its staff. The force has now launched its first academic research journal. Its creator, Superintendent Katy Barrow-Grint, explains how the Journal came into being and the impact she is hoping it will have. 

OPINION: Austerity has caused deep harm to policing and it may take a generation to repair it. Former Chief Superintendent John Sutherland surveys the damage.

OPINION: The latest crime figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) offer a grim outlook on the state of criminal justice in England and Wales. Almost as if to head off criticism, the bulletin starts: “Over recent decades, we’ve seen continued falls in overall levels of crime but in the last year the trend has […]

INSIGHT: Assaults against staff at Ashworth High Security Hospital cost the NHS nearly £400,000 in 2011. In her presentation to this year's Mental Health and Policing Conference, Merseyside Detective Constable and Mental Health Investigator Samantha Keaton explained the importance of prosecuting offenders detained in a mental health facility. Syreeta Lund reports.

INTERVIEW: New Zealand's crime rate has decreased drastically in recent years after the police commissioner shifted the focus from prosecution to prevention. Mary Calam, a senior expert in McKinsey’s London office, and Roland Dillon, an associate partner in McKinsey's Melbourne office, interviewed New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush on how the force achieved this remarkable transformation.

Project Galileo: Project Galileo represents a fundamental rethink of how we can make a difference to tackling harm on our roads. The fourth instalment in the Galileo series sees Conrad Evans, a partner at The Digital Quarter, talk about how we must harness the power of digital technology to reduce risk on the road and bring communities together to create the changes they want to see on our roads.

OPINION: "Policing is in crisis" has often been said this year. But, in his recent budget, the Chancellor chose not to act. In his latest article, Policing Insight's regular columnist, former GMP ACC and CoPaCC Director Ian Wiggett, looks at the latest evidence of "crisis", and sets out his thoughts on what options policing might now pursue.

Comment: Whilst Times columnist Matthew Parris' attack on the police may have been mean-spirited, was there some truth in his comments? Writing exclusively for Policing Insight, a former chief constable says the service must end its 'defensive, anti-intellectual prejudice' and persuade the best and brightest to join.

INTERVIEW: University of East London (UEL) journalism students and Samosa Media have produced a film exploring Prevent, the Government’s anti-radicalisation strategy. Anwar Akhtar, the film’s producer and founder of Samosa Media tells Policing Insight why the film was made and the impact he is hoping it will have.

OPINION: In the recent CoPaCC Police ICT: User Perspectives 2018 report officers and staff express dissatisfaction with equipment, training and support that is preventing them from policing to the best of their ability. Simon Kempton, Deputy National Treasurer and National Board Member of the Police Federation of England & Wales, gives his view on the report findings.

Opinion: Last month, former Deputy PCC for West Mercia Barrie Sheldon called the shock ending of the alliance between West Mercia and Warwickshire Police a 'crazy decision'. Since then, both Police and Crime Panels have met to discussed what happened. Mr Sheldon examines what took place in those meetings and why West Mercia called time on the alliance.

OPINION: Alan Beckley was a police officer in the UK for 30 years, before moving to Australia to teach and conduct research on policing and law enforcement, most recently as a Research Fellow at Western Sydney University. In this, the first of a regular series of articles for Policing Insight, he provides an Australian perspective on the Home Affairs Select Committee's recent report, "Policing for the Future".

OPINION: Think Tank PUBLIC have today, with the support of the former Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, published their "Police Tech Pioneers" report. In this EXCLUSIVE article for Policing Insight, PUBLIC Policy Fellow and former policing advisor to the Mayor of London Blair Gibbs provides his perspective on the report.

OPINION: A lack of integration and interoperability between ICT systems coupled with outdated hardware continue to hamper Scottish police officers but, in his foreword to CoPaCC's Police ICT: User Perspectives 2018 report, President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents Ch Supt Ivor Marshall says the recently agreed £298 million for ICT investment is an opportunity to create a system fit for purpose.

EXCLUSIVE: Earlier this week, the Home Affairs Select Committee published their long-awaited report "Policing for the Future". In this exclusive article for Policing Insight, the Police Foundation's Director, Dr Rick Muir, sets out how and why the Select Committee's report will have a lasting impact.

OPINION: "Technology is changing fast and it’s essential that we keep a handle on the police ICT user experience, so we can better understand the challenges facing users and look for solutions" says Ch. Supt. Paul Griffiths, Vice President of the Police Superintendents Association in his foreword to the CoPaCC Police ICT: User Perspectives 2018 report.

OPINION: Clue provides investigation and intelligence software to around a half of all UK police forces. In this exclusive article for Policing Insight, Clue’s Commercial Director, Thomas Drohan, provides an insight into his thinking on joining The Police ICT Company’s vendor management service as a managed vendor and what the future might have in store.

OPINION: The Government has recently announced a proposal to increase pension costs for employers throughout the public sector. In an exclusive article for Policing Insight, West Midlands PCC David Jamieson looks at how this could affect policing in his force and more widely.