Opinion

OPINION: With policing facing an expanding array of increasingly complex crime challenges, there is huge potential for digital transformation to help forces tackle that burden; Charlotte Hails, Justice & Policing Lead for Virgin Media O2 Business, argues that closer partnerships between policing and the private sector could help to overcome some of the existing constraints, and unlock the operational efficiencies that can enable forces to thrive.

FEATURE: The importance of forensics in police investigations cannot be overstated, and their increasingly crucial role has been one of the driving forces behind the recent launch of the Forensic Science Regulator’s Code of Practice; the role of forensics, and the understanding and implications of the new Code, were the key topics for discussion in a recent @WeCops online chat, hosted by Thames Valley Police Head of Forensics Kay Hannam, and Head of Forensic Accreditation, Caroline Rust.

OPINION: The UK’s neighbourhood policing focus has dwindled significantly over the past decade, as forces enduring funding cuts redirected resources towards response policing and emerging complex threats; University of East London Policing Professor John Coxhead argues that although the Uplift recruitment programme has led to an increase in the workforce, pledges to recruit a new wave of neighbourhood officers will see forces facing fresh challenges around building teams from scratch, and gaining the trust and confidence of communities.

OPINION: The recent adoption of the Right Care, Right Person approach to mental health responses by police forces across England and Wales has reignited the debate around policing’s role in such incidents; but as Research Fellow Dr Claire Warrington of the University of York explains, the issue has also highlighted the vulnerability of the police workforce to mental ill-health, and what can be done to meet those challenges.

ANALYSIS: Although Australia maintains a low ranking in the Global Terrorism Index, a shifting focus from jihadist actors to homegrown terrorists, coupled with a surge in terrorism investigations among minors, suggests that radicalisation among disaffected and troubled teenagers is a growing problem – one which, if ignored, could lead to disaster, warns Australian Strategic Policy Institute visiting fellow William Frangia.

OPINION: Approaches and initiatives that improve police engagement with communities are acknowledged by many in policing as delivering real and long-term benefits, but when it comes to resourcing, are often regarded as ‘nice to haves’ rather than necessary; however, University of Portsmouth Policing Lecturer David Knowles – a specialist in engagement during his 30-year policing career – argues that such engagement is essential in building trust and confidence as well as tackling all levels of crime.

OPINION: With the Metropolitan Police having come under significant pressure over the past week to ban the planned pro-Palestinian protest in the capital tomorrow (Armistice Day), Edge Hill University Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent and public order specialist, argues that history suggests prohibiting the march is likely to result in widespread violence, with dialogue and facilitation of a peaceful demonstration a much-preferred alternative.

ANALYSIS: In October the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) marked 10 years in operation, a decade that has seen significant international operations, substantial convictions and drug seizures, and major technological advances; but as Cathy Haenlein, Director of Organised Crime & Policing at the Royal United Services Institute explains, the threat to the UK from serious and organised crime is on the rise, and policing alone cannot overcome that threat.

OPINION: The final report into the long-running New South Wales (NSW) Police Suspect Targeted Management Plan – which targeted children and adults who the force believed could become repeat offenders – found the program to be ‘unreasonable, unjust, and oppressive’; NSW Police dropped the program having seen a draft copy of the report, and Dr Vicki Sentas, UNSW Sydney Senior Law Lecturer, argues that any replacement approach should take a lead from Indigenous community alternatives.

OPINION: Recent comments from Home Secretary Suella Braverman around the policing of the pro-Palestinian protests have once again called into question UK policing’s political independence; but former officer and University of Derby Policing Lecturer Tom Andrews argues that such independence has been largely illusionary in the past, and that a Royal Commission into policing is essential if such independence is to be guaranteed in the future.

FEATURE: UK National Crime Agency Director General Graeme Biggar has warned that policing and the wider criminal justice system is not moving fast enough or far enough in its efforts to combat the shift online in serious and organised crime, and that the roll out of end-to-end encryption on sites such as Facebook would be “tantamount to consciously turning a blind eye” to child abuse, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: The ongoing demonstrations across the UK prompted by the Israel-Gaza conflict have reignited the debate about the police response to public protest; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, whose 30-year policing career included many large public order events, takes a closer look at the legislation governing protests, the guidance officers receive around intervention, and why the decision not to arrest during a protest may be justice wisely delayed rather than denied.

OPINION: With UK policing facing a decline in public trust and confidence, officer morale hitting new lows, and a seemingly endless barrage of bad news and attacks from the media, Edge Hill University Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent, believes the time is right for a unified staff association for the profession of policing to advocate on behalf of the service and reclaim the strategic narrative.

ANALYSIS: The apparent increase in youth crime has been the subject of intense media focus and community campaigns over recent months; Bond University’s Dr Terry Goldsworthy, Dr Gaëlle Brotto and Dr Tyler Cawthray explore the data behind the headlines, as well as public perception on what constitutes a crime crisis.

OPINION: Shoplifting and retail theft have been subject to significant media and political focus over recent weeks, with the Government launching a new action plan while commentators call for tougher sentences to target organised gangs; but Transform Justice Director Penelope Gibbs argues that effectively tackling the problem will mean addressing the causes, improving diversion and rethinking the retail space, rather than simply increasing the sentence tariff.

OPINION: Tackling county lines and organised crime has become a key area for academic research in recent years, but not all research studies have been a positive experience for local residents or police; GLEPHA Associate and postgraduate researcher Janine Ewen has seen several such studies in her home city of Aberdeen, and shares her experiences as well as steps that researchers can take to improve outcomes and build better relationships with communities.

OPINION: This week Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Fotheringham retires from policing, and from his role as President of the Police Superintendents’ Association, a post he has held for the past 18 months; in this article he looks back over his policing career and his work with the PSA, in particular around officer wellbeing, ensuring everyone in the service has a voice, and the fight for fair reward and conditions.

OPINION: With mass shootings an increasing concern in the US and Canada, and many European countries alert to the deadly potential of attacks by armed terrorists, the response to such events by both police and those targeted can be crucial in saving lives; Vernon White, former Chief of Police for Ottawa Police Service, and Joe Carlebach, former Hammersmith and Fulham councillor, explore the approaches used in the police response to active shooters, and what facilities and organisations can be doing to protect their communities.

OPINION: The recent attacks on Israel by Hamas, and the response of the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza, have prompted long and heated debates about the terminology used to describe the actions and those involved; but former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher, now a police lecturer and terrorism specialist, argues that there is a clear definition of terrorism and terrorist activity, the criteria for which can used to measure the actions of both sides in this conflict.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Digital transformation is something of a buzz word in British policing, and the switch to cloud computing is viewed by many as crucial to leveraging the greatest benefits from those transformational opportunities; Ian Holmes, commercial sales manager, and Klaus Dalgaard, business development manager, both of Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial division, spoke to Policing Insight about the move towards the cloud and policing’s wider digital transformation journey.

OPINION: This Friday (20 October) marks a year since the final report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was published; to mark this, Ian Critchley, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigation and former Deputy Chief Constable of Merseyside, has written about the journey policing has been on in the approach to investigating child sexual abuse and exploitation, and how victims and survivors are supported.

OPINION: Policing in the UK and internationally seemingly struggles to find the best approach to using social media, with forces and officers either criticised for not being proactive enough, or drawn into controversy as situations go viral; former police officer Oliver Laurence, now a policing consultant, looks at some of the recent challenges that have faced the UK’s largest force in its use of Twitter and X (caution this article contains content that may upset some readers).

OPINION: Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used by New Zealand Police to identify, analyse and investigate criminals and criminal activity; but University of Auckland Associate Professor Alexandra Sims believes that new legislation and independent monitoring is needed to protect against the dangers of the erosion of privacy and algorithmic bias, and ensure compliance with existing frameworks and principles.

ANALYSIS: While the term ‘shoplifting’ suggest images of someone pocketing a chocolate bar, current retail thefts by organised crime groups in the UK are often more akin to systematic looting, yet the vast majority of offences still go un reported; City, University of London Criminology Professor Dr Emmeline Taylor argues that although an under-funded police service and criminal justice system has exacerbated the problem, retailers themselves could take more steps to safeguard stock and staff.