Features

Analysis: Jamie Clinch, a former Masters student in Forensic Psychology, discusses the findings of research she conducted into the effectiveness of alcohol-related violence intervention programmes as part of a collaboration between Coventry University and West Midlands Police.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: In this latest in the series of COVID-19 briefing papers published by UCL’s Jill Dando Institute, Professor Graham Farrell of the University of Leeds highlights the changing nature of pandemic crime, from furlough fraud and fake PPE to cybercrime and civil law breaches.

ANALYSIS: Significant increases in cocaine purity, worrying levels of heroin seizures and emerging new threats from the COVID-19 lockdown are among the key issues highlighted in the latest European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction assessment, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: Politicians and campaign groups in Australia are calling for coercive control to be criminalised as part of legislation to tackle domestic violence; but without wider consultation and consideration, the move could be counter-productive, as Professors Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Silke Meyer of Monash University, and Prof Sandra Walklate of the University of Liverpool, explain.

ANALYSIS: This year marks the centenary of the Baird Committee Report, which recommended that women should be employed as sworn police officers across England and Wales. In the first of two articles, Dr Wendy Laverick and Professor Peter Joyce present a historical account of the involvement of women in policing, the barriers and obstacles they faced, and the current and future situation regarding equality of opportunity.

FEATURE: The tragic shooting of Met Police Sgt Matt Ratana last month once again highlighted the horrific impact of the illegal trade in unlicensed firearms; Policing Insight contributor Andy Staniforth looks at at the latest trends in firearms trafficking, and the steps being taken across Europe to stem the flow of weapons.

FEATURE: The International Crime Coordination Centre was set up to lead UK policing’s fight against transnational crime, through Brexit and beyond; Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro talks to ICCC Head, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Martin, about the Centre’s work to date, the threat from globalised criminality, and the challenge of making the investigation of international crime ‘business as usual’.

OPINION: Adrian Timberlake, chief technical officer at 7Technologies, examines the potential uses of new technology in border control and missing person identification, and how intelligent technologies could help to combat modern slavery.

ANALYSIS: There have been widespread calls for police reform in the United States, but what shape should that reform take, and how effective can it be? Professor Ronald Weitzer of George Washington University looks at what steps have been taken so far, what has – and hasn’t – worked, and the opportunities for further evidence-based reform.

OPINION: Diversity has long been a crucial concern in policing, but the wider criminal justice system has also come under scrutiny on the issue; Penelope Gibbs, Director of Transform Justice, believes plans to raise the retirement age for judges and magistrates could seriously damage the diversity of the judiciary and magistracy.

INTERVIEW: Dubai Police recently became the first force to win seven IACP awards in one year, recognised for its work in areas ranging from forensics and research to victims’ services and highway safety. Policing Insight spoke to Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, about the force’s success, its efforts to tackle challenges such as COVID-19 and transnational crime, and how high-tech and happiness are crucial elements of the force's long-term strategy.

ANALYSIS: The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, published in April, aims to consolidate existing hate crime legislation, as well as introducing new offences and abolishing blasphemy. Kath Murray, Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Lisa Mackenzie of the MurrayBlackburnMackenzie Policy Analysis Collective analyse and explain police responses to the new bill and its wide-ranging ramifications.

ANALYSIS: While a significant proportion of the American public are calling for police reform, more than half of all major crime in the US still goes unreported, and police only make an arrest in around one in five of those cases; Professor Shima Baughman of the University of Utah argues that truly improving policing will require those two gaps to be addressed.

OPINION: Congregations and places of worship from a number of religions are increasingly being targeted across Europe by a range of individuals and groups including far-right activists, extreme anarchists and libertarians; Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth looks at the scale of the problem, and the European Commission response.

INTERVIEW: The COVID-19 pandemic should act as a catalyst for policing transformation, says Andrew Newsham, PwC National Lead for Policing – but greater collaboration, enhanced sharing of good practice and a clear, unified message on funding will be crucial to enable the service to meet the post-lockdown policing challenges.

OPINION: While there are undoubtedly resource and technology costs attached to the police use of social media, the contribution it can make to the delivery of policing in both physical and digital spaces needs to be understood and acknowledged, says Dr Liam Ralph, Research Fellow at Northumbria University.

ANALYSIS: The benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) for policing are increasingly recognised and discussed, but what about the criminal threats from such technology? Keith Potter looks at a new report from UCL’s Dawes Centre for Future Crime which highlights some of the main risks to the public from AI-related criminal activity.

OPINION: Monash University Emeritus Professor Jude McCulloch believes that a bill being considered by Australia's Victorian Parliament as part of legislation to tackle COVID-19 would provide police and other ‘authorised officers’ with unprecedented, extraordinary powers, and rely too heavily on a punitive approach to controlling the coronavirus, with limited checks and balances.

OPINION: In the third in a series of three articles on law enforcement and digital technology, Ian Stevenson, Chair of the Online Safety Technology Industry Association (OSTIA) and CEO and co-founder of Cyan Forensics, considers some of the key questions and challenges around innovation and technology in policing.

ANALYSIS: The eyewitness identification of suspects often plays a crucial part in many criminal investigations and subsequent court proceedings; but as PhD researcher Pia Pennekamp explains, how confident a witness is about what they saw – and how that confidence is interpreted by police, juries and judges – needs greater clarity and a more standardised approach.

ANALYSIS: Persistent poverty and profound trauma are increasingly being recognised and addressed by police and crime commissioners in their attempts to divert young adults away from the criminal justice system, according to a new review by the Revolving Doors Agency; but alongside the emerging good practice, there are still gaps in support and areas for improvement.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Data is now at the heart of every investigation, but as well as offering opportunity to improve the service for victims of crime, it can also hinder it. In this article, Boyd Mulvey, CEO and Founder of Chorus, talks about the data challenges currently facing law enforcement and how Chorus believe they have developed a new Intelligence Suite to help overcome them.

OPINION: Adrian Timberlake, chief technical officer at Seven Technologies Group, explains how facial recognition could help to reduce bias and protect innocent members of the public, while ensuring the guilty are brought to justice.

OPINION: Young people stopped by police while carrying drugs for personal use often swallow the substance to avoid additional charges, with potentially life-threatening consequences. Assistant Professor and Pediatric Emergency Physician Dr Kirstin Weerdenburg, and Kristyn Anderson, a Clinical Social Worker and PhD student, both of Dalhousie University, believe police discretion and decriminalisation are the way forward.