Features

OPINION: As British policing talks increasingly about exploiting AI and digital innovation – much of which was highlighted in the recent reform white paper – technology entrepreneur Kamila Hankiewicz, co-founder and CEO of Untrite, highlights some of the key challenges to the adoption and implementation of new technology from a supplier perspective, and sets out five key steps that policing could take to ensure that the reform process is effective in “unleashing technology”.

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FEATURE: New research by Anglia Ruskin University into the risks of child exploitation in unregistered children’s homes in England and Wales highlights that with youngsters often “institutionally invisible” in such settings, many are easy targets for organised crime gangs, county lines drug networks and sexual abusers, as the location of such homes and the lack of monitoring create a “perfect storm” of exposure for vulnerable children, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: Special constables were introduced in Nigeria in 2020, and play a vital role in supporting the Nigeria Police Force’s community policing efforts, gathering community intelligence, and increasing the police presence in areas that have been under-policed; however, University of Ibadan Senior Lecturer Dr Usman A. Ojedokun warns that the new volunteer force has also prompted concerns over police powers given to unsuitable people, instances of public extortion, and the deadly risks faced by some special constables.

FEATURE: Victim-survivors of violence against women and girls regularly find themselves treated as offenders, according to new research from the Centre for Women’s Justice, with issues such as a culture of disbelief, a lack of understanding of domestic abuse and coercive control, a failure to implement a trauma-informed response, and discrimination against marginalised women all contributing to injustice for victim-survivors and lack of trust, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: Former long-serving police officer Ben Jones, now a Data Protection Officer managing information governance and information rights issues within the public sector, warns that despite the best efforts of policing, many investigators are still getting it wrong when it comes to managing personal data – and their mistakes can bring down an investigation.

FEATURE: A review of conduct and discipline in Police Scotland, undertaken by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, highlights a lack of consistency in misconduct cases with chief officers appearing to be treated more leniently, as well as the damaging impacts of lengthy investigations into misconduct allegations and a lack of wellbeing support for officers involved, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Several recent shootings in Canada have been labelled as extremist violence, but the reality may be more complex, says University of Winnipeg Adjunct Professor Kawser Ahmed, who warns that the country’s ongoing urban violence problem is increasingly about a brokered violence market in which young people can be recruited, paid, coerced or gamified into attacks whose purpose is supplied by someone unknown to them.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Police forces already hold vast amounts of intelligence. The challenge is turning fragmented information into operational understanding before opportunities are missed. In this joint article, GraphAware and Neo4j explore how connected intelligence helps analysts surface critical relationships faster while keeping every insight explainable and evidence-based.

FEATURE: With cyber attacks continuing to grow in number and evolve in approach, and the UK’s National Cyber Force acting as the country’s own offensive cyber arm, a new collection of articles published by the UK Cyber Effects Network and the Royal United Services Institute provides unique insights into how and why UK cyber agencies are fighting back, and how police cybercrime investigations and preventative resilience efforts remain a critical component of UK cyber defences, reports Policing insight’s Andrew Staniforth.

REPORT EXTRACT: As policing in England and Wales ponders the momentous structural and technology changes proposed under the reform programme, the recent UK Police Digital Experience – User Perspectives report published by Policing Insight underlines the existing technology challenges; here we share an extract from the report looking at the two survey questions on overall frontline satisfaction.

FEATURE: The record-breaking success of Merseyside Police’s Project Medusa (the force’s long-term initiative tackling county lines drug dealing) reflects a multi-channel approach encompassing traditional and online investigations, social media monitoring, criminal behaviour orders, and prevention partnerships with local sports community youth organisations – an array of tactics that are also having an impact on other areas of crime, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: Policing is coming under growing pressure to adopt the latest AI technologies in order to meet the ever-increasing demand; Anglia Ruskin University Senior Research Fellow Richard Harding warns that there are plenty of examples from history that highlight the need to empower police policy makers and practitioners to question the magical offerings of suppliers and to point out the ‘naked emperors’ managing projects, in order to protect themselves, their colleagues, their organisations, and the public they serve.

FEATURE: New research into domestic abuse (DA) victimisation in the police workforce highlights that officers and staff who are victim-survivors of DA receive a worse service than members of the public – particularly in cases of police-perpetrated domestic abuse – because of ideas around officer resilience, an “institutional reluctance” to acknowledge victims’ circumstances, and forces’ reputational defensiveness, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Martyn’s Law, which forces venues, operators and policymakers to take public protection more seriously, came into effect last year, with new guidance introduced by the UK Government in April; but Gareth Brearley of AI company Augur argues that while additional CCTV, risk assessments, and the right paperwork may enable organisations to comply with the legislation, it is operational readiness, situational awareness and understanding information at scale that are truly needed to keep people safe.

INTERVIEW: A new research project will explore the extent and impact of loneliness – recognised by both the World Health Organisation and UK Government as the next big public health challenge – among police investigators, whose role often means they are unable to discuss their work with family or colleagues, exposes them to trauma, and can leave them feeling isolated, as Project Supervisor Dr Marie-Louise Sharp explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The recently published Police Leadership Commission’s Professionalism and Performance report offers a blunt verdict that leadership development is inconsistent, talent is wasted, and something structural must change, says Dr Aksar Bashir, Manager of West Midlands Police Force Contact Training Academy, who argues that while the report is a significant examination of police leadership in England and Wales, it offers mainly structural and managerial solutions to what are cultural and relational problems.

FEATURE: A study published by a team from Finland’s Tampere University into the effect of the country’s law change lowering the threshold for reporting suspected child abuse suggests that while the number of reports have increased significantly, investigations have taken longer and there has been no corresponding rise in the number of prosecutions, highlighting tensions between ambitious legislative responses and limited institutional resources, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Recent examples of racist conduct among officers in Montréal are a symptom of a much larger problem of racism within Canadian policing, says University of Manitoba Assistant Professor Dr Tandeep Sidhu, who argues that attempts to address the problem and reform policing – such as introducing body-worn cameras and collecting race-based data – have so far largely failed.

INNOVATION: With the ever-increasing opportunities for the adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in law enforcement, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at one of the outcomes of Project STARLIGHT, the European research initiative which brought together 50 partners (including law enforcement agencies, researchers, industry and practitioners) under a co-ordinated and strategic effort to bring AI into operational practices.

INTERVIEW: In this second part of his interview with Policing Insight, Stephen Russell, former Director of Data, Strategy & Technology at Warwickshire Police, shares his thoughts on the technology potential within the Government’s police reform proposals for England and Wales, why improved data and interoperability are just as important as AI, and some of the aims and ambitions for policing over the next five years.

OPINION: The ambitious proposals for structural change set out in the Government’s police reform white paper will see transformation on a huge scale, affecting 43 forces across England and Wales as well as the NCA, ROCUs, CT policing, and multiple national units; Martin Leven, who as CIO of the Scottish Police Services Authority led the tech strategy for the merger of eight forces to create Police Scotland, highlights some of the key lessons from that process, and the steps that can be taken to avoid the main pitfalls.

FEATURE: In the latest in The Police Student series focusing on Community and Neighbourhood Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the challenges and various perspectives around policing’s role in building and developing the concept of ‘social capital’.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass spoke to figures including the City of London Police Deputy Commissioner Nik Adams, and College of Policing Crime & Criminal Justice Delivery Lead T/Detective Chief Superintendent Jamie Daniels, about whether teaching local officers and staff how to spot fraud and protect victims can make a real difference in the face of huge demand and AI-powered scams.