Analysis

ANALYSIS: With just over a year to go until the end of National Police Chiefs’ Council funding for the Police Race Action Plan, Ian Weinfass looks at what chief constables across England and Wales hope it can achieve, and speaks to the chair of its independent scrutiny board and the head of the National Black Police Association about what else needs to be done.

OPINION: The ’ndrangheta – the Calabrian Mafia – has a long history of involvement in cocaine trafficking and other illegal activities in Australia, with networks that also stretch into Europe, North America and Latin America; University of Essex Professor of Criminology Dr Anna Sergi, an expert on the ’ndrangheta, looks at the organisation’s two different operating models, its efforts to integrate and diversify into legitimate business, and what law enforcement and legislators can do to tackle its influence and activities.

INNOVATION: With the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate online child sex abuse material (CSAM), a new report from the Australian Institute of Criminology has highlighted the potential of the new technology to be deployed in the fight against CSAM and to relieve some of the burden on human investigators – but also warns that many would-be AI solutions are still not fit for purpose, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Police legitimacy is essential in ensuring public trust and confidence, and ethical decision-making and the use of discretion are key issues in reinforcing that legitimacy with the public; University of Portsmouth PhD Researcher and former police officer David Knowles explores why an understanding of theories and philosophies of ethical decision-making should be included within police education, and how it could benefit officers while enabling improved use of the national decision model.

FEATURE: A new Europol and Eurojust report on the challenges of tackling cybercrime has highlighted the huge volumes and difficult access to data, increasingly sophisticated anonymising measures deployed by criminals, and the legal and logistical difficulties of cross-border investigations as some of the key barriers for law enforcement, despite the “progressive strides” made by agencies and governments to address the issues, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The discovery of a caravan full of explosives in Sydney had raised serious fears about potential terrorism, but after a series of raids this week the Australian Federal Police described this and 14 antisemitic attacks as a “con job” carried out by organised crime groups; Griffith University Associate Professor Dr Keiran Hardy looks at why – despite generating terror in the community – these incidents have not resulted in terrorism charges, and how lesser charges can still result in justice.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the work of AFRIPOL (the African Union Mechanism for Police Co-operation AFRIPOL) – which has a mandate to strengthen co-operation between the police agencies of the African Union (AU) – and its recent successes in collaborating with INTERPOL to tackle terrorism in East Africa.

FEATURE: As countries around the world mark Women’s History Month, with many also celebrating International Women’s Day on Saturday, 8 March, University of Leicester Associate Professor of Law and Policing Dr Sarah Jane Fox looks back at the roots of women in policing, and how this is reflected in modern efforts to achieve gender equality in law enforcement.

FEATURE: With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) making the technology both more available and easier to use, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at law enforcement efforts to tackle AI-generated online child sexual abuse material – including last month’s success of Operation Cumberland, involving European, UK, Australian and New Zealand forces – as well as EU steps to tackle other damaging AI-generated online content.

FEATURE: The latest findings of the PwC Global Economic Crime Survey reveal that UK companies are in many instances ahead of their international counterparts in using data analytics to tackle crimes such as procurement fraud, supply chain fraud and corruption – but the consultants warn that there is still significant room for improvement, particularly at a time when perception of public sector corruption in the UK is at an all-time high, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: When it comes to research and services for victims of adolescent domestic abuse (ADA), those aged under 16 are often overlooked by policies that focus on the adult domestic abuse (DA) agenda; Gloucestershire Deputy Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint and City St George’s, University of London Senior Researcher Dr Ruth Weir spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about new efforts to identify the scale and nature of the problem, and encouraging police forces to use technology to extract ADA data.

INNOVATION: In the remotest parts of Australia – as in many other countries – using a mobile phone to contact the emergency services via calls or text messages has not been an option; but ahead of this year’s election, the Australian Government has promised to mandate mobile carriers in the country to work with low Earth orbit satellites to provide access to mobile voice, SMS and the Triple Zero (000) service almost everywhere across Australia, as RMIT University Associate Professor Dr Mark A Gregory explains.

FEATURE: Last month saw joint calls from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, College of Police and Counter-Terrorism Policing for UK policing to be given more freedom to share details around investigations that could help to quell the online misinformation fuelling violence and disorder; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the challenges around sharing of information, as well as the artificial intelligence tools that can help to tackle misinformation.

OPINION: The US first declared its ‘war on terror’ in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and the impact of the approach was felt by policing in America and elsewhere; Liverpool John Moores University Policing Lecturer James Williams looks at the changing nature of US counter-terrorism since 9/11, the growing focus on domestic terrorism, and the increasing threat posed by online extremism and ‘lone wolf’ attacks.

FEATURE: A new report by Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza into the involvement of children in the riots across the UK last summer has found that “significant work” is still to be done to create a child-first approach to justice, while a strong distrust of police underlines “an urgent need for child-centred policing”, and conversations with children didn’t support the narrative that online misinformation or right-wing influences were responsible young people being “enticed to join in the aggression”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: New laws proposed by the UK Government will be the first in the world to make it an offence to possess, create or distribute AI tools designed to generate child sexual abuse material; Simon Bailey, Chair of the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI), and IPPPRI Director, Professor Sam Lundigran, explain why the new laws will be crucial in the fight against the growing scale of AI-generated online child abuse images.

FEATURE: The ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ programme to tackle serious and organised crime (SOC) – implemented across almost all territorial police forces in England and Wales – is successfully driving down acquisitive crime and promoting partnership approaches that are ending silo working, according to a new evaluation report, although challenges still remain in some areas around community perceptions and long-term resilience, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Investigative genetic genealogy is being used by police forces around the world to identify both the discovered remains of unknown individuals, and to track down those responsible for murders and other violent crimes; in this edited version of her Churchill Fellowship report, Dr Emma Tilley of the University of Staffordshire looks at the use of investigative genetic genealogy in police investigations around the world, the benefits and challenges it offers, and how can UK policing can implement this new technique.

ANALYSIS: With illicit drug use increasing by 20% over the past decade, University of York Honorary Fellow and Associate Professor Ian Hamilton looks at the scale of the harm done by drugs around the world, the changing trends in supply and demand, and calls for a “complete shift” in the way governments and societies recognise and respond to what has become a global threat.

FEATURE: A National Audit Office ‘value for money’ report into the work of the Government and Home Office to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) has warned that efforts to improve the outcome for victims have largely failed so far, with the Home Office failing to lead an effective cross-government response, and a generally limited understanding of the resources allocated to tackling VAWG or their impact, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA) and the Superintendents’ Association of Northern Ireland recently submitted evidence to the Police Remuneration Review Body on pay and conditions, calling for (amongst other things) a fully funded 4.8% pay rise across all ranks, and a new health and wellbeing structure for officers and staff; PSA National Secretary Chief Superintendent Warren Franklin explains the reasoning behind the submission, and the need for a long-term strategy going forwards.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass reports on what was discussed at a first-of-a-kind international symposium on boosting trust and confidence in policing, including new research on winning public support and the importance of listening to communities.

FEATURE: In the wake of a joint investigation into a super complaint over police-perpetrated domestic abuse (PPDA), the Independent Office for Police Conduct has now published its review of the way forces in England and Wales handle such cases, with calls for improved training for frontline officers on the potentially complex nature of PPDA, the need for better recording and vetting, and greater consideration of the impartiality of investigations, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: The continuing development of digital and multi-channel public contact is a key issue for policing across England and Wales; in the second in a series of police technology webinars produced by PolicingTV, NPCC Digital Public Contact Programme Social Media lead Patrick Robins and Digital Youth Engagement lead Alex Finn, and TOEX and CSE Taskforce Communications lead Natalie Reed, explored the benefits and risks of policing’s social media participation, and the challenges around engaging young people.