Analysis

ANALYSIS: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises the findings of the fourth report by HMICFRS which is an update on the police response to fraud (April 2019). We look at the key points for policing as well as stakeholder and media reactions.

ANALYSIS: What does effective policing leadership look like, and what could be done to make policing leaders more effective? Serving officer Dan Reynolds summarises a recent @wecops debate that explored the role of leadership in policing, and gives nine key lessons for effective police leaders.

LONG READ: How does community policing translate to a former war zone like South Sudan? Jackie Gold, Chief Inspector with Avon and Somerset Police, explains the importance of gaining a clear understanding of the mandate, finding opportunities for ‘quick wins’, influencing others, cultural awareness and taking risks.

INSIGHT: The Police Foundation's recent report, Data-driven Policing and Public Value, highlights the fundamental importance of data to service delivery. Catherine Levin explores the findings of the report, including the benefits of identifying common areas of interest around data between police and fire.

ANALYSIS: By 2020, 31 billion devices will be connected to the internet worldwide bringing with it a whole host of policing challenges, but increasingly police forces are rising to those challenges. The Police Foundation’s latest report showcases some of the innovative data-driven projects that happening both here in the UK and abroad.

ANALYSIS: Twenty years after the Macpherson report was published, Dr Lisa Long, a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Leeds Beckett University, shares her recent research into the current state of relations between the police and BAME individuals and communities.

ANALYSIS: The police are about receive extensive new powers when provisions contained in the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, which received Royal Assent in February, come into force. Policing Insight contributor and Senior Research Fellow at CENTRIC Andrew Staniforth explores the implications of the new Act for policing.

ANALYSIS: Dr Ella Cockbain, a Lecturer in Security and Crime Science at the Jill Dando Institute, raises serious concerns over the Qulliam Foundation's influential report on grooming gangs and how it has fuelled an inaccurate and dangerous narrative around 'Asian grooming gangs'.

ANALYSIS: Football violence hasn't gone away. But what do we know about the strategies that work to prevent and respond to it? Lucy Strang of RAND Europe reports on a new study into what works.

ANALYSIS: The latest in our Report Watch series, which summarises the findings of reports that impact policing and includes responses from the main stakeholders as well as media reaction, takes a look at a briefing written for Civitas called: Ending Short Prison Sentences - An Amnesty for Thieves and Burglars?

LONG READ: International policing missions offer a range of challenges, particularly cultural. Jan Leenslag of the Dutch National Police explains how he used ‘soft skills’ and cultural awareness to develop 'train the trainer' programmes in Afghanistan.

ANALYSIS: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises the findings of the fourth report by HMICFRS which is an update on the police response to domestic abuse (February 2019). We look at key points for policing as well as stakeholder and media reactions.

Analysis: The Prevent Strategy was updated and republished last year, as part of the counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST), but Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth explains that its failure to identify individuals vulnerable to radicalisation is why an independent review of Prevent is contained in the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

ANALYSIS: Does the hierarchical nature of the police service impact negatively on officers' health and wellbeing? Rick Muir, Director of the Police Foundation, explores the findings of their latest report, Police Workforce Wellbeing and Organisational Development, which argues for a more inclusive management culture.

Analysis: It is twenty years since Sir William Macpherson's report into the MPS' investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence described the force as institutionally racist. Visiting Professor in Criminology Peter Joyce and Senior Lecturer in Criminology Dr Wendy Laverick examine how the report has defined UK policing.

Analysis: The Data Protection Act 2018 is a game-changer in how data is handled, but has law enforcement risen to the challenge? In the first of a new series, Owen Sayers, an enterprise architect, privacy and security specialist with thirty years experience in the CJS, outlines the issues surrounding the Act and whether law enforcement is fully prepared for them.

LONG READ: The deaths of six young people from drug overdoses at music festivals in Australia in the last five months has shone a light on the risk of taking drugs at these events. Former UK police officer and now Research Fellow at Western Sydney University Alan Beckley examines the issues and considers whether pill-testing offers the solution.

ANALYSIS: The Police Federation's 2018 survey of officer welfare again shows shocking levels of officer stress and exposure to trauma. Mary Elliot-Davies of the Federation explains the findings of the survey, and what's urgently needed to protect officers and allow them to rebuild their resilience.

ANALYSIS: What is expertise and who is really an expert? Dr Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University explores the role - and value - of expertise in policing, and its complexities.

Analysis: Former GMP Assistant Chief Constable and now CoPaCC Director Ian Wiggett considers the thorny subject of improving productivity in policing and suggests that part of the answer may be ‘hidden in plain sight’

INSIGHT: The public rightly expects to submit digital evidence quickly and easily to the police, but many forces do not have the technology to facilitate this, compelling officers to physically retrieve the device that captured the evidence, but what if your force covers an area of nearly 2,700 square miles?

INSIGHT: Around 1 in every 200 children go missing each year, according to the Missing People charity. Many of those children are in care or on the edge of care. Syreeta Lund reports on No Wrong Door, an initiative in North Yorkshire that combines resources and skills to provide better outcomes for vulnerable young people.

ANALYSIS: In the mid-2000s, Glasgow was known as the murder capital of Europe. Now London Mayor Sadiq Khan is trying some of Scotland's solutions - but will they travel? Prof. Susan McVie, Ellie Bates, and Rebecca Pillinger of the University of Edinburgh examine long-term changes in violence and ask whether there really is evidence of Scottish exceptionalism.

Analysis: Traditional responses to trafficking focus on disrupting criminal networks and protecting the victims, but a European project is taking a different approach including ways to reduce demand for the services of those who are trafficked. Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth explores the drivers of this $12bn a year crime.