Analysis

ANALYSIS: Media reports suggest a surge in 'Albanian mafia' involvement in drug trafficking and organised crime. However, Anna Sergi of the University of Essex warns that this misrepresents the role of Albanian offenders and networks, and damages our understanding of the complexities of organised crime, and the global Albanian diaspora.

INSIGHT: How do you continue to effectively police a large rural force area when you’ve lost nearly 500 police officers in the last eight years? Devon and Cornwall Police believe they may have the answer with their new community responders - on-call firefighters who are also warranted police officers.

INSIGHT: As we approach the annual Police ICT Summit, Policing Insight asks police leaders and ICT stakeholders what they believe are the biggest challenges facing Police ICT and what they hope the Summit might achieve.

ANALYSIS: Attitudes towards and the treatment of mental health in the Australian police have changed over the years. However, after 20,000 police and emergency workers responded 'Answering the Call', the first national survey of mental health in this sector, former UK police officer and now Research Fellow at Western Sydney University Alan Beckley says the police still have a long way to go.

ANALYSIS: Though the number of recorded crimes is rising, the proportion of those crimes that are detected is falling. Professor Marian FitzGerald of the University of Kent explores the figures.

Analysis: Following a number of suicides, Canada's police leaders are increasingly recognising the need to offer its frontline staff 'a continuum of support and services' throughout their career. PwC Director of Public Safety and Justice Tara Macpherson examines what progress is being made on this.

INSIGHT: Cheshire Police is one of three forces trialling different intervention models for stalking. Syreeta Lund reports onthe groundbreaking work of the Integrated Anti-Stalking Unit.

ANALYSIS: The drone-related shutdown at Gatwick has exposed fault lines in the multi-agency threat and risk assessment prioritisation processes at UK airports. Andrew Staniforth, Board Member and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence & Organised Crime Research (CENTRIC), takes a look at the implications...

Analysis: Decision Scientist Lee Curley's research takes a closer look at the effect Scotland's unique, but controversial 'third' verdict of not proven has on jurors.

Analysis: Currently on a career break, serving police officer Sarah-Jane Lennie shares some of the emerging themes from her PhD research into the emotional wellbeing of police officers.

Analysis: Devon and Cornwall Police Inspector John Shuttleworth shares the lessons learnt from Operation Fardel, the force's response to a national telephone scam, and recommends ways to help close the gap in the police service's response to this fraud.

Analysis: The police service has faced a prolonged period of unprecedented cuts. Visiting Professor in Criminology at the University of Glyndŵr Peter Joyce and Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University Dr Wendy Laverick argue that this level of austerity risks undermining police legitimacy.

Analysis: Fraud accounts for a third of reported crime in England and Wales yet the number of cases investigated and prosecuted is tiny compared to the volume. As the Police Foundation publishes its latest research on improving the police response to fraud victims, Ian Dyson, Commissioner for the City of London Police which leads nationally on fraud, says things are changing.

ANALYSIS: The latest in our Report Watch series, summarises the findings of a report by HMICFRS’ Policing and Mental Health Report, Picking Up the Pieces, published last month (Nov 27). We look at the impact on policing, recommendations as well as stakeholder and media reactions.

ANALYSIS: Vast, viable and virtual: cyberspace is a new continent that cybercriminals are only just beginning to exploit. Policing Insight contributor and Senior Research Fellow at CENTRIC Andrew Staniforth explores the areas most at risk and the need for unprecedented cooperation to combat cybercrime.

Analysis: Amid the headlines that cash-strapped forces are 'sitting on' £1.4bn in reserves and calls from the Police Minister to dip into these reserves to plug the pensions' gap, former GMP ACC and CoPaCC Director Ian Wiggett explains the picture surrounding forces' use of reserves is far more complicated.

Analysis: As the Government's assessment of its future security partnership with the EU is published, Peter Joyce, Visiting Professor in Criminology at the University of Glyndŵr and Dr Wendy Laverick, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University, examine new crime trends, current EU crime-fighting tools and how Brexit impacts our ability to fight these new crime forms.

Analysis: Former police officer and Police Federation Secretary Tony Barton has seen first hand the devastating effects policing can have on mental health. Now a consultant and trainer in mental health first aid, Tony explores the stigma still surrounding mental ill-health and the role managers play in promoting an honest and open conversation.

ANALYSIS: The road to police fire governance is a bumpy one as the last few weeks has demonstrated. With one PCC restarting, two stopping and two others mired in controversy, what may have seemed like a good idea to some is not winning any new fans. In her latest update of the Policing Insight series looking at PCCs and fire governance, Catherine Levin reports on the ups and downs of the last few weeks.

Analysis: Reticence towards the Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) is understandable, says Dr Dominic Wood, Head of the School of Law, Criminal Justice and Computing at Canterbury Christ Church University, but it is also an opportunity for the police service to 'reassert its professional voice and standing in society'. He explains why.

Analysis: Figures published this month show many forces have fully embraced social media and are using it to not only communicate crime and incident-related messages, but also to engage with the public. However, research shows there's still room for improvement.

Analysis: Earlier this month, National Police Chiefs Council Chair Sara Thornton said misogyny should not be recorded as a hate crime. Alan Beckley, a former UK police officer with 30 years service and now Research Fellow at Western Sydney University examines the implications of this approach and Australia's response to misogyny.

LONG READ: With the contraction of police budgets, neighbourhood policing has come under pressure in many areas. However, new College of Policing guidelines suggest it may yet stage a recovery. Andy Higgins of the Police Foundation describes a day with one of South Yorkshire's neighbourhood policing teams, and what it signals about the future of neighbourhood policing.

ANALYSIS: A new organised crime strategy was launched by the government in early November. However, Anna Sergi, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Essex, warns that seeing organised crime as a national security threat is a poor way of understanding its social and economic roots.