Analysis

Opinion: Brexit may appear to have dominated this year's annual party conferences, but Crest Advisory's Harry Redgrave says the conferences were also an opportunity to gauge the latest political thinking on the future of policing.

INSIGHT: The role of Chief Constable was once much sought after, but with the number of applicants per post slumping to an average of two per role and retention rates falling, there's no denying it has lost its attraction for many. In an exclusive interview with Policing Insight, recently retired Chief Constable of Essex Stephen Kavanagh QPM explores the reasons.

INSIGHT: Published today, the "Police ICT: User Perspectives 2018" report includes articles providing a range of views on the results and what should happen next. Policing Insight's editor, Tina Orr Munro, here acknowledges that some progress on police ICT has been made since last year's survey - but widespread frustrations reveal the police service still has a very long way to go.

ANALYSIS: Policing is undergoing a profound transformation, but are forces ready for the changes they still have to make? Accenture recently surveyed over 300 policing professionals in six countries; Rachel Phillips and James Slessor of Accenture Public Safety explain their findings.

Analysis: The OU's Police Learning and Research Group, in partnership with Greater Manchester Police, has commissioned a study into how complex systems thinking can support police policy decision-making. GMP's Programme Director for Information Services Transformation Ch Supt Phil Davies explains how ‘synthetic intelligence’ could be a new frontier for policing.

ANALYSIS: There are growing financial and operational pressures on policing. Senior figures are calling for a new vision, but as the president of the PSA said earlier this month, there is a void at the centre - and no prospect of a Royal Commission to provide answers. The service can, however, start preparing options now. The themes that come up time and again are structure, accountability frameworks, and workforce. What is the service’s own future vision for these?

Analysis: Following catastrophic bush fires in 2009 which killed 173 people, Australia implemented a mobile phone alert system so the emergency services could directly contact and advise the public during a major incident. The system has already saved lives and has now been implemented in other countries, so why not the UK?

ANALYSIS: Understanding of evidence-based policing has come a long way, but many police leaders are still looking for a 'silver bullet' - strategies that will just work. Prof. Jerry Ratcliffe of Temple University explains why the silver bullets don't exist, but that EBP is still a valuable tool.

Analysis: Following concerns over the impact collaborations and alliances were having on superintendents' health and well-being, the Police Superintendents' Association conducted a survey. Vice President Paul Griffiths outlined the results at this year's conference that revealed - despite the toll on well-being - superintendents overwhelmingly back force amalgamations.

Analysis: HMICFRS' report on the police response to hate crime highlighted the progress Nottinghamshire Police has made in introducing a comprehensive hate crime risk assessment tool. Dr Loretta Trickett, Associate Professor at Nottingham Trent University, who has been at the forefront of this work, explains how this approach is assisting police and the CPS to better recognise and record hate incidents.

ANALYSIS: With the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal becoming more likely, the Institute for Government recently published a timely report on the need for ongoing security co-operation. Maddy Thimont Jack of the IfG explains the report's findings.

Analysis: Decision Scientist Lee Curley shares his latest research on how the processes involved in making a decision can lead to juror bias. So, how do we ensure defendants receive a fair trial?

ANALYSIS: Recent events have highlighted the need to approach radicalisation not just as a security issue but also as a social and psychological one. Professor Babak Akhgar FBCS, Director of CENTRIC (Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence and Organised Crime Research) at Sheffield Hallam University, explains how the MINDb4ACT project is addressing these concerns.

INSIGHT: The latest in our SPOTLIGHT ON series focuses on the barriers to chief constable recruitment. Following the issuing of a statement by the National Police Chiefs Council, the College of Policing and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners on the challenge of chief officer recruitment, we revisit a range of expert articles that explore the subject in more depth.

INSIGHT: The Dutch National Police issued its officers and staff with 63,000 smartphones. The move opened up opportunities to complete tasks more quickly, but also to do things differently. Commissaris van politie and Mobile Programme Manager Edwin Delwel says mobile technology can be a game-changer for policing, if implemented well.

INSIGHT: At this year's Police Superintendents Association annual conference, Association President Gavin Thomas painted a picture of a service struggling to stay afloat where even neighbourhood policing, the bedrock of policing, is 'largely broken'. Former GMP Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett attended this year's conference where the view was too much has been asked of too little.

ANALYSIS: Yesterday's National Audit Office report on policing was damning on the Home Office's failure to understand the impact of budget cuts on the financial sustainability of police forces. Rick Muir of The Police Foundation examines the report's findings and the need for a clear national strategy on policing.

analysis: A few years ago, the use of stop and search in the West Midlands threatened to undermine confidence in local policing. West Midlands PCC David Jamieson and Policy Officer Ben Twomey explain the measures that were implemented to reassure communities stop and search is used fairly and effectively.

ANALYSIS: With the use of automated facial recognition technology under challenge, video surveillance specialist Cloudview asked leading cyberlaw academic Professor Andrew Charlesworth to assess the regulatory position. His report concludes that an independent review is the only way forward if the technology is to be used without alienating the public.

ANALYSIS: Our latest Report Watch takes a look at the charity Transform Justice's report 'Love, fear and control — does the criminal justice system reduce domestic abuse?' which examines and evaluates the criminal justice system's current approach to tackling domestic abuse.

ANALYSIS: The way ambulance services use social media has lessons for police - particularly in their focus on the humanity of paramedics. Dan Slee of comms2point0 looks at the best of ambulance service communications and what other blue light services can learn.

Analysis: With an online crime reported to police every ten minutes, forces are investing in cyber security training. In the final of our three part series focusing on cyber-crime, CEO and co-founder of Cyber Security Intelligence Alfred Rolington says whilst forces are making progress, there's a long way to go.

SPOTLIGHT ON: Policing Insight has over a thousand in depth articles on a wide range of policing issues. In our SPOTLIGHT ON series we group articles under one subject heading allowing you quick and easy reference when you need it. Here, we tackle spit guards or hoods which have recently returned to the spotlight following the MPS' decision not to issue them to frontline officers.

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 HMICFRS's Understanding the difference - The initial response to hate crime, published in July.