Analysis

LONG READ: The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) was originally envisioned as an apolitical arms-length body providing oversight and accountability of the single police service. Dr Ali Malik explores the SPA's short history, and sets out recommendations aimed at strengthening the body’s legitimacy and increasing public confidence.

ANALYSIS: Report Watch summarises the main findings of reports that impact on policing and includes responses from the main stakeholders as well as media reaction. Here we take a look at the Scottish Police Federation's Personal Protective Equipment Survey 2017.

Analysis: Criminal justice reform was the subject of a session at this year’s APCC and NPCC Partnership Summit.  There was a consensus that the criminal justice system is dysfunctional and is failing both victims and perpetrators, so is the answer to take more risks?

ANALYSIS: There is copious research about the phenomenon of domestic abuse, but little that is written from a leadership perspective. Dr Linda Reid examines the leadership of domestic abuse in the context of the police and their partners in a large city in the UK. 

ANALYSIS: Report Watch summarises the main findings of reports that impact on policing and includes responses from the main stakeholders as well as media reaction. Here we take a look at Big Brother Watch's report on Police Access to Digital Evidence which examines the effectiveness of current legislation on investigating digital data and levels of police training.

Analysis: Dr Sarah Charman spent four years researching new police recruits. Her findings, published in Police Socialisation, Identity and Culture: Becoming Blue, examines the influences on and changing attitudes of new police recruits at the most formative stage in their career and the implications this has for policing.

Insight: It is often difficult to find an Appropriate Adult, as required under PACE. Sunderland University, in partnership with Northumbria Police and Vera Baird, Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, have developed an innovative solution. Dr Donna Peacock and Dr Faye Cosgrove explain how the scheme works. 

Analysis: Our new 'Report Watch' series summarises the main findings of reports that impact on policing and includes responses from the main stakeholders as well as media reaction. In our first Report Watch, we take a look at HMICFRS's latest progress report on domestic abuse.

Analysis: The new Strategic Principles for Police ICT make good common sense, and are hard to argue against.  We can all agree on the importance of interoperability, good management of data, user-friendliness, and the ability to switch across different platforms.  Efficiency, effectiveness; a rounded view of value for money; future proofing: what’s not to like? Yet the principles also present challenges, and following them will not be straightforward, explains former Greater Manchester Police ACC Ian Wiggett.

Analysis: The recently-published ICT Strategy, drawn up by the National Police Technology Council (NPTC), contains 26 principles designed to guide forces through their approach to ICT. But, when 43 police forces in England and Wales have 2,000 separate ICT systems, can it succeed?

Analysis: Positive information-sharing protocols, closer working relationships with all partners and strong effective leadership are key tackling Child Sexual Exploitation, explains Mark Cooper of GreyMalkin Consulting.

ANALYSIS: The latest PEEL report highlights the complex and significant pressures that policing is under, and acknowledges the difficult decisions that policing has to make. But is HMICFRS really becoming part of the solution, or is the Inspectorate still part of the problem? Policing Insight's Editor Carina O’Reilly analyses the report.

Analysis: The Valuing Victims report by Why me? - the national charity campaigning for greater access to Restorative Justice - has revealed wide variations in PCC spending on RJ schemes. Lucy Jaffe, Director of Why me?  takes a closer look at the figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

ANALYSIS: A recent study of the police’s use of data has found that UK police forces had access to a vast amount of digital data, but lacked the technological capability to use it effectively. Alexander Babuta of the Royal United Services Institute explores the opportunities presented by big data policing technologies, and the organisational barriers that must be overcome to make effective use of them.

ANALYSIS: Crimes recorded by the police are rocketing - yet the Crime Survey of England and Wales shows crime going down. Which is correct? Are they even measuring the same things? Dr Melissa Hamilton of the University of Surrey explains the difference - and what it means for our understanding of crime and police numbers.

Analysis: The launch of HMICFRS’s consultation earlier this month on the long-awaited force management statements sets out its ambition to use them as the basis for a new, risk-based form of inspection. But what will this mean for forces – and HMICFRS? Mark Cooper takes a closer look.

ANALYSIS: There is increasing anecdotal evidence that, for serving officers, morale is as low as it's ever been. But what evidence is there to back this up? Serving officer Gareth Stubbs shows that, for officers who joined at the height of recruitment, promotion opportunities have plummeted even as demand is growing - and warns this is a looming problem that needs to be addressed.

INSIGHT: In the second of a series of articles, Jonathan Rees, owner of Momoho and an expert in developing high-performing teams in the bluelight sector, examines different ways to prioritise your workload.

ANALYSIS: Former Greater Manchester Police ACC Ian Wiggett and Gavin Hales, Associate Fellow at The Police Foundation review the impact of the pre-charge bail reforms implemented in the Policing and Crime Act in April 2017

LONG READ: The experience of terrorist attacks in the US and in Germany shows us how important it is for police and security agencies to share systems. But what can we learn from those countries that have begun the process of harmonising police ICT? In this Long Read,Hans-Jürg Käser of the Swiss Canton of Berne explores what European countries have done towards consolidating police systems and what can be learned.

INSIGHT: Civil Aviation Authority certification is a necessity for commercial drone use. Gary Mason looks into the steps towards gaining these qualifications and what the test actually involves

ANALYSIS: Following the RUSI's publication of a paper on police use of data, Former GMP Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett explores its potential applications and limitations. 

ANALYSIS: The latest of a monthly series in which CoPaCC's Sandra Andrews takes a look at some of the most interesting and topical issues that Police and Crime Panels across England and Wales are dealing with. This month, Sandra looks at the use of artificial intelligence, and Durham Constabulary's development of the Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART).

Insight: West Midlands Police launched Operation Close Pass last year to combat the problem of drivers driving too close to cyclists when overtaking them. A year on, the force has seen a 20 per cent drop in cyclists killed or seriously injured, but, as Policing Insight discovered, it has resulted in other unforeseen benefits.