Innovation

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens explores the options and opportunities for introducing a risk matrix for AI policies in police departments that can ensure transparency, accountability, and public trust.

FEATURE: Last week’s Global Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) Conference, supported by Policing Insight as media partner, saw pioneers of the evidence-based approach gather in Melbourne to share insights and best practice, as well as signing a new memorandum of understanding between EBP societies in six countries that could lay the foundations for greater global collaboration and co-operation, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: Terrorist organisations are turning to small hosting service providers (HSPs) with less capacity and capability to prevent the spread of extremism on their platforms. Policing Insight's Andy Staniforth reports on TATE, an initiative specifically designed to help HSPs remove terrorist content quickly.

INNOVATION: New 360-degree camera technology is enabling jurors, lawyers and investigators to get a better, more immersive understanding of crime scenes, while also providing video tours with audio commentary to explain key locations of interest, as DC Simon Chamberlain explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INNOVATION: While artificial intelligence (AI) clearly offers significant opportunities for policing, it also comes with inherent risks and concerns; Dr Fatema Zaghloul, Lecturer in Business Analytics at the University of Bristol, and Justin Partridge, Postgraduate Researcher at Leeds University Business School, explore the benefits and challenges of AI in policing, and why it’s essential for policing to shape policies that promote transparency and responsible use of the new technology.

INNOVATION: A successful pilot project using artificial intelligence to support call handlers answering domestic abuse calls in Humberside Police – which increased both officer and public safety, improved evidence and reduced staff stress – could now be applied to other crime types within the force as well as being scaled up nationally, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: Advances in the application of artificial intelligence and other new technology have huge potential for transforming the criminal justice system in areas such as video redaction, risk assessment and forensic biotechnology; Simon Randall, CEO of privacy and security specialists Pimloc, explores some of those opportunities to increase effectiveness, as well as the challenges the new tech presents.

FEATURE: Crimes in the metaverse may be taking place in a virtual reality, but their impact can be felt in the real world; Griffith University Lecturer Dr Ausma Bernot, Lecturer Dr Kai Lin of the University of Technology Sydney, Charles Sturt University Lecturer Dr Milind Tiwari, and Assistant Lecturer You Zhou of Monash University, explore what ‘metacrimes’ are, and what steps can be taken to tackle them.

ANALYSIS: In the third in a series of four articles, Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood explores the issues around police leadership, why traditional approaches can lead to low morale and toxic work environments, and how adopting and implementing transformational leadership practices can deliver benefits for officers and the communities they serve.

INNOVATION: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to have a major impact on the delivery of UK policing, and the environment necessary to encourage creativity and innovation that will make the best use of the technology.

INNOVATION: As advances in technology bring huge potential into forensic investigation, Shashi Angadi, Chief Technology Officer of data software specialists Exterro, explores the fascinating world of forensic science and how advanced software and tools are making crime-solving faster, more accurate, and much more collaborative.

INTERVIEW: The UK’s first counter-terrorism (CT) graduate scheme officially launched earlier this year, with new officers set to enter CT roles with the Met Police within just two years; in the first of a two-part series, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke with Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s CT Command, and Police Now CEO Kurtis Christoforides, to understand more about this innovative new approach.

INNOVATION: With the police response to those in mental health crisis coming increasingly under focus, Brunel University’s Amy Everitt, and Dr Cody Porter and Dr Paul Gavin from UWE Bristol, highlight the key elements of a new multi-agency training approach held at Brunel University earlier this year, providing real-world immersive scenarios as well as expert insight for frontline emergency responders.

INNOVATION: With the opportunities offered to policing by artificial intelligence (AI) a key conversation at the recent Cumberland Lodge Police Conference, Martin Taylor, Deputy Chief Executive of Content Guru, explores the potential for AI to enhance the delivery of services by policing, and the importance of reframing and redefining the debate around this new technology.

INNOVATION: From advanced surveillance and data analytics to facial recognition and collars that can detect ‘anti-predation’ behaviour in farm animals sparked by the actions of livestock thieves, a recent online roundtable involving policing, academic and farming stakeholders highlighted the importance of agricultural technology – coupled with traditional policing methods – in tackling rural crime, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Policing Insight’s recent ‘Facing the future: the rise of facial recognition in policing’ report drew on 34 interviews with operational leaders and experts to examine how facial recognition (FR) is being used by police around the world, and the key debates about the technology; as part of the project, James Sweetland interviewed Lindsey Chiswick, Metropolitan Police Director of Intelligence and National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead on FR, about the British approach, and in this article we share more of that insightful conversation.

INNOVATION: For more than 40 years the UK’s renowned Cumberland Lodge policing conference has convened an influential, cross-sector gathering of speakers and delegates to stimulate fresh thinking on key issues in policing; in this article, the Police Foundation’s Ruth Halkon and Andy Higgins present the highlights from this year’s event.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens explains why he believes that police departments should avoid labelling AI transcription of body cam footage as report writing.

INNOVATION: New technology using artificial intelligence to extract data from mobile phones is being used by Northamptonshire Police to enable officers to be “digitally advanced”, improve investigations, and save hundreds of officer hours in court, as Sgt Jason Cullum, the force’s Head of Innovation, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INNOVATION: Given the complex nature of policing, the diversity communities policed, the range of partner agencies and the multiple sources of records and information, creating accurate data for modelling new systems and scenarios without using real-world cases can present a major challenge; data and geospatial intelligence specialist Ian Oldfield, who spent more than 28 years as a police officer, explains the importance and benefits of synthetic police data.

INNOVATION: While special constables and volunteers are a well-established part of British policing, many won’t be aware of their cyber equivalent; Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke to the National Police Chiefs’ Council team co-ordinating the network of Cyber Digital Specials and Volunteers across England and Wales, including an exclusive interview with a cyber volunteer active today.

ANALYSIS: Cityforum’s Transforming Police Public Contact roundtable that took place earlier this year saw representatives from policing, government, academia and industry follow up from the 2023 event to once again debate the key issues around police public contact; this article by Nick Gargan, based on his report of the roundtable, brings together the key contributions and perspectives from the event.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens explores how this new technology can be used to improve officers’ decision-making in particularly complex and stressful situations such as the use of force.

FEATURE: Military services details, favourite places, and engagement with support groups are among the details of armed forces veterans entered on a new database under the Forcer Protocol, an approach pioneered by Greater Manchester Police to improve the search outcomes for veterans reported missing, as GMP’s Chief Inspector Mark Mangnall explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.