Interview

INTERVIEW: A new report from the UK’s National Rural Crime Network has highlighted the role of organised crime in many of the machinery thefts devastating farming communities; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Northumbria Police Superintendent Andy Huddlestone, head of the National Rural Crime Unit, about the need for better data sharing, more resources, and greater prioritisation by forces to tackle a growing crime trend.

ANALYSIS: New research by community safety professional Abu Ullah into the incidence of violence against women and girls in the London Borough of Sutton has highlighted the need for an evidence-based approach targeting hotspots to gain the most effective outcomes from overstretched police resources and reduce the threat to females, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime (OC), Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to Chris Dalby, Director of OC publishing platform World of Crime, about why the age of the cartel may be coming to an end, how education could be the biggest weapon in the fight against organised crime, and the fact that many of those involved in organised crime would rather have a house, family and a middle-class lifestyle.

INNOVATION: As part of a wider initiative to tackle violence in the night-time economy, West Yorkshire Police has used targeted social media campaigns appearing on mobile devices, with impressive results; as other forces look to learn from West Yorkshire’s success, Ch Insp James Kitchen spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the thinking behind the project, and how similar approaches could offer potential in tackling other challenges.

INTERVIEW: Victoria Police Detective Sergeant Peter Romanis believes that ‘compassion fatigue’ – a combination of accumulated secondary traumatic stress and burnout – poses the most significant threat to the mental health of emergency services workers, and hope a new report detailing the findings of his research into the issue will prove beneficial to officers and staff, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: Chief constables in England and Wales are planning a strategy to promote policing history and say it will link to the National Police Race Action Plan and their work to prevent violence against women and girls; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass spoke to national lead on police heritage Peter Gillett and other experts to explore the issue.

INTERVIEW: This month Avon and Somerset Police became the first UK force to launch an advocacy service for victims and witnesses of sexual misconduct within the workplace; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Vicki Moore, the force’s first Sexual Misconduct Liaison Officer, about the support that will be available to those reporting misconduct, the benefits to public trust and confidence, and the potential to expand the service to more issues.

INTERVIEW: With forces facing a range of competing priorities in fighting crime, a dedicated high-harm fraud unit set up by Thames Valley Police is supporting victims and securing convictions against fraudsters targeting vulnerable elderly people with romance and courier fraud, as DI Duncan Wynn explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: In the second of two interviews with long-serving police and crime commissioners ahead of next week’s elections, Hertfordshire Conservative PCC David Lloyd spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about putting victims “at the centre of everything we do”, how officers are now “far closer to society than they were”, and made the case for new PCCs to “be joyful and do the little things”.

INTERVIEW: Voters in England and Wales go to the polls next week in the police and crime commissioner (PCC) elections; in the first of two interviews with long-serving PCCs now stepping down, Labour PCC for South Wales Alun Michael spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the risk of “hubris” among chief constables, why the PCC-chief relationship “shouldn’t be too comfortable”, and his reflections on 12 years as a PCC and 50 years as an elected politician.

FEATURE: A survey carried out as part of November’s Investigator Wellbeing Week of Action has highlighted the need for improved localised support as well as concerns that seeking help can negatively impact career prospects; Policing Insight's Sarah Gibbons spoke to NPCC programme manager Sarah-Jayne Bray and national Investigator Wellbeing lead, Det Ch Supt Martin Brunning, about the findings and what more forces should be doing.

INTERVIEW: This month saw the launch of the new Inspectorate of Policing and the appointment of the first Inspector General (IG) of Policing for Ontario; Ryan Teschner, who has taken up the IG role, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the background to the changes, what he is hoping to achieve, and the potential benefits of improved oversight of policing in the province.

ANALYSIS: With violence reduction units set to be expanded across all of England and Wales, Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass spoke to several of those involved in the work to date, asking how we will know when they’ve really been successful and what practitioners in the new areas will need to know.

INTERVIEW: Following an article in Policing Insight in 2018, Cambridge University PhD Researcher Emily Quin began exploring the idea of the ‘copper’s nose’, and how any policing ‘sixth sense’ could be defined and measured; she spoke to Policing Insight’s Martin Gallagher – author of the original piece – about her work so far, the importance of talking directly to officers, and what the eventual findings could mean for policing.

INTERVIEW: The New Blue fellowship programme in the US is looking to empower “forward-thinking” front-line officers with the skills, awareness and support to develop innovative solutions around engagement and public trust that can address issues identified in the communities they serve, as programme Executive Director Kristin Daley explained to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend.

INTERVIEW: With heightened tensions over conflict in the Middle East, and significant increases in hate crime in the UK, new National Police Chaplain Matt Hopley believes police chaplains have a vital role to play not only in supporting officers, staff and volunteers, but in providing a valuable conduit between policing and communities, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: In this second half of a two-part interview, City of London Police Temporary Commissioner Peter O’Doherty spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the challenges posed by fraud and cybercrime, the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence and a national approach to new technology, and why the Police Service of Northern Ireland data breach has implications for all forces.

INTERVIEW: The ‘degree-entry’ debate can often be too focused on England and Wales, but research from former police officer turned academic Dr Andy Tatnell doesn’t have that problem; his thesis looks at the interesting differences in how Scotland, Sweden and Finland handle the complex work of training up their new frontline cops, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

INTERVIEW: In this first in a two-part interview, City of London Police Temporary Commissioner Peter O’Doherty spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the unique challenges of policing London’s Square Mile, efforts to rebuild trust and confidence with the public, and his personal reflections on taking over a major force for the first time.

INTERVIEW: Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the abuse he’s suffered during his first term – including a shocking threat to his life that made him question whether to continue as a PCC at all – and his desire to help the force reach its full potential.

INTERVIEW: In the second part of Policing Insight’s interview with Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Sarah Crew, she spoke to James Sweetland about the controversial incidents around issues of race explored in the TV series To Catch a Copper, and her own views expressed last year that the force is institutionally racist.

FEATURE: This month will see 34 forces across England and Wales joint community and business partners to take part in a series of Safer Business Action days to tackle the significant increase in retail theft and violence against shop workers – an initiative which is also set to be expanded to include the night-time economy, as National Business Crime Centre Lead Supt Patrick Holdaway explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: Channel 4’s To Catch a Copper series revealed shocking incidents of misconduct in Avon and Somerset Police; in a two-part interview with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, Chief Constable Sarah Crew talks about why she let the cameras in, footage of misconduct by officers that left her feeling “horrified” and “exhausted”, and her views about institutional racism.

FEATURE: Former senior Sussex detective Alison Eaton, and former Cheshire detective Chris Howarth, are working with the Ministry of Defence’s British Peace Support Team (Africa) to deliver ‘train the trainer’ programmes that will help to improve investigative and interviewing skills for officers in sexual and gender-based violence cases in post-conflict countries, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.