Opinion

OPINION: The number of rapes reported has soared but convictions are at an all-time low. Ian Wiggett highlights the challenges of a Crown Prosecution Service under pressure, growing demands of disclosure in a digital world and police forces struggling with demand and a shortage of resources.

OPINION: Racial disparities in stop and search has hit the headlines once again in response to an upsurge in violent crime. Dr Rashid Minhas of the University of West London suggests that a lack of diversity in police forces themselves could be contributing to the difference in experiences of stop and search.

Interview: In the second part of our exclusive interview, former Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Jon Boutcher talks about his current role leading the independent investigation into the activities of ‘Stakeknife’, a state agent involved in kidnap, torture and murder by the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland in the 1980s.

Opinion: Home Secretary Priti Patel recently announced section 60 Stop and Search powers would be relaxed to make the process quicker and more effective. Stop and Search Lead and Chair of Bedfordshire Community Scrutiny Panel Montell Neufville questions this approach along with other 'myths' surrounding stop and search.

INTERVIEW: As terrorists continue to hijack social media to recruit and spread propaganda, cyber terrorism expert Professor Stuart Macdonald tells Policing Insight how terrorists are exploiting smaller platforms and the continuing challenges social media companies face in removing online terrorist content.

Opinion: In a deeply personal account, Australian-based nurse and Mental Health Champion Melissa Gole talks honestly and openly about the impact of living with her partner, a police officer who suffered PTSD after a counter-terror incident, and what helped her through the experience.

Interview: In the first of an exclusive two-part interview, newly-retired Bedfordshire Chief Constable Jon Boutcher tells Policing Insight why race has to be a priority for policing and why, as a 28-year career detective, he’s backing direct entry detective schemes.

OPINION: Machine learning has tremendous possibilities for the police. However, badly used, it could be as controversial as Stop and Search. Paul McFarlane, Senior Teaching Fellow in Security and Crime Science at UCL, argues that the police must avoid 'black box' systems to be accountable for the decisions that algorithms suggest.

interview: A new company has been launched by three UK former senior officers which delivers training in British community policing techniques to police forces around the world. Policing Insight spoke to one of its directors, former Northumbria Police ACC Timothy Shilston, about the international appetite for British policing models.

insight: When examining police suicides, accurate data is hard to come by in the UK and other countries, making it difficult to understand the scale of the problem, but Mightify's Tom Wheelhouse says it's time to take trauma more seriously which means offering support from day one of a person's policing career.

Opinion: Current and newly-retired officers will be able to gain a BSc (Hons) in Policing Studies after completing a one-year 'top-up course' at the University of East London. Director of Policing at the UEL's Centre of Professional Policing (CoPP) and former police officer Dr Sarah Jane Fox explains why it is important that, as the new degree entry scheme comes into being, 'no-one gets left behind'.

insight: As the largest ever haul of heroin is seized in the UK this week, Policing Insight's Keith Potter reports on Deputy Director Investigations at the National Crime Agency Matt Horne's Police Governance Summit presentation on the continuing threat of serious organised crime, hostile states and the importance of a collaborative approach to catching organised criminal groups.

OPINION: HMICFRS and HMICS today published "Leading Lights", their report on selection and development of chief officers. CoPaCC CEO Bernard Rix, Publisher of Policing Insight and Founder of the World Class Policing Awards, sets out how UK policing can (and should) look to learn from good and best practice both overseas and from other disciplines - and vice versa.

Opinion: Police forces gather vast amounts of data, but have yet to unlock the opportunities this presents in delivering business efficiency. Managing Consultant for the Home Affairs and Justice team at Capgemini Jamie Robinson outlines the key areas forces should consider if they are to exploit the full potential of their data.

Opinion: CoPaCC Director Dr Steve Watts attends the National Policing Summit in Melbourne, Australia on behalf of Policing Insight and discovers that while good policing is the same the world over in protecting communities, Australia is taking an innovative approach to some familiar issues.

Opinion: The announcement of 20,000 extra officers is welcome news, but Managing Partner for Chaucer Digital Richard Thwaite says the new officers must be supported by a huge investment in back-end technology.

Opinion: Police recruitment methods have failed to deliver on diversity. With 20,000 new police officers about to join the service, Chartered Psychologist Dr Pete Jones, who specialises in implicit bias around recruitment selection and assessment, warns the service not to squander this 'once in a generation' opportunity to get it right.

INSIGHT: EXCLUSIVE: Kent's Chief Constable Alan Pughsley discusses his decision to issue Tasers to all police officers in the county - including, in a national first, to Special Constables, the first of whom are already undergoing training.

Comment: The number of potential trafficking and modern slavery victims reported to UK authorities last year rose by 36 per cent, according to National Crime Agency figures. Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth argues that with new trends emerging we must work closely with other European agencies to tackle the problem at all points in the process: origin, transit and destination country.

Interview: As the N8 Policing Research Partnership celebrates its fifth anniversary, Director Professor Adam Crawford explains to Policing Insight the key successes of co-produced research with police officers, and outlines the challenges that lie ahead for sustaining collaborative police and academic research partnerships.

OPINION: Dissatisfaction with Police ICT is back in the news after Greater Manchester Police officers and staff voiced concerns about a major new system rolled out by the force. Former Greater Manchester Police ACC Ian Wiggett examines the challenges inherent in implementing a new police ICT system revealing that, regardless of the system, the grass isn't necessarily greener in other forces.

OPINION: The expansion of the policing task in recent decades has seen the police become the service of first resort for many social ills. Serving officer Martin Gallagher warns this is damaging police capacity, and calls for a retrenchment of policing away from issues of social cohesion to focus instead on crime.

Opinion: The MPS is the first force to be issued an Enforcement Notice under the Data Protection Act 2018 but, warns Owen Sayers, an enterprise architect, privacy and security specialist with thirty years' experience in the CJS, it is unlikely to be the last. Here he examines Enforcement Notices in detail outlining what they mean for all police forces.

Opinion: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is working with the MPS to clear a large backlog of requests for personal information after the force was issued with two Enforcement Notices for failing to respond within the allotted time. ICO Director of Data Protection Complaints and Compliance Suzanne Gordon offers practical advice to ensure forces meet their data protection obligations.