Opinion

OPINION: The recent killing of London schoolgirl Elianne Andam, who died after being stabbed on a Croydon street while on her way to school, has once again prompted lengthy debate around knife crime; former police officer Oliver Laurence, who grew up in Croydon, shares his thoughts on what can be done to tackle the crisis – including listening to the views of those with first-hand experience of knife crime in their community, such as AJ Wright.

ANALYSIS: Deploying ‘mixed’ squads consisting of police officers and healthcare or social workers is an approach that has been used in responding to the homeless and those in mental health crises in a number of countries; but new Canadian research by Concordia University Professor Ted Rutland and Karl Beaulieu, Université du Québec à Montréal PhD researcher, suggest that in the case of ‘unhoused people’, far from improving the situation it’s an approach that is creating more harm.

OPINION: While Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) have been in existence for several decades, modern technology to clone VINs for stolen cars, ‘title wash’ damaged vehicles and create fraudulent records has contributed to Canada’s growing car theft problem; Vernon White, former Chief of Police for Ottawa Police Service, and Joe Carlebach, former Hammersmith and Fulham councillor, argue that provincial governments have a key role to play in tackling this issue through physical VIN verification services.

INTERVIEW: The University of Tennessee’s Law Enforcement Innovation Center (LEIC) established a global reputation for forensics training, but more recently has become recognised for innovative approaches to issues including leadership, communications and culture; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to LEIC Training Specialist Jeff Hundley about the institution’s evolution, training challenges, and its student demographic.

OPINION: The UK’s Online Safety Bill recently passed the final stages of Parliamentary debate, and is now set to become law, but the legislation alone will not address all the challenges around online child sexual abuse; Simon Bailey, Chair of the Policing Institute for the Eastern Region and former National Police Chiefs’ Council Child Protection Lead, warns that big tech must take greater responsibility in keeping children safe online – and that we all have a part to play.

ANALYSIS: Historically low reporting and conviction rates for rape and sexual assault in the UK and elsewhere remain a significant cause for concern; Pragya Agarwal, Visiting Professor of Social Inequities and Injustice at Loughborough University, believes that proper training in rape myths – and greater awareness for officers and juries around unconscious biases against sexual assault survivors – are essential if women are to trust the system enough to report more offences.

OPINION: As the opioid crisis continues to grow in countries around the world, more police forces in the UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere are looking to equip officers with overdose reversal medication naloxone to save lives; Vernon White, former Chief of Police for Ottawa Police Service, and Joe Carlebach, former Hammersmith and Fulham councillor, argue that with enforcement showing little signs of ending the opioid crisis in the near future, naloxone should become standard issue for officers.

FEATURE: The policing of public demonstrations puts police officers under considerable scrutiny, particularly in light of recent tactics by demonstrators; ahead of two public order policing workshops to be hosted by the London Policing College in October, former Metropolitan Police Commander and workshop chair Roger Gomm looks at the main issues surrounding public order policing, with a particular focus on the importance of communications in ensuring peaceful and successful outcomes.

OPINION: CANADA: As calls for ‘defund the police’ switch to ‘refund the police’ in priority areas, Dr N Zoe Hilton, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Dr Sandy Jung, Professor of Psychology at MacEwan University, argue that police-researcher partnerships are needed now more than ever, and could be particularly beneficial in developing and implementing the assessment tools to tackle intimate partner violence and coercive control.

OPINION: Vernon White, former Chief of Police for Ottawa Police Service, and Joe Carlebach, former Hammersmith and Fulham councillor, have previously argued that establishing a college of policing for Canada – similar to the UK College of Policing – could help to create standards and professionalise the policing role; in this second article they look more closely at the UK experience, and suggest where the College of Policing could be doing more to improve law enforcement agencies and the service they deliver.

OPINION: The recent directive from UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman calling for a review of police officers’ political activism is the latest salvo in a much wider conversation about so-called ‘woke’ policing; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a former long-serving police officer, looks at the origins of the term ‘woke’, its relevance to policing, and how the service has been affected by increased politicisation.

OPINION: The idea of a ‘policing culture’ and how it can be improved is a concept that regularly features in research, reviews and the media; University of Derby Policing Lecturer Tom Andrews explores why policing culture – like any other – can be slow to change, and what individual officers can do to help bring about that change.

OPINION: Improving system interoperability has been something of a technology holy grail for UK policing, and key to overcoming the frustrations felt by frontline officers as well as operational ineffectiveness and inefficiency; Wayne Parkes, former Chief Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Officer for the Police Digital Service and now a DDaT policing consultant, believes the wider adoption of Integration Platform-as-a-Service (IPaaS) could be the solution.

OPINION: Earlier this year British Columbia began Canada’s first drug ‘decriminalisation’ policy, removing criminal sanctions for adults in possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs; but research scientist Dr Kanna Hayashi, an Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University, warns that while police continue to seize drugs even when users aren’t charged with offences, toxic drug deaths will remain a major problem.

OPINION: In September 2022, Sir Mark Rowley came back into policing after some time away from the job at the end of a 30-year career, to take up one of the UK’s toughest roles as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, who served in the Met Police for 30 years, looks back over Sir Mark’s first year in post, and delivers an annual appraisal of how well the Commissioner has performed against his stated objectives.

OPINION: While police officers accept and understand the physical dangers of the job, David Marshall, a serving officer and part-time policing lecturer and PhD researcher, believes that the constant negative rhetoric, public disdain and media criticism around policing – exacerbated by a lack of effective leadership – is leaving officers exposed to even greater levels of psychological danger and harm to mental health that are fuelling high attrition rates. 

ANALYSIS: Earlier this month the Australian Government released new action plans to end violence against women and children, including the first dedicated to addressing violence against women and children in First Nations communities; Monash University Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Associate Professor Marie Segrave, and Griffith University Professor Silke Meyer, explore the aims of the plans, how their progress will be measured, and what is needed to ensure effective change and a reduction in violence.

OPINION: The police use of live facial recognition (LFR) regularly comes under scrutiny because of privacy, accuracy and surveillance concerns; but Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI, Disruptive Innovation, and Law at Brunel University, argues that rather than banning LFR, more effective regulation of its use would address concerns while enhancing public safety.

INNOVATION: The difficulties in securing evidence – particularly from digital devices – for offences relating to violence against women and girls are often cited as a contributing factor for the worryingly low reporting, detection and conviction rates; police technology advisor Paul Kennedy and technology CEO Simon Franc believe cloud-based ‘software-as-a-service’ platforms which enable victims to upload evidence via an app could improve detection and conviction rates will freeing up police resources.

OPINION: A series of high-profile cases involving bullying, harassment and sexual abuse have seen the Royal Canadian Mounted Police the focus of strong criticism; following the most recent case, Adler University Associate Professor Jason Walker believes it is time to abandon the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution (ICHR) – the body set up to investigate such cases – in favour of more decisive action, both for the RCMP and law enforcement agencies around the world.

OPINION: An arrest earlier this month of an autistic 16-year-old girl by officers in West Yorkshire for a suspected ‘homophobic public order offence’ received widespread attention after her mother posted a video of the incident; University of Hull Policing Degree Programme Director and former officer Mike McKue, and Senior Lecturer in Criminology Dr Meron Wondemaghen, believe more police training in understanding and responding to neurodiversity can improve trust in policing and reduce harm.

OPINION: The recent trial and conviction in the UK of nurse Lucy Letby, who was found guilty of multiple child murders and attempted murders, has horrified the country, and prompted many questions about the trial process and why her actions weren’t identified and prevented sooner; former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher believes some of those questions are pertinent both for policing and the wider criminal justice system.

FEATURE: Earlier this month WeCops – ‘the Twitter home of continuous professional development for policing’ – held its latest Tweet chat event focusing on communications, hosted by West Mercia Chief Constable and NPCC comms lead Pippa Mills; WeCops’ Sgt Kerri Monaghan looks at the key points and comments made during the discussion, and highlights some of the potential learning that resulted from the chat.

OPINION: Earlier this month the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) published its security threat assessment – the first time the public has had access to the information; University of Waikato Professor of Law Alexander Gillespie argues that while the threat assessment makes for welcome but occasionally unsettling reading, having such conversations in the open demystifies aspects of national security.