It was hugely encouraging – and only a touch daunting – to read last week’s farewell piece by Tina Orr Munro, after three and half years editing Policing Insight.
Encouraging because, as she notes, when she took the helm back in 2016, the world was a different place – albeit no less uncertain – and UK policing faced new tests and threats.
That policing has been largely able to rise to those challenges, meet them head on, and move on to the next one, is testament to the quality of the men and women around the world involved in law enforcement.
From the unknown implications of Brexit, to the ongoing impact of continuing austerity, the advances in technology – both for policing and criminal use – and the changing nature of crime, it was clear that law enforcement faced some tough challenges.
That policing has been largely able to rise to those challenges, meet them head on, and move on to the next one, is testament to the quality of the men and women around the world involved in law enforcement and the wider criminal justice system.
The fact that over the same period, Policing Insight was able to share their stories, highlight best practice, promote academic research and recognise outstanding achievement is testament to Tina and the team around her.
Challenges moving forward
Moving forward, it’s clear that policing faces as many challenges, as much change, and hopefully as many opportunities today as it has ever done. One slight difference is the increasingly international nature of some of those challenges.
While transnational crime has long been recognised as a growing concern, the global nature of policing the COVID-19 pandemic is something new for all of us. So too has been the widespread international protest movement around racial inequality and discrimination in policing.
These are relatively recent arrivals on the policing landscape, but they now sit alongside rather than replace the existing issues – with everything from violent and sexual crime, drugs, terrorism and cyber crime to governance, leadership, advances in technology and a myriad of other matters all representing challenges for policing around the world.
Policing Insight’s strength has been in recognising those challenges, and in providing a platform for the issues to be analysed and expert opinion to be shared and debated.
Our ability to do so has been founded on the strong relationships built with experts in a wide range of sectors – including academic, policing, private and public sector – their willingness to contribute to the site, and the active engagement of our registered users and subscribers.
Engaging, thought provoking and informative
So my challenge is fairly simple. To continue to build on the work done by Tina and the team, to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones, to encourage contributions and participation from as wide a network as possible (both in specialism and location), and to make sure that what we publish is as engaging, thought provoking and informative as possible.
Whatever your specialist area – from leadership skills to transformational change, software to stop and search, drug testing to domestic violence, and everything in between – we would value your contribution.
This is only daunting because to date, Tina has managed to do this so well. And it’s probably wrong to label her article last week as a farewell; it may have been au revoir, but I’m assured it certainly wasn’t goodbye, and that she will continue to contribute to Policing Insight alongside her own projects in the future.
For my part, I’m certainly inspired by the warm welcome I’ve already received from so many contacts, site users and contributors, and I look forward to building working relationships with many more of you. And more than anything else, I want to encourage you to share your views, experience and expertise.
Whatever your specialist area – from leadership skills to transformational change, software to stop and search, drug testing to domestic violence, and everything in between – we would value your contribution.
Contact me at [email protected], and I look forward to hearing from and working with many more of you over the coming weeks and months.
