Features

OPINION: A judgment delivered this week by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which found that a strip search carried out by New South Wales Police of festival goer Raya Meredith (the lead plaintiff in a class action) was unlawful, could have significant implications for the way police across Australia carry out strip searches, says UNSW Associate Professor and Senior Law Lecturer, Dr Vicki Sentas.

FEATURE: A report from the Centre for Women’s justice is warning that UK victims and survivors of coercive control are being failed by a criminal justice system that “compounds the damage already caused” and “effectively extends the perpetrator’s abuse”; the report also calls for a statutory defence similar to that provided for human trafficking victims under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: With officers in the UK often placed in an untenable position by activists and others weaponising the complaints process in relation to a wide range of operational decisions – including the investigation of online posts – former West Midlands Sergeant Phil Cleary, co-founder of SmartWater and now a published novelist, argues that it’s time for Parliament to act to narrow the scope of referable complaints to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, enabling officers to return to exercising discretion.

FEATURE: The recent arrest in Qatar of one of Canada’s most wanted fugitives highlighted the value of the INTERPOL Red Notice system; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explores how Red Notices work, the level of co-operation required from law enforcement agencies in different international jurisdictions, and why police and border staff need to keep up to date with the active Red Notices.

INNOVATION: Waterloo Regional Police Service has become the first police force in Canada to adopt the stratified policing model, encouraging officers to change their focus to targeted crime suppression and prevention while increasing accountability at all levels and improving community engagement and multi-agency partnerships, as Deputy Chief Jen Davis told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: As the College of Policing launches new guidance for professional reviews, Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh spoke to Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass about the importance of regular dialogue with line managers, including how his own helped him stay in the job during a battle against cancer.

INSIGHT: The Australia New Zealand Principles for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Policing, published recently by the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA), embrace “collaboration, evidence-informed practice, and shared accountability” to provide an actionable, proactive framework for a “modern, resilient, and mentally healthy policing environment”, as ANZPAA Assistant Director of Policy and Projects Jacqueline Durand explains.

FEATURE: The latest report from the Social Market Foundation into the UK’s approach to tackling serious and organised crime (SOC) urges the Government to draw up a new strategy to meet the challenge of SOC, ensure the organised crime threat receives a higher priority, and increase resources and support for the National Crime Agency which currently performs poorly in comparison with FBI counterparts because of underfunding, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: A new study on organised crime in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), published by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime, highlights the region’s growing role as a major hub, source and transit zone for the trafficking of drugs, minerals, people and wildlife products, to markets stretching from Europe to Australia as well as within ESA itself, as Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen reports.

FEATURE: The latest review of Queensland Police Service watch-houses – buildings designed to offer temporary accommodation for prisoners before transfer to prison or court – has highlighted increased stress and injury for staff due to poor working conditions, and facilities in widespread disrepair leading to damaging impacts on the health and wellbeing of detainees, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A new report suggests that tackling violence as a public health issue, and developing preventative, health-based interventions for children and young people, can save significant long-term funds across criminal justice, health, and education, and help to break cycles of crime and harm, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: The recent ‘Unite The Kingdom’ march in central London – the largest demonstration in the city organised by right-wing groups, and the biggest protest in the capital for nearly two years – led to 24 arrests on the day (others are likely to follow), 26 officers injured, and violent confrontations with counter-protestors; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a former Metropolitan Police officer and public order specialist, looks at the challenges around the policing operation, and lessons for the future.

OPINION: Increases in knife-crime offences have prompted calls for the introduction of Jack’s Law in Victoria, an approach enabling police to carry out random ‘wanding’ searches for weapons that is already in place in several Australian states including Queensland and New South Wales; but Criminology Senior Lecturer Dr Joel McGregor of Swinburne University of Technology argues that research suggests the approach has little benefit, and that addressing prevention and support would be more effective.

FEATURE: The recent completion of the two-year EU PRECRISIS project has culminated in the publication of a series of operational briefings designed to “inform and add value” to all stakeholders engaged in delivering safety and security at public spaces, including law enforcement, other first responders, local authorities and urban developers, as well as private-sector partners, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

PSA CONFERENCE: Recent research among superintending ranks in England and Wales has highlighted worrying levels of poor psychological wellbeing and increasing mental health sick leave; but Police Superintendents’ Association President, Superintendent Nick Smart, warns that while good welfare provision should be the norm, the continuing “austerity” levels of funding mean that support is a “postcode lottery” and the lack of resources is adding to already unmanageable workloads, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a short series of interviews sharing the views and achievements of recent winners of International Association of Women Police awards, Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Greater Manchester Police Detective Inspector Anna Rickards, whose experiences of combining a policing career with motherhood prompted her drive to change the culture around part-time roles, improve service flexibility and mentor women into senior roles – for which she recently received the IAWP Inspiration Award.

ANALYSIS: The South Caucasus region of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia is increasingly becoming a hub for organised crime networks spanning borders between Europe, Eurasia and beyond, warns a new study from the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime, with the region’s ports and borders also being used by both organised crime and licit trade to beat sanctions imposed on Russia, as Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen reports.

FEATURE: The standard of crime recording for forces across England and Wales has improved significantly over the past decade, according to the latest report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services – but there are still concerns around violent and anti-social crime statistics, over-recording, and the use of N100 reports in relation to unconfirmed rapes and attempted rapes, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: In the second in a short series of interviews sharing the views and achievements of recent winners of International Association of Women Police awards, Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to former Vancouver PD Detective Constable Maire Kenny about her role in developing a pilot programme supporting indigenous victims of intimate partner violence – against a backdrop of decades of distrust of policing – which saw a surge in reporting and a strengthening of community relationships.

PSA CONFERENCE: Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA) President Superintendent Nick Smart called on the Government to embark on significant reform of the service in England and Wales and “redefine the policing mission” during his speech to the PSA annual conference – comments that were echoed by National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, who said that “bold and ambitious” reform was now an “urgent” requirement, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: The recent use of live facial recognition (LFR) by the Metropolitan Police at Notting Hill Carnival brought the new technology back under the spotlight; Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI, Disruptive Innovation and Law at Brunel University of London, argues that LFR is here to stay, and rather than “pushing unrealistic proposals of bans or moratoriums”, the debate should be weighing the trade-offs between human rights and public safety to ensure the proportionate use of the technology.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC’s) Annual Crime Survey, published earlier in the year, makes for grim reading. Retailers report a sharp increase in theft, and acts of violence and abuse are up a staggering 340 percent (since 2020) as well. These trends are occurring in spite of huge retail security investments, new policing initiatives, and legislative changes put in place by the UK government to bolster the prosecution of retail crime.

FEATURE: A report into the organised ritual abuse of children and adults in England and Wales is warning of the considerable barriers to reporting abuse involving multiple offenders acting in concert to terrorise victims, and that the limited number of detections and convictions for such offences is likely to be the “tip of the iceberg”, suggesting that policing and other agencies need to take seriously “the prospect of multiple undetected homicides”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The growing Chinese policing influence and presence in Solomon Islands, including a law enforcement approach that focuses more on controlling communities than serving them, should raise concerns for Australia and its partners about what kind of policing model will define the Pacific’s future, warn Dr John Coyne and Raelene Lockhorst of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).