Features

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: We announce the 26 finalists crowned winners and highly commended across 13 award categories at the Inspire Justice Awards 2024 ceremony supported by Policing Insight as media partner.

ANALYSIS: The recent signing of an EU convention on artificial intelligence (AI) brought the full implementation of the EU AI Act a step closer; but as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, exceptions to the regulations called for by European police chiefs have been agreed in principle by legislators, and should reflect the need to respect the confidentiality of sensitive operational data.

SERIES LAUNCH: We are pleased to announce the launch of the latest series of The Police Student, supporting degree-entry recruits to the police service. This new series looks at the way that our criminal justice system works, why it works the way that it does, and why that matters for student police officers.

FEATURE: In the first in a new chapter in The Police Student series, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O'Reilly sets out the key issues for this chapter – how our criminal justice system works, why it works the way that it does, is it fulfilling its purposes, and why that matters for student police officers.

FEATURE: The early release of 2,000 prisoners in England and Wales sparked a furore in the media which pointed to a criminal justice system on its knees, but many of those within the system know it has long been failing victims, witnesses and defendants; despite the challenges, Leicestershire Chief Constable Rob Nixon, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Criminal Justice, told delegates at the recent Police Superintendents’ Association conference that there is cause for optimism, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

INTERVIEW: Former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner and National Police Chief’s Council Lead for Counter-Terrorism Policing Neil Basu QPM is one of the country’s most outspoken former senior cops; in the final part of a series of interviews with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, he discussed institutional racism – what chief constables really think about this contentious label, the “utterly ineffective and utterly ignored” Police Race Action Plan, and why taking on neo-Nazi group National Action was one of his “proudest moments” in policing.

FREE SUBSCRIBER ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes staff from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who now have FREE subscriber access with the start of a new organisation wide subscription. They join a community of readers from many other UK and international government, police, criminal justice and emergency services organisations with an interest in progressive policing. Read on to find out how to use your FREE subscriber access.

ANALYSIS: A recent article in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography shared the personal experiences of a senior police officer (‘Phil Corkhill’, a pseudonym) rejoining their force from a College of Policing secondment during Covid-19, and highlighted how leaders often conform to authoritarian and potentially damaging leadership approaches; in this article, University of Portsmouth Criminology Professor Dr Sarah Charman (who co-authored the original piece) explores the issues around prevailing management cultures and the ‘appearance over substance’ concerns of ‘leadership theatre’.

ANALYSIS: Speaking during the widespread UK disorder over the summer, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer referred to a ‘standing army’ of public order trained police officers ready to deal with future incidents; but Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a former Met Police public order specialist, says shift patterns, the loss of experienced officers and the costs of kit and training mean public order resources are under significant strain – although there are options to improve the policing response.

OPINION: The recent disorder and political violence across the UK has seen increased levels of fear among many migrant communities, as well as reduced access to services and support networks; Liverpool John Moores University Policing Lecturer James Williams believes that policing has an important role to play in reassuring those communities, as well as building relationships and improving engagement with marginalised groups.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Explore the key challenges and solutions in the recruitment, career progression and retention of female staff, including tackling the additional barriers facing women with further protected characteristics.

ANALYSIS: New research from the University of Liverpool working with three English police forces has highlighted that officers’ unmanageable workloads, insufficient training and lack of understanding of digitally enabled coercive control are leading to missed opportunities in investigating potential perpetrators and protecting victim-survivors, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Since January 2024, emergency support to tackle the impact of extreme weather, such as wildfires and landslides, has been requested 29 times via the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM). Policing Insight's Andy Staniforth reports on the findings of the CORE project, led by a unique pan-European consortium of partners, to improve our understanding of the current emergency response to disasters and the role aerial imagery systems play in combatting them.

FEATURE: Last week’s Global Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) Conference, supported by Policing Insight as media partner, saw pioneers of the evidence-based approach gather in Melbourne to share insights and best practice, as well as signing a new memorandum of understanding between EBP societies in six countries that could lay the foundations for greater global collaboration and co-operation, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: The effect of tiredness and lack of sleep on motorists’ driving ability has long been recognised by police, but less attention has been focused on the effect of fatigue on police officers themselves; Chief Inspector Dr Yvonne Taylor of the National Police Wellbeing Service explores the impact of insufficient sleep particularly on shift working police officers, and what resource are available to officers and supervisors to address the issue.

ANALYSIS: Every seven minutes a child is faced with harmful online content but as the threat grows, law enforcement is still playing catch up in its awareness of the risk the Metaverse poses to child safety. Policing Insight's Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports on new research led by Professors Julia Davidson of the University of East London and Elena Martellozzo of Middlesex University that is seeking to redress the balance.

ANALYSIS: While a recent raise in the terror threat level has increased awareness among Australians about the domestic terror threat, John Coyne and Justin Bassi of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) warn that Australia’s diminishing role in international counter-terrorism (CT), coupled with uncertainty over CT responsibility and resources at government level, is exposing Australian citizens to greater risk.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Faced with digital evidence management challenges, South Yorkshire Police Force launched its Technology Enabled Change initiative to find a solution. The force initiated a competitive procurement process, and after lengthy vetting, selected NICE Investigate to help in their quest to digitally transform investigations and evidence management.

INTERVIEW: Former Met Assistant Commissioner and NPCC Lead for CT Policing Neil Basu QPM is one of the country’s most outspoken former senior cops; in the second part of an extended interview series with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, he gave his reflections on the Met today – how early access to the excoriating Casey Review left him “in tears”, a personal insight into Mark Rowley the “blue sky” thinker and “reformer”, and his perception of “poor leadership in policing, from top to bottom.”

FEATURE: A mental wellbeing programme that emphasises the psychological impact of organisational stress on mental health is being rolled out in an Australian police agency. Policing Insight's Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Football and other public order events inevitability lead to officers being drafted in from other units but research undertaken by Keele University's Dr Mike Hope, Project Leader for ENABLE UK, and Professor Clifford Stott as part of the ENABLE project reveals how greater use of Operational Football Officers reduces abstraction rates as well as disorder and anti-social behaviour.

INTERVIEW: Policing Insight’s recent ‘Facing the future: the rise of facial recognition in policing’ report drew on 34 interviews with operational leaders and experts to examine how facial recognition (FR) is being used by police around the world and the key debates about the technology; as part of that project, James Sweetland interviewed Dr Andrew Chen, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Auckland about New Zealand Police’s approach to this technology and the debate around accuracy and bias – in this article, we share more from that insightful conversation.

FEATURE: Terrorist organisations are turning to small hosting service providers (HSPs) with less capacity and capability to prevent the spread of extremism on their platforms. Policing Insight's Andy Staniforth reports on TATE, an initiative specifically designed to help HSPs remove terrorist content quickly.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The Inspire Justice Awards, supported by Policing Insight as media partner, are the UK’s only awards programme dedicated to recognising the achievements of individuals and teams across the entire justice system. From the hundreds of nominations, the 26 finalists can now be revealed ahead of the awards ceremony to be held at the QEII Centre in London next Thursday 12 September.