Features

ANALYSIS: With policing resources under continuing pressure, the 2022/23 financial year is now underway, prompting renewed focus on how police forces are funded across the UK; in this second of two articles, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett focuses on the income raised locally by the forces of England and Wales through the policing precept.

ANALYSIS: New Zealand reduced the minimum age for buying alcohol from 20 to 18 in 1999 and, with over two decades of data on the possible effects of the change, some health campaigners are calling for a return to the upper age limit; researchers Alexander Plum, Christopher Erwin and Kabir Dasgupta of the University of Auckland believe the evidence over the impact on crime figures is less than clear.

ANALYSIS: The recent horrific mass shootings in the US have once again highlighted how social media and online platforms are used to broadcast terrorists’ aims and actions; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at ongoing European efforts to target online terrorist content, including this month’s Terrorism and Social Media Conference in Swansea.

ANALYSIS: With policing resources under continuing pressure, the 2022/23 financial year is now underway, prompting renewed focus on how police forces are funded across the UK. In this first of two articles focusing on police funding, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett reviews the core funding streams from the respective central and devolved governments, and explores why some forces and communities feel unfairly treated.

INNOVATION: With UK police forces looking increasingly to digital channels to expand and enhance public contact and service delivery, Suffolk Assistant Chief Constable Rob Jones shares an innovative project offering a live chat service for victims of domestic abuse that has improved accessibility and consistency, strengthened support and generated the potential for richer evidence to support prosecutions.

FEATURE: The UK findings from the latest Global Economic Crime Report published by analysts PwC has highlighted that fraud now poses “a greater and more costly threat than ever before” to UK companies; supply chain fraud has also emerged as a significant new risk across the commercial sector, yet many businesses seemingly unprepared or unwilling to respond to the threat, as Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Dr Mary Alice Young, Associate Professor of Transnational Organised Crime and Policy at the University of the West of England, about understanding policy failures, the undermining of organised crime control, and why viewing criminal enterprises in a business context leads to better policy solutions.

ANALYSIS: The UK has seen inward migration for several decades, and the growing refugee crises around the world suggest the number of foreign nationals residing in the country will continue to rise; James Williams, Policing Studies Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, believes police forces in England and Wales could and should be doing more to communicate and engage with the UK’s foreign national community.

FEATURE: Service Dogs UK provides assistance dogs to members of the police and military suffering from PTSD, and has been described as ‘a life saver’ by those it supports; but the charity believes police agencies are holding back on funding amid fears that it could “open the floodgates” to traumatised applicants, as Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons discovered when she spoke to charity founder Sgt Garry Botterill.

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OPINION: With UK policing resources under ever-greater pressure, a multi-agency approach to tackling anti-social behaviour – particularly through the consistent use of much-misunderstood Public Spaces Protection Orders – can have significant benefits for both communities and policing, argues Dyl Kurpil, Managing Director of District Enforcement.

FEATURE: China is increasing its efforts to secure a Pacific islands policing, security and data communications deal; but by working in partnership with island nations to improve gender equality and empower women in policing, Australia could enhance its own influence and support in the region, says Dr Melissa Jardine, an international police consultant and former Victoria police officer.

OPINION: UK police forces are often confronted by generic administrative challenges and financial constraints, yet many opt for their own individual approach to dealing with such difficulties; Tim Scammell of software specialists SAP believes that by implementing the ‘adopt rather than adapt’ backroom mantra of many business organisations, policing could increase efficiencies and improve funding for the frontline.

ANALYSIS: The concept of ‘institutional racism’, particularly in relation to UK policing, has been a controversial one for many years, with conflicting views on both the definition itself, and how the service should tackle the issue; Policing Insight Academic Editor Carina O’Reilly explores the implications of institutional racism, why some are so reluctant to acknowledge its existence, and how the new NPCC Police Race Action Plan could herald significant changes.

INTERVIEW: The extensive and in some cases excessive searches of victims’ mobile phones and medical records in rape and serious sexual assault cases have reportedly prompted many victims to withdraw from the prosecution process; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to UK Information Commissioner John Edwards about his report published today, which sets out new parameters and guidelines on the gathering and use of digital evidence from victims.

OPINION: As the sequel to one of the world’s greatest action movies hits the big screen, Acting Superintendent Stephen Lenney of Devon and Cornwall Police considers what law enforcement can learn from the Top Gun franchise, and why focusing on noise, rather than the object causing it, can create problems for both plane spotting and policing.

ANALYSIS: Improving gender equality is a key aim in many sectors of society, with equality of opportunity for men and women widely recognised as a necessary development; but Policing Insight’s Chris Allen takes a look at the latest research which suggests that the cocaine industry is an exception to that rule.

ANALYSIS: Dr Muhammad Dan Suleiman, Research Fellow at the UWA Africa Research & Engagement Centre at the University of Western Australia, identifies the key enablers of political extremism in West Africa.

FEATURE: Following the mass shooting in Munich in 2016 in which nine people died and thirty six were injured, the Bavarian Police began to examine ways of enhancing their digital radio communications to include visual information.

ANALYSIS: In the last in our series on continuing professional development (CPD) in policing, the team at the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning examine some of the key topics in light of the recent policing reviews.

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OPINION: The Police Race Action Plan for England and Wales was published this week. British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D'Orsi explains what needs to happen to ensure the plan brings about meaningful and sustainable change.

FEATURE: A new €7m European Commission research and innovation initiative has been launched to improve crime scene investigations relating to the transfer, persistence and background abundance of trace evidence, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FREE SUBSCRIBER ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes staff, students and researchers from Nottingham Trent University who now have FREE access with the start of a new organisation wide subscription. They join a community from many other UK and international institutions, police forces and other criminal justice organisations with an interest in progressive policing. Read on to find out how to use your FREE subscriber access.