Features

ANALYSIS: The 2019 Government announcement of an additional 20,000 police officers recruited over three years was welcomed by the police service. The programme is on course to hit that target, but is it just a numbers game? And with some reported to be struggling, how does the service encourage its new recruits to stay?

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Demands have grown but tackling them is so complex that it is undermining common-sense policing, West Midlands Chief Constable Sir David Thompson QPM tells Policing Insight and PolicingTV Publisher Bernard Rix who met Sir David for a walk-and-talk as part of his Policing Friendship Tour across the British Isles and around the world, meeting people across the spectrum of policing.

ANALYSIS: Last week, the Home Secretary announced that volunteer police officers in England and Wales will be authorised to carry Taser, but is it the right move and will it happen? Policing Insight's Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro 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 Jennifer Yates, Lead Intelligence Analyst at the Intellectual Property Office, about the links between intellectual property crime and organised crime groups, the Pandemic Wall of Risk, and the importance of collaboration and information sharing.

FEATURE: Last month, Cambridgeshire Deputy Chief Constable Jane Gyford and Detective Chief Inspector Leigh Allman swapped jobs for a day. Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons asked them what they learnt from the experience.

INTERVIEW: People with a disability form the single largest minority group in the US, and their interactions with law enforcement can often have damaging yet avoidable outcomes; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to Dr Stephanie Zoltowski – and some of those she has trained – about the importance of improving police and first responders’ knowledge and understanding of disability and neurodiversity.

FEATURE: Dr John Coyne, head of ASPI’s Northern Australia Strategic Policy Centre and strategic policing and law enforcement program, outlines the role of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in an ever-changing geo-political environment.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explores some of the opportunities and challenges presented by the rapid development of new technology in the police and law enforcement intelligence field, and how a pan-EU project could help agencies and providers maximise the potential benefits of emerging trends and capabilities.

FEATURE: Should the role of policing be confined to that of a crimefighter? Or should it be more broadly defined? As part of his work on the Strategic Review of Policing, Director of the Police Foundation Rick Muir explores the idea of the police having a 'generalist response function' and whether this could work in practice.

OPINION: The latest Internet Watch Foundation report highlighted an exponential rise in online child sexual abuse; former Chief Constable and NPCC child protection lead Simon Bailey, now Chair of the Policing Institute for the Eastern Region, believes that tech companies hold the key to improving protection for children, but are leaving them at risk as they focus on chasing profits.

FEATURE: Family violence, bullying, social anxiety and Covid are just some of the factors contributing to a significant truancy problem in New Zealand; the NZ Police Association recently reported on a joint operation that has seen a simple knock on the front door of houses reopening the doors to education for hundreds of children in South Auckland.

ANALYSIS: As the race to take on the top role of Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police service hots up, it has been revealed that former New Zealand Commissioner of Police Mike Bush has thrown his hat into the ring. PolicingTV presenter and former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw takes a closer look at the man behind the uniform and, if appointed, what impact he might have on policing London.

ANALYSIS: As an Irish organised crime group worth more than a billion dollars has made headlines after the US Government offered a $5 million reward for their capture, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen takes a look at how we can tackle the biggest and most sophisticated criminal entities.

OPINION: The EU’s recently agreed Digital Services Act and the UK Government’s Online Safety Bill are the latest attempts to target illegal online content, particularly on social media platforms; but Dr Greig Paul of the University of Strathclyde believes that the struggles to balance moderation with free speech, and the sheer scale of social media, means that such efforts are unlikely to succeed.

INTERVIEW: Former College of Policing CEO Mike Cunningham QPM started his policing career at Lancashire Constabulary in 1987, becoming Assistant Chief Constable in 2005, before joining the not-for-profit Skills for Justice in 2021 to support the professional development of officers and staff in policing; Policing Insight caught up with him to hear about his latest work, including the Inspire Justice Awards, which will launch next month.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Babcock is currently recruiting candidates with a background in operational policing to become lecturers delivering PEQF training to the next generation of Met officers; Policing Insight spoke to current lecturer Dom Houlison, a former Met Special Constable, about what the role entails, how the recruitment process works, and the satisfaction involved in equipping new recruits with the skills and knowledge to save lives and protect the public.

FEATURE: With funding increases partially ringfenced for recruitment, more budgetary pressure is on the horizon for UK policing; Neil Amos and Richard Davis of PA Consulting spoke to a panel of police and crime commissioners and former and serving police leaders to discuss what could be done to build better partnerships with the private sector, and drive efficiencies and improved services.

ANALYSIS: With business, security and many other aspects of everyday life increasingly reliant on software, the frequency of attacks on the software supply chain – and their potential impact – is growing; Sarah Sloan, Palo Alto Networks’ Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy for ANZ, looks at what more Australia could be doing to tackle the software security threat.

ANALYSIS: As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the lessons that need to be learned in relation to protecting public spaces from terror attack, and the important balance between community security and the rights of individual citizens.

FEATURE: With policing under ever-increasing scrutiny over the use of force, a new programme launched by America’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is looking to improve understanding among the media and the public about law enforcement use-of-force policies and the split-second decisions officers may need to take, as Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend reports.

HOME OFFICE SURVEY: The Home Office is keen to understand frontline responses to domestic abuse involving children – the perceptions, experiences and training of police responding to these types of incidents – as police called to the scene have a critical role in identifying children experiencing domestic abuse. If you are are a police officer in England & Wales, please take a few minutes to complete this short survey.

INTERVIEW: Ahead of this week’s Police Digital Summit, and a year after his interview for CoPaCC’s Future Police Contact Management report, PSNI ACC Alan Todd, the NPCC lead for contact management, spoke to Policing Insight about the digital contact developments over the past 12 months, the challenges still ahead, and next month’s launch of a new British Sign Language video relay service for emergency calls.

OPINION: With two high-profile recent reports identifying the capacity, capability and organisational issues facing policing, it’s evident that more effective collaborations with industry partners will be essential to meet the challenges of digital transformation, as former chief police officer Paul Kennedy and Adrian Leer, Managing Director of Triad Group Plc, explain.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Salesforce is pleased to be a principal supporter of the Police Digital Summit 2022. Please come and say hello to us on stand 1 where we will be pleased to walk you through our end-to-end capabilities to help Police Forces with their transformation plans.