Features

ANALYSIS: Despite increasingly sophisticated security measures, vehicle theft in the UK is back on the rise – much of it involving cars stolen by international organised crime groups; West Midlands PC Andrew Lavanchy looks at the scale and changing nature of vehicle theft, and what steps policing could take to combat the car thieves.

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE: After a challenging 12 months, those working in policing may not be feeling too festive; but it should still be a time for them to cherish and relax, and for the rest of us to thank them for their efforts, says Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter.

Top Articles 2021: Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter leads the team in selecting their favourite articles published in 2021. The editorial team have each selected their ‘Top 3’ picks and we have made them freely available during the Christmas period for all users with at least a free registered account. We hope you enjoy our selections!

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 Josh Torrance, Lecturer and PhD Researcher at the University of Bristol, about heroin-assisted treatment, NCA technology, and £50bn of missing cash.

ANALYSIS: As the Police Foundation prepares to report next month on Phase Two of the Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales, Research Director Andy Higgins looks back at the turbulent events of 2021 – from Covid to Clapham Common and accusations of institutional corruption – and considers what impact they may have on policing legitimacy moving forwards.

OPINION: The UK Government’s recently published consultation on ‘Delivering justice to victims’ focuses on criminal justice as the gold standard, an attitude reflected in the media emphasis on punishment and retribution; but Transform Justice Director Penelope Gibbs argues that for many victims a ‘day in court’ is not the key component of a successful resolution or increased satisfaction.

OPINION: The Government’s recent public consultation on a new National Resilience Strategy sought views and submissions from a wide range of agencies and organisations, with leading international blue-light computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems provider Hexagon among those contributing to the process; Ian Holmes of the company’s Public Safety team picks out some of the key themes from their submission.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Improving the ability of police IT software and systems to “talk to each other”, enhancing the recruitment process, and creating a “citizen-centric approach” to public contact were among the issues discussed by Simon Bradford, Salesforce’s Regional Vice-President for Public Sector UK, when he joined Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

OPINION: Despite the successful efforts of Australian law enforcement to seize drugs and target suppliers, the country’s latest National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program confirms that the use of ‘ice’ in particular has continued to rise significantly; Dr John Coyne of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute argues that data from the program should be used to guide strategy that focuses on cutting consumption and making communities safer.

INTERVIEW: When the citizens of Queen Creek, Arizona voted in favour of establishing a new police department, experienced Chief of Police Randy Brice was given the job of creating the organisation; he spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the challenges of recruiting during Covid, to a tight deadline, while ensuring the town’s community has a strong voice in the mission, values and vision of its new PD.

ANALYSIS: Disruption methods are vital in combatting child sexual abuse, with the potential to immediately interrupt contact between a suspect and a child, and help stop further abuse in the longer term; now new research by the UK’s Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse has highlighted the steps that can be taken to improve disruption efforts, as the Centre’s Senior Research and Evaluation Officer Dr Diana Parkinson explains.

FEATURE: Thames Valley Police’s Project Vigilant, which combines plain clothes and uniform officers to identify and prevent predatory behaviour in the night-time economy, has seen significant reductions in stranger rapes and sexual offences; now the scheme is set to expand after being one of a number of projects to receive ‘Safety of Women at Night’ funding, as Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With many US cities and states facing continuing increases in opioid addiction and overdoses, Manchester Police Department in New Hampshire has launched a programme based on outreach and support rather than punishment; journalist Shawne Wickham of the New Hampshire Union Leader reports on the progress of the Community Response Unit’s efforts to prevent deaths and encourage addiction treatment.

FEATURE: The world of organised crime assassinations is – by its very nature – a clandestine one, shrouded in secrecy and extreme violence, but a new report on the issue could help to improve understanding of the scale of the problem, as well as identifying steps for law enforcement to tackle those killers for hire, as Policing Insight’s Chris Allen reports.

OPINION: Although calls for police reform have reduced since the jailing of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, the issues that prompted those calls have not gone away; but Associate Professor Angela Workman-Stark of Athabasca University believes that creating alternative sustainable development goals and metrics for policing – rather than defunding agencies – could achieve the desired change.

ANALYSIS: The latest annual reports on global and European cybercrime discuss both increasingly complex as well as opportunist attacks, and highlight the performance of individual countries in safeguarding against threats; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at who is doing well, who needs to do better, and what more they could be doing.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: With carbon footprints and sustainability high on the agenda for law enforcement agencies, Jersey Police Chief Officer Robin Smith believes the Crown Dependency force could be the first in the UK to run a fully electric fleet, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

FEATURE: Policing leaders at all levels have a vital role to play in creating the right climate for successful CPD; in the latest in this series on CPD, Professor Jean Hartley (Academic Director) and Dr Emma Williams (Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships) of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning highlight the steps that leaders can take – and the benefits that can arise – from ensuring CPD is effectively embedded into officers’ careers.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: Contactless card payment limits increased in the UK to £100 in October, seemingly largely in an effort to increase consumer spending and help stimulate economic recovery; but in this latest article from the UCL COVID-19 series, Professor Graham Farrell (University of Leeds) and Professor Nick Tilley (UCL) argue that a Tap-and-PIN approach would help to prevent crime, and potentially deter a large cohort of young offenders from becoming career criminals.

FEATURE: The latest report from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has highlighted the need for ‘co-ordinated international action’ to tackle cybercriminals’ aggressive use of ransomware – often with the backing of state actors – that has ‘devastating’ and ‘profound’ effects, as Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter reports.

OPINION: The Internet of Things, that network of products and objects using digital communications to connect and exchange data with other devices and systems, is becoming increasingly common in our everyday world; but Dr Lennon Chang of Monash University believes it also represents a significant opportunity for cyber criminals to carry out a much wider range of both cyber-dependent and cyber-enabled crimes.

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 Ian Stanier, Visiting Lecturer at Buckingham University’s Centre for Security and Intelligence, about the importance of CHIS and HUMINT, expanding the capability and capacity of UK covert investigations, and the FIREPLACES informant motivation model.

OPINION: The high-profile case of a TV presenter fined for ‘rape apology’ and ‘offences against decency’ in Côte d’Ivoire has put fears over rape culture in the country back under the spotlight; but University of Bristol Senior Lecturer Dr Peace A. Medie believes that while there are still challenges around support for victims, women’s rights and the policing response, there are also reasons for hope moving forwards.

INNOVATION: Artificial intelligence and machine learning have the potential to revolutionise identification processes for law enforcement; but if they are to be reliable and trusted, those commissioning their use must ensure concerns around gender dimension bias have been addressed from the outset, says Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth.