Interview

INTERVIEW: Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh took up the top job with Canada’s Lethbridge Police Service in the aftermath of a reputational crisis for the organisation, and set about building stronger, trust-based relationships with both the community and the workforce; as he approaches five years in posts, he spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the progress that has been made, his leadership style, and the importance of creating and maintaining a sense of shared ownership.

ANALYSIS: The number of sextortion cases reported to the US National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children skyrocketed from 139 in 2021 to 26,000 in 2023, and the crime is now ruining young lives in countries around the world; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to cybercrime analyst Paul Raffile and financial investigator Detective Brad Thorne about the scale of the problem, the importance of police investigating cases, and the need to overcome challenges around international co-operation.

INTERVIEW: With a string background in education and academia, Durham Regional Police Service Director of Strategy, Research and Organisational Performance Dr Vidal Chavannes one of Canada’s leading advocates of evidence-based policing; he spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the importance of data-driven criminal justice, the challenges around addressing disproportionality, and the need to ensure that the data published and used within policing is given adequate context.

INTERVIEW: Marking his first full year in post, Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing Ryan Teschner has launched a new three-year strategy for policing in the province, along with a promise to be a ‘right-touch regulator’ who will propel Ontario to become a global centre of excellence; he spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the aim of the strategy, his ambitions for the service, and how his role and the new organisation he leads has been welcomed by police agencies across the province.

INTERVIEW: Three years after completing his 10-year term as HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in England and Wales, Sir Tom Winsor spoke to Policing Insight about the new financial challenges facing policing, the improper political pressure put on officers, the “chilling effect” of PCC oversight on recruiting and retaining chief constables, and the need for a “network code” which would bind chiefs and PCCs to comply with majority decisions voted for by them and their colleagues.

INTERVIEW: As the Conservative Party approaches the end of its first year as the Official Opposition to the UK’s Labour Government, Matt Vickers, the Shadow Minister for Fire, Policing and Crime, spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the Tories record in office and their claim to be the “party of law and order”, the need for politicians to provide police officers with more clarity and backing, and why policing should be making more use of the “wonder tool” that is facial recognition.

INTERVIEW: With terrorist and extremist groups looking increasingly to online platforms as a way to radicalise internet users – particularly young people – the European Commission’s Prevention of Radicalisation Unit is working hard to counter their activities; in this second in a two-part interview, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Unit Policy Officer Friederike Wegener about the EC’s efforts to tackle the online terror threat, the role and impact of legislation, and the challenges of the future.

INTERVIEW: With terrorist and extremist groups looking increasingly to online platforms as a way to radicalise internet users – particularly young people – the European Commission’s Prevention of Radicalisation Unit is working hard to counter their activities; in this first in a two-part interview, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Unit Policy Officer Friederike Wegener about her work with the team, the priorities of her role, and the current online terrorist threat.

INTERVIEW: The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) has launched new guidance on how forces and violence reduction units can adopt and implement the multi-agency focused deterrence (FD) approach to tackle serious violence, which international research shows has cut crime by an average 33%; the YEF’s Dr Stevie-Jade Hardy spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about how FD works, the guidance and ‘on the ground’ support offered by the YEF, and ongoing evaluations of the scheme in the UK.

INTERVIEW: With the continuing advances and availability of 3D printing technology, New Zealand Police National Intelligence Director Dan Wildy spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the importance of the multi-disciplinary approaches being taken by the service in tackling a growing firearms threat favoured by organised crime groups, and the value of international collaboration.

INNOVATION: The roll out by two forces in Wales of operator-initiated facial recognition, which uses a mobile phone app to help identify individuals who are unable to confirm their ID, refuse to give details or give false information, is already resulting in benefits for the police and the public despite concerns voiced by campaign groups, as South Wales Police facial recognition lead Inspector Ben Gwyer told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: Tecnalia, the largest centre of applied research and technological development in Spain and a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance, is a partner in the NOTIONES project, a European network bringing police agencies together to improve the capacity and capability of intelligence functions; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Tecnalia Project Manager Olatz Ibáñez about the organisation’s work with the NOTIONES network, and the benefits and challenges of participating in European security research and innovation projects.

INTERVIEW: A review of the connections between sexual exposure and contact sexual offending is calling for non-contact sexual offences to be handled by police with the same focus and response as rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO), as the impact on victims is still significant, and many of those offenders who go on to commit RASSO have previously carried out non-contact sexual offences, as London Metropolitan University Professor Dr Fiona Vera-Grey (one of the report’s authors) told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INNOVATION: As forces increase contact channels to include digital and online routes, the likelihood of comms staff being exposed to harmful images has increased, says Rebecca Malpass, Digital Communications Development Senior for Derbyshire Constabulary; now a new AI-based image filter together with additional guidance for staff can help to protect individuals from being exposed to indecent images, as she explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: A ‘solution-focused approach’ to interactions both with the public and within the force is currently being explored by New Zealand Police, as a way to improve outcomes for the community as well as officer wellbeing; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to psychologist Emma Burns of the Royal NZ Police College about the thinking behind the new approach, and how transforming conversations could eventually become the NZ Police go-to strategy.

INTERVIEW: Ahead of International Women’s Day, International Association of Women Police (IAWP) President Julia Jaeger spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the continuing problems of misogyny and discrimination in the workplace, the need to revisit the gender agenda, and the work that will be going on at the IAWP annual conference later this year to advance gender equality.

INTERVIEW: As he approaches the first-year anniversary of taking up the top job with Saskatoon Police Service, Chief Cameron McBride spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about his 28 years with the Service, the inward focus on wellness and support for officers, the importance of community engagement, and the social, technological and retention challenges facing modern policing.

ANALYSIS: When it comes to research and services for victims of adolescent domestic abuse (ADA), those aged under 16 are often overlooked by policies that focus on the adult domestic abuse (DA) agenda; Gloucestershire Deputy Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint and City St George’s, University of London Senior Researcher Dr Ruth Weir spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about new efforts to identify the scale and nature of the problem, and encouraging police forces to use technology to extract ADA data.

INTERVIEW: Since taking up her post as Iceland’s National Police Commissioner five years ago, Sigríður Björk Guðjónsdóttir has made significant strides in addressing gender inequality within the force, and in the service it provides; she spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the need to keep pushing for greater gender equality, the new approaches to responding to domestic violence, and why appointing senior leaders from outside of policing helps to change potentially damaging cultures.

INTERVIEW: Just over two years after taking up her post as the first female officer to lead Tasmania Police, Commissioner Donna Adams spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the innovative changes to recruitment and retention, the dangers of “scope creep” across the service, and the need to learn from the past while looking to the future in order to build trust in the force.

INTERVIEW: During a 32-year career in policing, Chief Dale McFee of Edmonton Police Service has blended an entrepreneurial spirit with a commitment to innovation and reform, building a reputation as a successful “change leader”; as he prepares to retire later this year, he spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend and reflected on his achievements, leadership philosophy, and the challenges facing modern policing.

INTERVIEW: Dr Lella Nouri, Associate Professor of Criminology at Swansea University and Co-Director of the Cyber Threats Research Centre (CYTREC), has pioneered the StreetSnap to enable councils, local police and their partners to better record, utilise and remove hateful graffiti, and the Flip the Streets initiative involving community members in co-producing artwork to replace instances of hateful visuals, as she explained to Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth.

INTERVIEW: Former New York Police Department Chief of Department Terry Monahan, who was a police officer in the city for 39 years, spoke to Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass about how a new neighbourhood policing model and a genuine approach to listening to the community led to record low levels of crime and homicide, and how a famous picture of him taking a knee with Black Lives Matters protesters came about.

INTERVIEW: In just over a year, the UK's Police National Computer is set to be replaced by the new Law Enforcement Data Service; Ian Weinfass spoke to those leading on the project for the Home Office and the police service about what the change will mean for officers, what else needs to happen, and the potential implications of not hitting the target date.