Latest News, Analysis and Opinion  (Page 102)

OPINION: The Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA), which represents officers in forces across England and Wales as well as those in the Isle of Man, Bermuda and Gibraltar, recently announced the launch of a programme of CPD events for superintendents, in collaboration with the College of Policing; PSA President Paul Griffiths discusses why the need for professional development never ends, regardless of rank.

Announcement: Given the global pandemic, the World Class Policing Awards team regret to announce that the hugely successful World Class Policing Awards will now be postponed until 2022.

OPINION: Scholars and practitioners have debated the extent to which terrorism and organised crime form a nexus. Serving officer Martin Gallagher examines the evidence - and concludes that, regardless of the overlap, the criminal justice system needs to be alive to the distinction in motivations between serious and organised criminals, and those engaged in terrorist activities.

FEATURE: Now the dust has settled on the Brexit agreement, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen examines the impact that the UK’s deal with the EU will have on information exchange, collaboration and co-operation, and the policing of serious and organised crime.

FEATURE: A new book by the former Director of GCHQ the UK’s first Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator outlines some of the key skills and attributes required of spies; but as Policing Insight's Andrew Staniforth reports, the book includes approaches and attitudes that would benefit any police officer involved in intelligence gathering and analytical thinking.

OPINION: Paul Odle, Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales’ Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic & Belief group and a serving Metropolitan Police officer, believes that while current unconscious bias training is not fit for purpose, it should be updated and amended, not abandoned.

ANALYSIS: Ports have long been magnets for serious and organised crime - but in the post-Brexit environment these risks are magnified and the capacity of the UK police to counter them limited by the end of access to European databases. Dr Anna Sergi of the University of Essex analyses the risks.

ANALYSIS: Devon and Cornwall Police recently announced a scheme to pay volunteer special constables an enhanced allowance for completing a minimum number of hours; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett explores whether this could be the first step towards establishing a paid policing reserve, and how other services ensure they can call on vital added experience in times of greatest need.

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts - plus a short guide outlining how serving police officers and staff can get access, free, to many of the articles listed through the UK's National Police Library. You do not need to be a member of the UK College of Policing to access its library.

OPINION: Police officers in schools across the US play an important role in safety and security, as well as often helping to mentor students; but a police-run scheme in Florida, which uses students’ school performance and behaviour to indicate potential future criminals under the guise of intelligence-led policing, risks pushing young people into the criminal justice system, warns Associate Professor Chris Curran.

Australia Day Honours: We are pleased to publish and recognise the policing and criminal justice recipients of the 2021 Australia Day Honours. The team at Policing Insight offer our congratulations and thank all the recipients for their service and contribution to their communities, particularly in these challenging times.

FEATURE: The UK Biometrics Commissioner has highlighted variations between forces in the retention of DNA, software inadequacies in the fight against terrorism, and missed opportunities for the international exchange of samples that may have put the public at greater risk of crime, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: As advances in technology made drones more accessible and easy to use, so growing concerns about their potential use by terrorist organisations prompted the launch of the European DroneWISE project; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports on the project’s operational briefing which contains clear messages for first responders, police and security agencies.

FEATURE: The work of modern slavery support charity Justice and Care with victims at home and abroad is helping those who have been trafficked to engage more easily with police, leading in turn to more targeted action against organised crime; now the charity is hoping to expand its Victim Navigator programme to more forces, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The coronavirus pandemic has called for an extraordinary response from law enforcement; but Dr Wendy Laverick and Professor Peter Joyce believe the increasing politicisation of policing during the pandemic, the sidelining of PCCs and introduction of tougher powers could threaten police legitimacy once the crisis is over.

FEATURE: The illegal trade in wildlife and plants threatens some of the world's most vulnerable and endangered species; but tackling this illicit activity can also help law enforcement agencies in the fight against other serious and organised international crime, as freelance journalist and specialist scientific and environmental writer Georgina Kenyon explains.

OPINION: Lie detector tests such as polygraphs, which use an individual’s anxiety levels to indicate the veracity of their statements, have been criticised as ‘theoretically weak’ and unreliable; but new methods which rely on the asymmetry in responses from liars and truth-tellers could be the way forward, as University of Portsmouth Senior Teaching Fellow Cody Porter explains.

ANALYSIS: Former senior police officer Richard James of community engagement specialists Intensive Engagement shares the company’s methodology on working with communities to reduce crime, and how the approach can be applied to a range of other social issues.

INNOVATION: Recent serious public disorder in Brussels, and the much-covered riots in Washington DC, highlighted the dangers facing police when they are overwhelmed by unexpected public violence; a new virtual reality platform providing immersive simulation of real-world public places could offer police and security agencies the best possible preparation for such events, reports Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth.

INNOVATION: A £55m police-led cyber security system designed to detect attacks and protect businesses and organisations is now being rolled out nationally after a successful pilot in north-east England; Policing Insight's Sarah Gibbons reports on Police CyberAlarm

LATEST RESEARCH: This summary curates the key policing-related research that's been published online in the last week, with links to the original journal articles, and selected abstracts - plus a short guide outlining how serving police officers and staff can get access, free, to many of the articles listed through the UK's National Police Library. You do not need to be a member of the UK College of Policing to access its library.

OPINION: The launch of the Government's Serious Violence Strategy in 2018 was overshadowed by leaked Home Office documents suggesting police cuts contributed to the rise in violent crime; almost three years later, and after a lengthy legal battle, the Home Office has finally released those documents, as former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw explains.

FEATURE: Devon and Cornwall’s Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has been pioneering efforts to improve community engagement over the past five years; and while COVID-19 has had a huge impact on face-to-face contact, the team’s approach has continued to bear fruit during pandemic lockdowns, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports.

OPINION: In December the UK Government confirmed that it was scrapping standalone unconscious bias training for civil servants, citing a report that suggested it was ineffective, and could even be counter-productive; but Police Ethics Advisor Montell Neufville believes such training – particularly when delivered as part of wider learning on diversity, cultural competency or risk management – still has an important role to play in policing.