OPINION: There is increasing pressure on public and private sector organisations to ensure data security, in an era of expanding and evolving cyber crime; Susan Brown, Founder and CEO of specialists Zortrex, believes the concept of tokenisation – already used widely in financial services – could bring benefits for policing.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: In this latest in the series of COVID-19 briefing papers published by UCL’s Jill Dando Institute, Professor Martin Gill of Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International looks at the potential frauds emerging from the pandemic, and what the public, businesses and law enforcement agencies can do to deter the fraudsters.

OPINION: In the latest in a series of articles following up from the UK’s recent N8 Policing Research Partnership conference, Police Foundation Director Rick Muir reiterates the importance of policing and academic partnerships, and outlines the Foundation’s objectives for the second phase of its Strategic Review of Policing.

OPINION: The recent announcement by the UK Government that a new, world-leading counter-terror operations centre will be opened in London has been widely welcomed, and as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, the collaboration between policing and M15 will be crucial to the success of the ongoing fight against terrorism.

OPINION: When a community’s belief that police will be fair and respectful diminishes, so too does the legitimacy of policing itself, and the result can be slide into broken relations and the ‘harder' use of police powers; criminologist Professor Mike Hough of Birkbeck, University of London explores how procedural justice theory can explain these interactions – and hopefully offer a route back to more effective community relations.

FEATURE: COVID-19 lockdowns around the world may have led to a fall in most domestic crime, but transnational drug-trafficking operations and other organised crime groups have been quick to adapt and overcome, leading to potentially bigger profits and a new criminal world order, warns Dr John Coyne of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

INNOVATION: Big data can provide powerful insights into policing and improve performance, but getting it wrong leads to unreliable conclusions and poor policies. In the second of two articles, Professor Tom Kirchmaier, Director of Policing and Crime at the Centre for Economic Performance of the London School of Economics (LSE), outlines his team’s work with British policing and some of the important principles of using big data.

Opinion: In Australia, the recent Victorian Royal Commission into Police Management of Informants has highlighted concerns over police accountability, and called for major changes around oversight and transparency; but Professor Jude McCulloch and Professor Michael Maguire, both of Monash University, argue that real progress will require more extensive reform.

OPINION: Following a recent three-year pilot, provisions in a new UK Domestic Abuse Bill will pave the way for mandatory lie-detector testing of high-risk domestic abuse perpetrators; but Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth argues that new scientific test techniques would be more effective and appropriate than using outdated polygraph methods.

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.

FEATURE: With online extremists migrating to increasingly niche platforms, law enforcement is having to work harder to monitor and tackle hate crime and extremist activity; but as online intelligence experts Franck Znaty and Dr Lewys Brace told delegates at this year's NPCC Internet, Intelligence and Investigation conference, targeting such activity may be challenging but can still be successful.

FEATURE: In our continuing series supporting new police degree entry recruits, Policing Insight’s Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly takes a final look at evidence-based policing, and the challenges of taking EBP forwards from research theory to embedded, applied practice within policing organisations.

FEATURE: A series of international workshops focusing on policing in the pandemic have highlighted officer wellbeing, new crime threats and a deluge of lockdown legislation as key concerns emerging from the COVID-19 crisis; ahead of a London Policing College conference next week to discuss the issues, Policing Insight editor Keith Potter talks to College President Rod Jarman about the key themes, and lessons for the future.

OPINION: In the latest in his series of bi-monthly blogs, Superintendent Simon Nelson, President of the Disabled Police Association, looks at UK Disability History Month, how far policing has come in relation to diversability and neurodiversity, and what more still needs to be done.

LONG READ: Modern slavery and human trafficking are transnational crimes that could easily flourish in the COVID-19 pandemic conditions of economic uncertainty and isolation; in this long-read article, Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons looks at efforts in the UK and US to tackle this illegal human trade which often targets society’s most vulnerable.

FEATURE: Diversity, equality and inclusion in police recruitment was the key focus for the first @WeCops Twitter chat in November, and with a reach of almost three million – and with contributions from all ranks as well as the Policing Minister – it’s clearly a crucial current topic for policing. @WeCops Supt Katy Barrow-Grint brought together to the main points from the debate in this blog.

OPINION: Former armed forces personnel make up the UK’s largest group of male prisoners by occupation, so what more can be done to support ex-service mean and women in the CJS? Sarah Grand-Clément, senior analyst at RAND Europe and one of the authors of a new report into the issue, believes there are more steps that police and government can take to provide targeted support to those from a military background.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: University of Buckingham is launching a new PG Cert and Master’s programme in Transnational Organised Crime. The programmes are aimed at the next generation of police and law enforcement leaders, including officers, detectives and analysts, as well as those looking to gain a qualification that would enable them to build long-term careers in law enforcement, security and intelligence.

INTERVIEW: Incorporating new technology, collaborating with partners and maintaining social legitimacy are just some of the challenges facing Chile’s PDI in the future, explains Director General Héctor Espinosa, in the second half of his two-part interview with Policing Insight.

ANALYSIS: Counterfeiting is now a global problem accounting for more than three per cent of world trade, securing profits for criminals and in some cases putting consumers’ health at risk; in this briefing paper published by the UK’s Dawes Centre for Future Crime at UCL, Dr Chiaki Crews, Prof Robert Speller and Dr Rob Moss set out some of the sector challenges in tackling counterfeiting, and highlight the key questions for policy makers.

ANALYSIS: When the UK leaves the EU at the end of this year – with or without a deal – it will also withdraw from the European Arrest Warrant; Dr Amanda Kramer of Queen’s University Belfast, and Dr Rachael Dickson of the University of Birmingham, argue that whatever takes its place is likely to be less effective or efficient.

OPINION : Far-right terrorism is presenting a clear and present danger to UK neighbourhood safety and national security, warns Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth – a danger which for too long has been regarded as a lesser priority than other terrorist threats.

FEATURE: Online child sexual exploitation is a growing crime with horrific consequences around the world, but a global task force led by the FBI is making significant inroads, catching offenders and rescuing children; Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports from the UK’s Internet Intelligence and Investigations Conference on the success of the VCACITF.

FREE SUBSCRIBER ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes officers and staff from Victoria Police in Australia, who now have FREE access with the start of a new organisation wide subscription. They join a community of officers and staff from many other UK and international police forces with an interest in progressive policing. Read on to find out how to use your FREE subscriber access.