FEATURE: While ‘precision policing’ has become an essential element of the turnaround plans for the Met as well as a focus for other forces, Policing Insight’s Rory Geoghegan, a former officer and founder of The Public Safety Foundation, examines how precision approaches – against a backdrop of falling stop and search rates and an emphasis on ‘positive outcomes’ – could see this policing tool become ineffective as a general crime deterrent.

ANALYSIS: In this first in a series of five articles looking at the big debates in police use of facial recognition (FR) – extracted from this year’s ‘Facing the future: The rise of facial recognition in policing’ report – Policing Insight spoke to senior officers and police leaders to understand exactly how FR is a useful tool in policing’s arsenal, and why it is often described as making a significant difference to public safety.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass examines the proliferation of law enforcement across the UK, Australia, the US and Canada preparing to send UAVs out to view incidents before personnel can reach them on the ground, and examines the advantages and criticisms of the approach.

OPINION: With the number of victims of human trafficking and modern slavery continuing to increase, Professor Darren K. Stocker of Cape Cod Community College argues that law enforcement could benefit from applying a sociological-based model towards tackling human trafficking.

OPINION: Although Australia is taking a prominent role in protecting those under the age of 16 from the dangers of social media, the debate around the criminal age of responsibility has seen some states push for those 10 and over to be punished for their crimes; Australian Strategic Policy Institute Fellow Anna Alexander argues this inconsistency around age and vulnerability highlights contradictions in the country’s policies, and that a whole-of-government approach is essential to protect at-risk youth.

INTERVIEW: Having recently been elected to serve a fourth consecutive term, Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore is one of the country’s longest-serving PCCs; in an exclusive interview with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, he explained how the lack of clarity around chief constables’ operational independence “causes tension and friction”, called on the new government to avoid a “dictatorial” centralised approach to policing, and said chief constables “need a better understanding of public expectations”.

ANALYSIS: The increase in drug-related extreme violence and the scale of drug seizures across Europe suggest Mexican and South American cartels already view the EU as the ideal location for expansion; former DEA Special Agent Michael Brown, Global Director of Counter-Narcotics Technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices, believes steps can be taken by European governments and law enforcement to thwart that expansion – but will require political will, increased co-operation, and better use of technology.

FEATURE: A new personal safety training programme which focuses on scenario-based learning and decision-making to reduce police injuries and the use of force has been developed in a ‘pracademic’ partnership between the College of Policing and Loughborough University; the package is now being rolled out to officers across England and Wales after a successful pilot with Avon and Somerset Police, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons report

FEATURE: With the rapid increase in the number of teenage terror suspects detained in the UK, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explores the work of the EU’s INDEED project, which uses evidence-based approaches to evaluate initiatives to prevent and counter violent extremism, including a new definition of evidence-based policing that incorporates community values and perspectives into decision-making processes.

FEATURE: A new joint criminology and policing degree offered by Monash University and Victoria Police sees students complete two years of university-based study and a final year at the force’s Glen Waverley Academy, with the aim of equipping young officers with more skills and knowledge, improving recruitment diversity and retention, and providing longer-term career opportunities for recruits, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With a new diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) strategy – developed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing – on the horizon for forces in England and Wales, Derbyshire Chief Constable Rachel Swann, the NPCC lead on DEI, recently told senior officers that it’s time to stop seeing DEI as an extra and to realise that it’s key to restoring public trust and confidence, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

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.

INTERVIEW: In the second of a two-part interview, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke QPM DL told Policing Insight’s James Sweetland that the Inspectorate should play a role in picking chief constables as he and his team “know more about policing than police and crime commissioners”; he also explained why the Inspectorate needs new powers, and how a £13 million funding boost could pay for an artificial intelligence “early warning system” to identify forces at risk of going into special measures.

OPINION: The recently announced Neighbourhood Policing Pathway and the Government’s commitment to 13,000 new neighbourhood ‘officers’ for England and Wales is both light on detail and a reworking of an old approach – one which could be much more effectively replaced by learning lessons from the successful community responder models in place in the United States, argues Senior Policing Lecturer and former chief superintendent Owen West.

FEATURE: A recent report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services into activism and impartiality in policing has found that senior officers regularly face undue political pressure to influence operational issues, while a lack of guidance on impartiality, forces’ failures to respond to media inaccuracies, and inconsistencies around dealing with non-crime hate incidents are all damaging the perception of policing, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With the role of women in terrorist organisations and activities an increasingly debated subject, a new EU research funding stream will give organisations including police forces the opportunity to enhance the understanding and motivation of women and girls for supporting extremist ideologies, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

ANALYSIS: Gun homicides in Philadelphia surged during the covid years, but so far in 2024 fatal shootings are down by almost 40%; Carla Lewandowski and John A. Shjarback, Associate Professors of Criminal Justice at Rowan University, argue that while there is no single explanation for the drop, new police crime fighting strategies and leadership, a return to post-covid ‘near normalcy’ for policing and criminal justice, and wider national crime trends have all played a part.

ANALYSIS: With two court cases now underway in relation to fatal attacks at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, and the Metropolitan Police’s public order lead highlighting that officers at the event are increasingly being drawn into stewarding rather than policing roles, Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone looks at continuing concerns around the location and increased crowd numbers attending the event, and warns of the growing risk of a public safety disaster unless changes are made.

FEATURE: Decisions around national policing currently require a national collaboration agreement to be signed by 103 signatories, including chief constables and police and crime commissioners; but with national and transnational threats increasing, National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Gavin Stephen believes this 60-year model of policing is failing to keep pace, as Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro reports.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Join us 21-22 October for the Professional Standards and Ethics Conference 2024 supported by Policing Insight as media partner. This year’s eagerly anticipated conference will focus on a whole systems professional standards approach to creating a more inclusive culture, enhancing the vetting regime as a first line of defence, alongside further improving our ethical response to preventing and detecting misconduct in the service.

INTERVIEW: As the first National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for artificial intelligence (AI), National Crime Agency Director Alex Murray has a unique insight into how this tech is changing policing; he spoke to Policing Insight’s James Sweetland about the “brilliant work” developing police facial recognition in England and Wales, the dangers of deepfake evidence undermining the criminal justice system, and challenged “doomsters” who criticise an “overhyped version” of genuine police AI.

ANALYSIS: While the potential benefits of perpetrator programmes in reducing domestic and sexual violence have been recognised for some time, a new report by researchers at Australia’s Monash University highlights the need for better measurement of why some programmes prove more effective than others, and the factors that can influence male offender engagement, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: With much of the discussions around police recruitment and student officers focused on entry routes, early leavers and inexperience, University of South Wales Policing Lecturer Jack Moss argues that it’s time for a more meaningful and accurate measure of success or otherwise of the Policing Education Qualifications Framework, as well as greater recognition for the efforts and achievements of student officers themselves.

FEATURE: In the wake of the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police Officer, Bedfordshire Police launched its Blue Bell network to support victims and witnesses of sexual misconduct within the force, and empower officers and staff to speak out; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Bedfordshire Detective Chief Superintendent Zara Brown about the success of the initiative, tackling the “epidemic” of violence against women and girls, and the interest in the scheme from other forces and agencies.