OPINION: Earlier this year British Columbia began Canada’s first drug ‘decriminalisation’ policy, removing criminal sanctions for adults in possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs; but research scientist Dr Kanna Hayashi, an Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University, warns that while police continue to seize drugs even when users aren’t charged with offences, toxic drug deaths will remain a major problem.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth takes a look at the UK's new National Risk Register, the most open and transparent Register to date, and considers the implications for policing and other emergency services of the increased focus on partnership approaches.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Salesforce has introduced a capability that transforms the experience for a victim of crime, providing them with automatic updates on their case and offering a feedback facility. This will initially target high-volume, low-level crimes.

INTERVIEW: Widely regarded as the founder of evidence-based policing, Professor Lawrence Sherman is one of the world’s most influential policing experts; in the first article in a four-part interview series, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke with Professor Sherman about his innovative work as the Metropolitan Police’s first Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) tackling some of the biggest problems facing the force.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The world of data and analytics is changing. An ever-growing range of sources of information and intelligence, whilst necessary for the modern policing mission, can also provide challenges. How do Analysts avoid being overwhelmed and missing important pieces of the puzzle?

OPINION: In September 2022, Sir Mark Rowley came back into policing after some time away from the job at the end of a 30-year career, to take up one of the UK’s toughest roles as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, who served in the Met Police for 30 years, looks back over Sir Mark’s first year in post, and delivers an annual appraisal of how well the Commissioner has performed against his stated objectives.

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.

FEATURE: Researchers from the University of Birmingham have identified key warning signs that indicate which survivors of domestic abuse may be most at risk of attempting suicide, and believe that sharing the assessment tool with police and healthcare professionals could help to keep more abuse survivors alive, as Sarah Gibbons reports.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: DroneX Tradeshow & Conference is returning to the ExCeL London on the 26th & 27th of September 2023 running next door to Helitech expo and Advanced Air Mobility Expo.

OPINION: While police officers accept and understand the physical dangers of the job, David Marshall, a serving officer and part-time policing lecturer and PhD researcher, believes that the constant negative rhetoric, public disdain and media criticism around policing – exacerbated by a lack of effective leadership – is leaving officers exposed to even greater levels of psychological danger and harm to mental health that are fuelling high attrition rates. 

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to Valentin Pereda, Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology at the University of Montreal, about the need to tackle the flow of illegal firearms, the importance of conversations between academia and law enforcement, and the impact of organised crime in his home country of Mexico.

ANALYSIS: The Government of British Columbia has introduced new policing standards in relation to the response to and investigation of sexual assault, in a bid to ensure a “victim-centred, trauma-informed approach”, as well as highlighting the need for police policies to be “culturally-appropriate and legally-informed”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: New research by Dr Jackie Alexander and Professor Sarah Charman at the University of Portsmouth has highlighted gender disparity in the temporary promotions process in UK policing, which they believe is likely to have as great an impact on gender advancement as the proverbial ‘glass ceiling’; but with forces and the Government “at best ignorant of, and at worst disinterested in” these areas of gender bias, they argue that little will be done to address the disproportionality unless data is collated and examined in more detail to understand the scale of the disparity.

ANALYSIS: Earlier this month the Australian Government released new action plans to end violence against women and children, including the first dedicated to addressing violence against women and children in First Nations communities; Monash University Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Associate Professor Marie Segrave, and Griffith University Professor Silke Meyer, explore the aims of the plans, how their progress will be measured, and what is needed to ensure effective change and a reduction in violence.

FEATURE: Drones are increasingly a vital tool in policing, playing an important role in areas of search and surveillance; but with concerns highlighted around the manufacture of unmanned aircraft systems in China, and the increasing use of drones by criminal gangs, law enforcement must ensure that the risks around the procurement and deployment of drone and counter-drone technologies are acknowledged and understood, says Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth.

ANALYSIS: HM inspectors recently highlighted the concern that poor data gathering and analysis is affecting police performance management in England and Wales; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass looks at the issues involved and puts the spotlight on two of the forces that are getting things right.

OPINION: The police use of live facial recognition (LFR) regularly comes under scrutiny because of privacy, accuracy and surveillance concerns; but Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI, Disruptive Innovation, and Law at Brunel University, argues that rather than banning LFR, more effective regulation of its use would address concerns while enhancing public safety.

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.

ANALYSIS: The police use of stop and search powers has come under significant scrutiny and criticism in relation to concerns over discrimination on racial grounds; but new research carried out among frontline officers in the Met has found substantial variability in decision-making around the threshold for grounds to search, but no racial bias regarding the use of stop and search.

INNOVATION: The difficulties in securing evidence – particularly from digital devices – for offences relating to violence against women and girls are often cited as a contributing factor for the worryingly low reporting, detection and conviction rates; police technology advisor Paul Kennedy and technology CEO Simon Franc believe cloud-based ‘software-as-a-service’ platforms which enable victims to upload evidence via an app could improve detection and conviction rates will freeing up police resources.

ANALYSIS: Government, industry, law enforcement and many other parts of civil society have been attempting to harness and leverage the potential benefits of burgeoning AI; but as Mercedes Page, Senior Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) explains, in recent weeks the dark web has become a breeding ground for a new generation of AI tools designed to cater to a cybercriminal’s every illicit need.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: From crime scene information capture and leadership training to evidential management and case file preparation, wellbeing and mental health support, KIM Software Solutions delivers on a wide range of priorities to help save law enforcement time and deliver better outcomes, as Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass reports.

INNOVATION: Gloucestershire Constabulary no longer needs to take rape victims’ phones from them for data analysis; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass hears how this new approach has improved the service and experience for victims, while also saving police time and money.

FEATURE: With one in seven UK employees currently juggling paid work and care for a loved one, North Wales Police has become the first force to be accredited under the Carer Confident benchmarking scheme, which recognises organisations that provide a supportive working environment for individuals with caring responsibilities – and as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports, the organisation behind the scheme would welcome more police forces getting involved.