ANALYSIS: Since January 2024, emergency support to tackle the impact of extreme weather, such as wildfires and landslides, has been requested 29 times via the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM). Policing Insight's Andy Staniforth reports on the findings of the CORE project, led by a unique pan-European consortium of partners, to improve our understanding of the current emergency response to disasters and the role aerial imagery systems play in combatting them.

FEATURE: Last week’s Global Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) Conference, supported by Policing Insight as media partner, saw pioneers of the evidence-based approach gather in Melbourne to share insights and best practice, as well as signing a new memorandum of understanding between EBP societies in six countries that could lay the foundations for greater global collaboration and co-operation, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: The effect of tiredness and lack of sleep on motorists’ driving ability has long been recognised by police, but less attention has been focused on the effect of fatigue on police officers themselves; Chief Inspector Dr Yvonne Taylor of the National Police Wellbeing Service explores the impact of insufficient sleep particularly on shift working police officers, and what resource are available to officers and supervisors to address the issue.

ANALYSIS: Every seven minutes a child is faced with harmful online content but as the threat grows, law enforcement is still playing catch up in its awareness of the risk the Metaverse poses to child safety. Policing Insight's Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports on new research led by Professors Julia Davidson of the University of East London and Elena Martellozzo of Middlesex University that is seeking to redress the balance.

ANALYSIS: While a recent raise in the terror threat level has increased awareness among Australians about the domestic terror threat, John Coyne and Justin Bassi of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) warn that Australia’s diminishing role in international counter-terrorism (CT), coupled with uncertainty over CT responsibility and resources at government level, is exposing Australian citizens to greater risk.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Faced with digital evidence management challenges, South Yorkshire Police Force launched its Technology Enabled Change initiative to find a solution. The force initiated a competitive procurement process, and after lengthy vetting, selected NICE Investigate to help in their quest to digitally transform investigations and evidence management.

INTERVIEW: Former Met Assistant Commissioner and NPCC Lead for CT Policing Neil Basu QPM is one of the country’s most outspoken former senior cops; in the second part of an extended interview series with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, he gave his reflections on the Met today – how early access to the excoriating Casey Review left him “in tears”, a personal insight into Mark Rowley the “blue sky” thinker and “reformer”, and his perception of “poor leadership in policing, from top to bottom.”

FEATURE: A mental wellbeing programme that emphasises the psychological impact of organisational stress on mental health is being rolled out in an Australian police agency. Policing Insight's Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons 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.

ANALYSIS: Football and other public order events inevitability lead to officers being drafted in from other units but research undertaken by Keele University's Dr Mike Hope, Project Leader for ENABLE UK, and Professor Clifford Stott as part of the ENABLE project reveals how greater use of Operational Football Officers reduces abstraction rates as well as disorder and anti-social behaviour.

INTERVIEW: Policing Insight’s recent ‘Facing the future: the rise of facial recognition in policing’ report drew on 34 interviews with operational leaders and experts to examine how facial recognition (FR) is being used by police around the world and the key debates about the technology; as part of that project, James Sweetland interviewed Dr Andrew Chen, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Auckland about New Zealand Police’s approach to this technology and the debate around accuracy and bias – in this article, we share more from that insightful conversation.

FEATURE: Terrorist organisations are turning to small hosting service providers (HSPs) with less capacity and capability to prevent the spread of extremism on their platforms. Policing Insight's Andy Staniforth reports on TATE, an initiative specifically designed to help HSPs remove terrorist content quickly.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The Inspire Justice Awards, supported by Policing Insight as media partner, are the UK’s only awards programme dedicated to recognising the achievements of individuals and teams across the entire justice system. From the hundreds of nominations, the 26 finalists can now be revealed ahead of the awards ceremony to be held at the QEII Centre in London next Thursday 12 September.

OPINION: Senior Lecturer in Policing at Edgehill University Owen West reflects on the nature of the recent riots and their impact on legislation. He says the early signs are the new government is planning to adopt its predecessor's ‘bad law’ around minor protests.

INTERVIEW: Human trafficking and exploitation stretches far beyond borders. Former MPS Superintendent Bernie Gravett who led the first joint trafficking investigation in Europe and who now specialises in counter-trafficking training tells Policing Insight’s Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons that training overseas officers is key to helping tackle serious and organised crime in the UK.

ANALYSIS: Despite recent negative media headlines and a lack of recognition from politicians and campaigners, evidence shows that diversion and out-of-court resolutions in the UK are usually more effective than court sanctions in reducing offending; Fionnuala Ratcliffe, Research and Policy Lead for Transform Justice, explains how and why out-of-court resolutions are used, and invites forces to take part in new research on the issue.

ANALYSIS: Animal cruelty is recognised in the US as both a potential predictor of intimate partner violence, and as a way to perpetrate that violence; research by Professor Lynn Addington of the American University found that intimate partner violence incidents involving animal cruelty are more likely to end with an arrest, reiterating the importance of expanding intimate partner violence protection laws to include pets, and the need for strong partnerships between police and humane law enforcement departments.

FEATURE: Crucial to defending the UK against the threat of terrorist attack has been the relationship between policing and the Security Service, a unique collaboration that has existed for more than a century and that as a counter-terrorism approach is the envy of many other countries, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explains.

INNOVATION: New 360-degree camera technology is enabling jurors, lawyers and investigators to get a better, more immersive understanding of crime scenes, while also providing video tours with audio commentary to explain key locations of interest, as DC Simon Chamberlain explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: Former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner and National Police Chief’s Council Lead for Counter-Terrorism Policing Neil Basu QPM is one of the country’s most outspoken former senior cops; in the first of a three-part interview series with Policing Insight’s James Sweetland, he called on the new Government to “bin the 43-force model”, argued that the police and crime commissioner (PCC) model has proven a “disaster”, and talked about the “embarrassing deficit” in leadership training for future top cops.

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.

OPINION: The August Bank Holiday weekend saw huge crowds at the Notting Hill Carnival, and while many were there to celebrate, others were intent on violence, with eight stabbings, two fatalities, more than 50 police officers injured, and 334 arrests; former police officer Oliver Laurence, now Managing Director of the Public Safety Foundation, believe it’s time to take a new approach to making the event safer.

ANALYSIS: New research by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) based on interviews with more than 40 investigators across five forces in England and Wales has highlighted the lack of experience and mentoring, high workload, and unequal rewards facing detectives, leaving officers frustrated and victims receiving a poorer service, as LJMU Research Director Dr Adrian James told Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass.

FEATURE: A new report from the Youth Endowment Fund has highlighted worrying levels of knife crime and violence involving children, despite overall falls in other areas of crime; the organisation is now calling on the Government and others in the criminal justice system to prioritise support and diversionary approaches for arrested children, which are proven to have more effective outcomes than going to court, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.