ANALYSIS: A new survey of UK counter-fraud teams has highlighted a surging crime generating huge volumes of data, with specialists struggling to secure investment in technology and recruit staff; but despite the challenges, the report also points to pockets of best practice and opportunities to improve prevention, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: The recent controversies around ‘shameful’ behaviour and policing failings in the Metropolitan Police Service have prompted a wider debate about policing culture and identity across UK forces; in this article Professor Simon Robinson and Dr Jonathan Smith argue the need for policing to establish a clearer professional identity, with the lead taken nationally rather than left to be addressed by individual forces.

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: Despite travel restrictions imposed during Covid – and with the war in Ukraine now sparking a refugee exodus – criminal networks smuggling people into Europe increased their activity in 2021 after several years of declining figures, according to the latest Europol Migrant Smuggling Centre Report; Policing Insight’s Chris Allen looks at the report and highlights its key findings.

ANALYSIS: The New York Police Department and Mayor of New York, Eric Adams, are caught on the horns of a dilemma – how to tackle the city’s spiralling gun crime while controlling the community resentment created by years of overzealous law enforcement; Policing Insight contributors Gareth Bryon and Dr Dorothy Moses Schulz explore the strategies that Mr Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell will use to re-balance public safety concerns.

FEATURE: Police forces around the world have established special weapons and tactics (SWAT) units to tackle some of the most dangerous and demanding situations; the recent international UAE SWAT Challenge in Dubai gave forces the opportunity to test their skills, share experiences and exchange best practice, as Dr Jorge Román of Dubai Police explains.

ANALYSIS: With artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly utilised in policing, regulation and governance of the new technology, as well as recognition of its limitations, will be crucial if communities are to support its wider use; Analyst Dr Teagan Westendorf of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute takes a closer look at the implications of AI for policing in Australia.

ANALYSIS: The recent State of Policing report presented by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor was his last in the role; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett looks back at what has changed during his decade in post, and what will need to change moving forwards to secure the strategic improvements in UK policing that both the police and public are looking for.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Mission-critical communications and public safety specialists Hytera have built their market-leading reputation on a combination of resilience, reliability, innovation and adaptability – characteristics that are embodied in their latest products on show at this year’s World Police Summit in Dubai, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in our series of articles on continuing professional development in policing, Dr Emma Williams of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning and Dr Tom Cockcroft of Leeds Beckett University examine the vital role that tutor constables play in supporting new recruits, and what more the service should do to provide structure and purpose for police tutoring programmes.

ANALYSIS: Often overlooked, unrecognised and under-reported, the violent abuse experienced by some mothers at the hands of their adult children is often exacerbated by gendered expectations around caring and parenting, and requires understanding and long-term support, as Anglia Ruskin University PhD Candidate Thien Trang Nguyen Phan explains.

ANALYSIS: A recent operation backed by Europol and Eurojust saw police arrest more than 100 organised crime suspects in Latvia and Lithuania, and close down a scam call centre operation generating millions of euros; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the operation itself, and how European collaborations are playing a vital role in tackling financial crime and large-scale money laundering.

ANALYSIS: Increasing police numbers can reduce crime rates, yet England and Wales have one of the lowest officer-population ratios in Europe; with crime likely to become increasingly complex, Social Market Foundation Senior Researcher Richard Hyde calls on police and policymakers to invest further in workforce recruitment, to contain and reduce the current high levels of crime.

FEATURE: A new report from the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee has called for more governance and scrutiny of technology in the UK justice system, amid concerns that the lack of standards and transparency over the police use of artificial intelligence threatens human rights and civil liberties, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

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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.

INNOVATION: More than 90% of UK police forces are now looking to invest in cloud infrastructure and technologies; but as well as delivering security and improved flexibility, the move to the cloud is also driving greater equality and sustainability, as Chris Oldham, Head of UK Public Sector for Citrix, explained in this article for Emerging Tech in Policing Week.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Steve Hone, former National Crime Agency (NCA) Regional Manager for North America, Canada and the Caribbean and now an independent serious and organised crime consultant, about Afghanistan, targeting crack, and the importance of covert human intelligence sources.

OPINION: Forensic science is often overlooked as a niche part of policing, but after six months as the new National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Forensic Lead, Chief Constable Nick Dean argues that forensics is vital for enabling crime investigation and prevention, and sets out a raft of changes which could help policing restore public trust.

INNOVATION: Virtual and augmented reality immersive technologies could provide valuable insights for police officers in both training and real-world scenarios; in the second in a series of articles from Emerging Tech in Policing Week, Stergios Aidinlis, Research Analyst at Trilateral Research, explores some of the potential benefits and the challenges of using this new technology.

OPINION: To mark World Autism Acceptance Week, South Wales Police Superintendent Marc Attwell breaks down some of the common myths around autism, and explains how being autistic has helped him in his policing career.

INNOVATION: Artificial intelligence, automation and machine learning offer significant opportunities for improving performance in policing; but in this first in a series of articles from Emerging Tech in Policing Week, Matthew Cheesman, Technology Consulting Manager for Accenture, argues that the key to their successful adoption and implementation will be ethics, transparency and governance.

OPINION: HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, Gill Imery QPM, leaves her post tomorrow (1 April) after four years leading HMICS; Mrs Emery, who will be succeeded by Craig Naylor (currently Deputy Director of Investigations at the National Crime Agency), shared her reflections on the challenges and achievements for the Inspectorate and Police Scotland during a tumultuous period of policing globally.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The European Police Congress will be taking place this year on 11 and 12 May. It will be even broader and more international than in previous years. The event is now to take place in hub27 on the Berlin exhibition grounds.