FEATURE: Continuing a new series of The Police Student, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the social and historical context of the British police. She shows how tensions that have been present from the foundation of the police are still relevant to policing in the 21st century – and draws lessons from policing history that can be applied to the present day.

OPINION: Levels of violent crime across America saw an unprecedented increase in 2020, and remain worryingly high in 2021; in this latest essay from the Violence Reduction Project, Dr Laura Huey, Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario, argues that programs for ‘supportive reporting’ have the potential to reduce often unrecorded violence through increased reporting, not something easily dismissed.

OPINION: Already referred to as ‘the most surveilled nation on Earth’, the UK looks set to invest in more CCTV through a funding boost to the Safer Streets initiative; but Professor William Webster of Stirling University believes that expanding the existing disparate and fragmented CCTV ecosystem neglects the wider societal change required for women to feel safer in public places.

OPINION: Later this month the Cumberland Lodge Police Conference will focus on law enforcement and reconciliation, and how to address the complex issues around past harms; Met Police Assistant Commissioner Robert Beckley, currently leading the Operation Resolve investigation into the Hillsborough Disaster, highlights some of the challenges in balancing calls for sanctions, retribution and formal accountability, with the importance of learning, understanding and healing.

INNOVATION: The fast pace of development in drone technology represents an ever-evolving range of threats – particularly in the hands of terrorists; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the new counter-UAV training for first responders being delivered as part of DroneWISE, and how the project is helping to improve co-ordination and co-operation between countries and agencies.

ANALYSIS: The N8 Policing Research Partnership is currently holding the Policing Innovation Forum, focusing on ‘Effective Partnerships in Policing’; At the first session in May, Dr Layla Skinns of the University of Sheffield presented on research on vulnerability in police custody, including the growing role of health care professionals and liaison and diversion, and the concept of ‘universal vulnerability’.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Police forces in England and Wales face a huge challenge to recruit an extra 20,000 officers by 2023, but there are helpful lessons to be learned from elsewhere. PwC has been working with the Swedish Police, who have a similarly ambitious recruitment target. In their second article, Muz Janoowalla, Director of Data and Analytics at PwC UK, and Fredrik Birkeland, Public Sector Consultant at PwC Sweden, look at the Swedish experience of how data analysis of the applicants’ experience can provide insights to improve the application process.

JOB ADVERTISEMENT: We are looking for an inspiring new Chair with the drive and experience to lead our Board and our future strategic development. Do you share our passion for making a difference on road safety and will champion and advocate our work across the road safety landscape?

INTERVIEW: Not all officers relish the prospect of a high-pressure ‘no-comment’ interview, where a suspect’s lack of response can lead to oppressive silences; but new research by Acting Detective Inspector Dan McCarthy of Sussex Police suggests additional training to master the uncomfortable interview room dynamics can lead to much more positive outcomes, as Policing Insight Deputy 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 - 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.

OPINION: The police and crime commissioner elections on 6 May saw a ‘blue wave’ of results, as Conservative successes dominated by more than three to one with 29 candidates elected, compared to only eight Labour, one Plaid-Cymru and no independents; Martyn Underhill, who stood down as independent PCC for Dorset at the last election, muses over the surprising election results and what they mean for policing.

VIOLENCE REDUCTION PROJECT: Levels of violent crime across America saw an unprecedented increase in 2020, and remain worryingly high in 2021; in this latest essay from the Violence Reduction Project, Chris Fisher, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives at Seattle Police Department, says that any attempt to tackle the problem must focus on stopping the violence first, before wider public health and community approaches can be considered.

Policing Friendship Tour: Diversity in policing, the role of the College of Policing and the criminal inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster were among the topics discussed by Assistant Commissioner Rob Beckley and Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix, as Bernard embarked on the second leg of his Policing Friendship Tour in Somerset.

ANALYSIS: The debate over the benefits of double-crewed versus single-crewed police response units has continued for some time, but new research from West Midlands Police indicates that pairing up is more productive, safer and delivers more successful outcomes; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett looks at how this new data can help to deliver a better assessment of the numbers required on response policing, and offer the best chance of detection in the safest way.

OPINION: A private members bill is currently being considered in the Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory that could see the possession of many illicit drugs for personal use decriminalised; Professor Nicole Lee of the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, and RMIT University Lecturer Jarryd Bartle believe the move is a natural conclusion to decades of research on drug-related harms.

OPINION: The Misuse of Drugs Act came into effect half a century ago, and while society, policing, and attitudes to and availability of drugs has changed significantly over those 50 years, the law has not; with billions spent on attempting to tackle an issue that has increased substantially since 1971, policing commentator and former drugs policy lead Ben Twomey believes that both an honest public debate over drugs, and a review of the Act, are long overdue.

OPINION: With Sadiq Khan re-elected as London Mayor, the focus now turns to one of the key issues of the campaign – tackling knife crime; Greg Berman, former Director of New York’s Center for Court Innovation, and Elizabeth Glazer, former Director of the Mayor of New York’s Office of Criminal Justice, believe there are lessons for London in the efforts of New York to tackle its own problem of criminal violence.

FEATURE: While COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns significantly impacted on criminal activity in many areas, the latest Europol report confirms that migrant smuggling and human trafficking quickly adapted to a new normal; Policing Insight’s Chris Allen looks at the scale of the problem, efforts to target smuggling and trafficking operations, and the trade-off between the right to privacy and the criminal exploitation of encrypted communications channels.

New report: With growing volumes of increasingly complex demand, police contact management was already facing significant challenges before the arrival of COVID-19; but a new report by CoPaCC highlights how forces have responded to more varied public channel choice, adopted and developed new technology, and adapted working practices and reporting structures to meet the challenges of both the increasing demand and the pandemic.

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: Justin Partridge, Postgraduate Researcher at Leeds University Business School and Visiting Fellow at the Open University Centre for Policing Research and Learning, considers the major issues facing the policing of cybercrime ahead of the second session of the N8 Policing Research Partnership’s Policing Innovation Forum 2021: Partnering Up Against Cybercrime.

INTERVIEW: Advances in technology and the growing demand for digital communication have led to significant changes to police contact management, but the arrival of COVID-19 presented a whole new challenge; Superintendent Aimee Ramm, the National Product Owner for policing’s digital platform Single Online Home, explains how the development team met that challenge, and the continuing evolution of online reporting and contact prompted by the pandemic.

FREE SUBSCRIBER ACCESS: Policing Insight welcomes officers and staff from Dyfed Powys Police, 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.

FEATURE: The NPCC Digital Forensic Science Strategy, developed by the Transforming Forensics (TF) Programme and the Forensic Capability Network, is a blueprint for change to address pressing problems and put forward transformational but realistic solutions; TF Programme Director Richard Meffen explains the aims and issues addressed, as well as some of the key project work being undertaken – such as Legacy Data guidance and CSE Automate – to enable that transformation.