OPINION: The Emergency Services Network (ESN), the replacement for the UK police radio communications system, has been beset by delays and rising costs. Evan Morris MBE, vice chair of the National Association of Police, Fire and Crime Panels (NAPFCP) and chair of Cheshire Police and Crime Panel, calls on crime panels to challenge their Police and Crime Commissioners over the impact this has had on budgets.

OPINION: The current pandemic has forced many industries to address questions of flexible working as a matter of some urgency. But for many in policing, flexible working is hampered by complex business needs as well as structural and cultural issues. Here, Sgt Caroline Hay and Dr Emma Williams present a @wecops Twitter debate on the issues.

INSIGHT: The illegal wildlife trade is ‘a major transnational crime’, with multi-million dollar money laundering operations and links to corruption and drug trafficking that will require closer international co-ordination to tackle, according to a new report.

Innovation: Many training and education organisations are moving more of their learning online, partly in response to the COVID-19 crisis – and often with mixed results. With more than 50 years' experience of distance learning, The Open University know the structure and support needed to successfully deliver online learning, as Dr Paul Walley, Director of Learning within the University's Centre for Policing Research and Learning, explains.

INNOVATION: Big data can provide powerful insights into policing and improve performance, but getting it wrong leads to unreliable conclusions and poor policies. In the first of two articles, Professor Tom Kirchmaier, Director of Policing and Crime at the London School of Economics, outlines his team's work with British policing and some of the important principles of using big data.

Opinion: 'Section 60' stop and search powers continue to cause controversy, but Montell Neufville, a police ethics adviser, trainer and chair of a police community scrutiny panel, says that if officers of all ranks adhered to the Police Code of Ethics, many of the issues surrounding stop and search could be avoided.

Opinion: Damian Allain, a former senior detective and now Head of Casework at charity Inside Justice, believes a lack of knowledge and understanding around the safe retention of evidence in criminal cases is risking potential miscarriages of justice.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: Somaya Alwejdani and Professor Richard Wortley from the Jill Dando Institute UCL explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of harm posed to children through online sexual abuse.

OPINION: The 'de-fund the police' movement has been gaining traction in the United States, and similar debates are happening this side of the Atlantic. But far from being a threat to law enforcement, Owen West believes de-funding policing in favour of resourcing other support agencies is a real opportunity for constructive change.

IN THE NEWS: 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 National Police Library. You do not need to be a member of the College to access its library.

Job advertisement: Police Lecturer vacancies at Babcock International for their new flagship contract partnering with several Higher Education Institutes across London to deliver the new Metropolitan Police Service Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) framework.

FEATURE: In our continuing series aimed at supporting the new police degree entry recruits, Policing Insight's Academic Editor Dr Carina O'Reilly outlines a third case study of evidence-based policing in practice – this time looking at what we know about arrest and dealing with offenders, and how that knowledge can be put into practice.

Analysis: With officers in 'policing tribes' likely to come into regular confrontational contact with other tribal groups, Martin Tangen argues that a return to fundamental Peelian roots is the best way to prevent policing prejudice and bias.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Policing Insight readers are invited to watch the recording of our recent webinar, hosted jointly with Drivetech, in which a panel of leading figures from the world of roads policing considered the potential impact of changes set to be made in 2024, which will require the installation of mandatory safety equipment in all new vehicles. Drivetech’s Managing Director, Charlie Norman, gives his reflections on the event.

ANALYSIS: New Zealand's efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic have been widely praised and admired. Mark Evans, a Deputy Chief Executive of New Zealand Police and a recent addition to Policing Insight's International Advisory Board, explores the role that the police service played in helping to enable that successful all-of-government response.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: Professor Betsy Stanko OBE and Dr Jyoti Belur from the Jill Dando Institute UCL and Dr Katrin Hohl from City University of London examine the impact of the pandemic lockdown on domestic abuse and offer insights on the way forward.

Analysis: In the past twenty years, policing in Northern Ireland has transformed itself to become more representative of the communities it serves. Adjunct Professor at City University of New York Dr. Laura Weinstein and Assistant Professor at Emory University Dr. Donald Beaudette examine policing in Northern Ireland and the potential lessons for US police forces.

Insight: Once the legal process relating to cases of sexual abuse or violence is completed, it's often the families of victims who are left to pick up the pieces, acting as carers for their loved ones, in some cases for many years. Restitute founder Cath Pickles shares the experiences of her own family following her daughter's disclosure of sexual abuse, and highlights the need for more effective early interventions and better support for all families supporting victims.

INSIGHT: A review of bullying in New Zealand Police, prompted by a number of allegations last year, has praised senior officers for their 'exemplary' efforts in transforming the operating model to one of prevention and a 'people-focused culture', while also setting out the steps needed to complete the 'last steep climb in a long journey of cultural change'.

ANALYSIS: Drawing on interviews with senior police leaders and frontline officers, Dr Arabella Kyprianides et al* examine how COVID-19 legislation and government guidance impacted policing during the lockdown in the UK and the implications now restrictions are being eased.

Opinion: With the use of artificial intelligence (AI) on the increase, Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth discusses the progress of the ROXANNE project in discovering criminal networks and identifying their members by capitalising on certain aspect of AI technologies.

Opinion: In his first blog as President of the Disabled Police Association, Simon Nelson highlights the impact of Covid-19 on disabled officers and staff, and calls for national policing strategies to truly value difference, diversity and disability.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: Nadine L. Salman and Dr Paul Gill from the UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science discuss the terrorist threat during the coronavirus pandemic and how the lockdown has increased the risk of radicalisation online.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: This year Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) celebrates 25 years of delivering educational courses in policing. CCCU has been instrumental in the national conversation about shaping the higher education offer within policing and as a result, we have adapted our programmes to fit the changing context of policing over time.