United Kingdom

Fire Mergers: PCC Stephen Mold on the future of joint police and fire initiatives in Northamptonshire and his plans for improving services to the public

FIRE MERGERS: PCC Lord Willy Bach calls for common sense collaboration between services and argues that giving PCCs the power to take over the running of Fire and Rescue Authorities is a step too far

NEWS: Bernard Rix, CoPaCC Chief Executive and Publisher of Policing Insight, provides details of today's event to recognise OPCCs for meeting their statutory requirements on openness and transparency.

NEWS: Policing of domestic abuse was put under the spotlight at a major research forum looking at innovative ways of tackling one of the biggest issues facing society. The Policing Innovation Forum (PIF) was organised by the N8 Policing Research Partnership (N8 PRP) in collaboration with 12 northern police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners and other partner agencies.

OPINION: Ian Wiggett, CoPaCC Associate and former Greater Manchester Police ACC, casts an expert eye over the Vision published last week by NPCC and APCC, which indicates agreement about the challenges ahead. But will there be sufficient consensus amongst key wider stakeholders to see these challenges addressed?

OPINION: Ché Donald of the Police Federation of England and Wales argues that the much-trumpeted 'uplift' in authorised firearms officers (AFOs) is no uplift at all - and warns that without more Home Office support for AFOs, many may soon down weapons.

OPINION: Over the last months we have run several articles on the proposed integration of the British Transport Police into Police Scotland. Here, Darren Townsend of the British Transport Police Federation offers an update on the Fed's latest negotiations with Scottish Government officials and advisors on the planned merger.

ANALYSIS: This week, during a reception at the Tower of London to mark the Police Dependants' Trust's 50th anniversary, the Trust announced the findings of research they commissioned on the ‘invisible injuries’ of UK policing. Gill Scott- Moore, Trust Chief Executive, explains...

OPINION: "Police officers deal with enough grief and trauma during the service and are exposed to such constant negativity that it must do – and does – affect their mental health". Police blogger and serving officer "Nathan Constable" takes a personal look at the effect that policing can have on an individual, and commends the Police Dependants' Trust on research findings they have recently published..

OPINION: Morale in the police service is a key issue, highlighted by the results of recent surveys by the Police Federation and the Police Dependants' Trust. Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University calls for the embedding of a culture of participatory leadership at every rank, to ensure communication, curiosity, collaboration, and trust.

OPINION: International Restorative Justice Week runs from the 20th to the 27th of November. Lucy Jaffé, Director of the charity, Why me?, takes the opportunity to look back at the year, and offers thoughts on how Restorative Justice should be measured as part of victim recovery. There is also news about a new promotional toolkit being launched in RJ Week 2016 with the support of well-known TV presenter and Great British Bake Off star, Mel Giedroyc.

ANALYSIS: It's International Restorative Justice week. Do the police REALLY understand the strengths and processes associated with RJ? Jon Collins, CEO of the Restorative Justice Council, provides some much-needed clarity...

OPINION: Steve White, Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, addressed last week's APCC / NPCC Conference on the subject of police leadership - Steve also leads on "initial leadership" within the College of Policing's "Leadership in the Professional Community" portfolio. In this article for Policing Insight, he reiterates the arguments he put forward at the APCC / NPCC Conference.

OPINION: Bernard Rix, CoPaCC Chief Executive and Publisher of Policing Insight, provides his first reaction to this week's announcement of "Policing Vision 2025".

ANALYSIS: Ian Wiggett, CoPaCC Associate and former Greater Manchester ACC, explains how the economics and operational demands of local regions will determine the success or failure of collaboration between the police and fire services in the UK

OPINION: Dave Etheridge, President of the CFOA, says the Chief Fire Officers’ Association will support Police and Crime Commissioners taking responsibility for fire; but there must be a robust local business case made that identifies enhancements to public safety

OPINION: Police officers are increasingly asked by other agencies to undertake 'welfare checks' on people in mental health crisis. Serving officer 'Nathan Constable' argues that not only do the police have no powers to intervene in many cases, but their involvement can often make matters considerably worse.

OPINION: Last week’s @WeCops discussion on leadership in policing asked, among other questions, how the voices of officers could be heard better by leaders, and whether the proposed reduction in ranks will be positive or negative. Ahead of the chat, @dedicatedpeeler Gareth Stubbs argued that leadership is as much about the people being led as it is about those doing the leading. Here he summarises the debate and the issues that it raised.

ANALYSIS: As the NPCC/APCC Conference continues into its second day in London, Tom Gash - a speaker at the conference on Day One - takes a look at the politics of police leadership.

LONG READ: High profile shootings like that of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Station in 2005 exposed weaknesses in the accountability mechanism around the police use of fatal force. Maurice Punch, Ralph Crawshaw and Geoffrey Markham, QPM argue that the issue has largely been dealt with through fudge, fiction and a refusal to acknowledge changing realities - leaving individual firearms officers to carry the can.

NEWS: CoPaCC surveyed 40 OPCCs and discovered that support for taking on fire governance is limited at this stage with boundary alignment, existing governance arrangements and political opposition proving a considerable challenge

OPINION: Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service Brandon Lewis says the government is committed to enabling fire and police services to work more closely together and develop the role of elected and accountable PCCs

ANALYSIS: Former Chief Constable Nick Gargan reviews the contributions to the CoPaCC Police and Fire Mergers and Collaboration Report and gives his view on the outlook for the future

ANALYSIS: Catherine Levin looks at the results of CoPaCC's survey of police and fire collaboration among the 40 PCCs in England and Wales and shares an early insight into the evolution of this area