United Kingdom

ANALYSIS: Reflecting on a turbulent 12 months for UK policing, Steve Dodd, a former South Wales Police detective and College of Policing subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, examines some of the key challenges and how the community intelligence-led policing methodology could help forces and officers to address those issues.

FEATURE: A new report from Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons into how the UK policing response to modern slavery has changed over the past 10 years warns that the Whitehall rhetoric and political focus on organised immigration crime has left forces under resourced and officers with ‘one hand tied behind their backs’ in the fight against modern slavery – despite the significant impact on victims and the economy – as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: Operation Yellow Card, an innovative scheme launched by Cambridgeshire Police and local football clubs to tackle youth offending at matches, has already significantly reduced reoffending among youngsters and could soon be rolled out across other forces, as scheme founder and Cambridgeshire PC Mike Price – the Dedicated Football Officer (DFO) for Peterborough United – explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: County lines drug dealing was defined in the UK by the National Crime Agency in 2015, and has evolved considerably over the last 10 years, with some believing the term itself is now outdated; University of Liverpool Graduate Teaching Fellow and PhD Candidate Jenna Carr, a former county lines caseworker, argues that the evidence of the past decade suggests policing-led crackdowns on county lines are largely ineffective, and that public health and addressing the demand for drugs should be the priority.

INTERVIEW: The latest wellbeing survey of police officers in England and Wales has been labelled a “wake-up call” by Andy Rhodes, Service Director at Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service, who told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons that the police service is on “borrowed time” when it comes to officer attrition through exhaustion and fatigue, and warned that policing “can’t keep pushing the pedal harder”.

ANALYSIS: The latest police workforce data for England and Wales shows that while successive governments have promised more funding and additional officers, the total police workforce still remains smaller than at its previous peak 15 years ago; in the first in this new series of articles on workforce development, Ian Wiggett looks at the changes in size and make-up of the police workforce over the past year – the first under a Labour Government since 2010.

OPINION: With the policing focus in London inevitably drawn towards next week’s Notting Hill Carnival, Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone – a former Metropolitan Police officer and public order specialist who was involved in the policing of Carnival for 28 years – looks at the challenges of the event, the fears around public safety and the pressures of funding, and considers what would be the price to pay for a safer and more financially stable Carnival.

FEATURE: New research highlights how organised crime groups and long-term corporate actors are increasingly involved in a range of waste crime, attracted by the significant profits as well as the relatively low level of deterrents and punishments, as Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen reports.

FEATURE: British Transport Police (BTP) is believed to the first force in the UK to recruit police officers specifically to work part time, in an effort to both increase the representation of women and meet the force’s business needs more effectively; BTP Director of People and Culture Rachael Etebar told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons that while the approach had seemed to shock some people, the first round of recruitment had attracted a cohort of higher quality, more mature candidates.

OPINION: The story of the Special Air Service (SAS), entertainingly told (with some creative licence) in the BBC SAS Rogue Heroes drama series, highlights the impact of embracing the unorthodox and encouraging innovative and analytical ideals when traditional approaches are not succeeding; Jonathan Jackson, Associate Professor of Policing and Investigation at Leeds Trinity University, believes policing in the UK would do well to learn from those approaches in tackling some of the current complex challenges.

FEATURE: A recent joint inspection on case building across England and Wales, undertaken by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, has highlighted continuing challenges around communications between the police and CPS, a lack of ‘fit for purpose’ IT, and the need for a new over-arching national criminal justice system strategy, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Police wellbeing is increasingly a matter for serious concern in the UK, highlighted most recently by the results of the National Police Wellbeing Survey; Dr Ashley Cartwright and PhD Researcher Ellie Hutchison of the University of Huddersfield’s Crime and Policing Research Centre believe new research into individuals’ character strengths could lead to an evidence-based interventions programme that will proactively build psychological resources to help shape a healthier, more resilient police service.

FEATURE: Organised crime groups (OCGs) are driving a significant increase in UK vehicle thefts, with international and online market places and criminals stealing to order, against a backdrop of dwindling detective numbers and a lack of specialists, says a new study from the Royal United Services Institute, which calls for a new national co-ordination body to tackle the “complex, cross-jurisdictional and international threat”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: More than 140 potential chief officers in England and Wales have now passed through the College of Policing’s Executive Leaders Programme, the replacement for the Strategic Command Course, where activities include placements at non-policing organisations; the reformed process has seen a rise in women taking the course, but is far from hitting one of its main aims, as Ian Weinfass reports.

INTERVIEW: Following the recent launch of a new Mental Health Crisis Line offering around the clock support to police officers and staff in England and Wales who are experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts, Andy Rhodes – Service Director for Oscar Kilo, which has commissioned the service – spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the reasons behind the launch, how the line will operate, and why he was “worried but proud” to do something positive about saving lives.

ANALYSIS: The recent Independent Criminal Courts Review endorsed expanding the use of out-of-court resolutions – which can provide effective resolutions to crimes, and save victims from the stress and lengthiness of court – but what do victims think? New research by Transform Justice highlights considerable support for the approach among victims of crime, and identifies some of the reasons behind their dissatisfaction with the process – including lessons for policing – as Transform Justice Research and Policy Officer Ella Thomson explains.

FEATURE: In the latest article in The Police Student series, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the work of non-state agencies in the criminal justice system – including both third sector and private sector organisations – and considers the vital roles they play in filling gaps within the statutory service provision, the challenges around their involvement, and the importance for police officers of understanding these agencies’ positions within the complex criminal justice landscape.

INNOVATION: The Offending 2 Recovery (O2R) programme pioneered by West Midlands Police is credited with life-saving support to get addicts off of drugs, while also significantly reducing the shoplifting crimewave faced by retailers; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to the officer who first created O2R, the police and crime commissioner who funds it, and the former addict who stole more than £30m of goods to feed her habit and who believes O2R saved her life.

ANALYSIS: Prevent training – particularly the duty-to-refer protocol – as part of the UK’s anti-terrorism provision does not serve its purpose; a study at one university in England identified issues faced by those lecturers currently charged with the responsibility to implement it, explains Nicole Lees, a Lecturer in Security, Intelligence and Investigative Practice at the University of Cumbria.

ANALYSIS: New research among officers from Australia, New Zealand, and England and Wales has highlighted the “alarming” levels of PTSD and poor mental health, and called for a more holistic approach to wellbeing, with training for managers and leaders in providing better support for officers; research co-author Dr Alan Beckley spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the challenges around the internal culture of policing, and the need for “empathetic and caring managers”.

FEATURE: Despite many initiatives to tackle the high volume and harm of domestic abuse, victim-survivors are still being failed, says a new report, with a definition of domestic violence that is “too broad for effective operational policing”, a lack of resources to deal with growing and increasingly complex demand, and a risk assessment system that is “not fit for purpose” among the main barriers to improving service delivery, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: UK politicians from all parties have previously invoked crime as a threat, and their own brand of politics as the solution, warn criminology professors Emily Gray and Stephen Farrall – and distorting its nature can erode public trust in the institutions tasked with protecting the public, foster punitive and ineffective policy responses, and leave whole communities feeling targeted, criminalised or unsafe, based on selective and often sensational narratives.

FEATURE: A new Professionalising Investigations Programme launched by the College of Policing (CoP) is now being trialled by 13 forces across England and Wales, with a view to improving outcomes for victims, introducing national first-line supervisor standards, and equipping sergeants and police staff with enhanced skills, as CoP Crime & Criminal Justice Delivery lead Chief Superintendent Jamie Daniels told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: With the policing landscape changing “faster than ever”, Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) Learning and Development lead David Bamber, and Dr Sean Bell, Lecturer in Policing Organisation and Practice at the Open University, explain why the two organisations are working together to introduce a “fully accredited, recognised and validated programme in professional practice” for PFEW reps to ensure they have the skills required to take on a role that is “becoming more challenging”.