United Kingdom

OPINION: In the wake of last week’s UK Government white paper on police reform, Emily Spurrell, Chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), explains that while PCCs welcome modernisation of the service, the APCC has concerns over the accountability of policing – and particularly the new National Police Service – under the reform plans, as well as the risks of stifling local innovation, and the need to safeguard the future of victim and crime prevention services pioneered by PCCs.

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FEATURE: In the latest in The Police Student series focusing on Community and Neighbourhood Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the issues of police visibility and public perception, its impact on reassurance and confidence in policing, and the effectiveness of foot patrols.

FEATURE: A report capturing key insights, challenges, and priorities identified during a roundtable on intelligence and serious and organised crime (SOC) – featuring officers and intelligence leads from more than 30 UK forces alongside regional organised crime units and overseas partners – is calling for intelligence to be repositioned as the “strategic engine” in the fight against SOC, and sets out steps to build capacity and embed an intelligence-led culture, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: As the scale and complexity of financial crime, fraud and cyber-crime continue to grow in the UK and globally, Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons explores two new measures to tackle the challenges – the creation of the We Fight Fincrime Association, and the launch of the victim-centred Report Fraud service by City of London Police.

OPINION: In the wake of the publication of the UK Government’s white paper on police reform for England and Wales, former chief officer Will Kerr highlighted four key challenges, drawing on lessons learned during restructuring in Scotland and Northern Ireland; in this longer-read article, he expands on those points, exploring the challenges facing the reform intent set out in the paper, and suggests steps that can be taken to ensure the process is more effective.

FEATURE: A new rural and wildlife crime policing strategy for England and Wales incorporates the ‘4Ps’ approach of prevent, pursue, protect and prepare to tackle criminal activity, alongside increased police powers, greater co-operation and better use of technology, with a particular focus on the actions of organised crime groups that are blighting rural communities, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: In the wake of the recent controversy around West Midlands Police’s decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Aston Villa, a move which eventually led to the retirement of the force’s beleaguered Chief Constable Craig Guildford, former chief superintendent and policing lecturer Owen West, who specialised in crowd policing throughout his career, argues that the case highlights the paucity of good intelligence around football policing, and calls for a review of this major policing function.

FEATURE: Following the publication this week of the police reform proposals for England and Wales, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at how community and neighbourhood policing can remain a key focus for law enforcement throughout restructuring processes, and how similar reforms in The Netherlands and the work of the European KOBAN project can provide insights for UK policing.

OPINION: Following the publication on Monday of the long-awaited white paper on reform for policing in England and Wales, Police Superintendents’ Association President, Supt Nick Smart, shares his initial response to the Government’s proposals – highlighting both the challenges and opportunities – and urges the Home Secretary to work more closely with officers in developing a service that is fit for the future.

INTERVIEW: A new study by researchers from the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre into when and why members of the public call the police has found that despite concerns over declining levels of trust, when people feel at risk or vulnerable they will still turn to the police for help – although improved availability of other agencies could help to reduce demand – as two of the report’s authors, Professor Ben Bradford and Dr David Rowlands, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: The UK Government’s long-awaited white paper on police reform in England and Wales, published today, sets out proposals for the creation of a new National Police Service with responsibility for serious and organised crime, counter-terrorism and setting national standards, a move away from the 43-force model to fewer regional forces, the introduction of a ‘licence to practise’ for officers, and powers for the Home Secretary to sack under-preforming chief constables, reports Policing Insight’s Keith Potter.

FEATURE: Legislation that lets people learn about their partners’ abuse histories has been introduced in a number of countries, including the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, but the schemes have mixed results globally; while some struggle with resources and bureaucracy, others, such as South Australia’s successful scheme, achieve high victim satisfaction through specialist support, and are heralded as life-saving.

OPINION: With the UK Government’s police reform white paper finally emerging, police leadership is once again due to come under the spotlight; police ethics advisor Montell Neufville, and Kimberley C. Lamb, Director of Legitimacy and Public Service for Bedfordshire Police, set out why this opportunity to create a new leadership model for policing, widen the talent pool, and introduce diverse, standardised, independent selection panels, could strengthen leadership legitimacy and professionalism while building greater public and internal trust.

ANALYSIS: As UK policing continues to wait expectantly for a new white paper, in the second of two articles on police reform organisational psychologist Michael Stephenson takes a closer look at other elements of the ‘Performance Paradox’ – including the technology trap, and the case for national capability – and sets out 10 provocations to challenge conventional reform thinking, in the hope that policing achieve real and sustainable change for victims and officers.

FEATURE: The latest report from Europol’s European Migrant Smuggling Centre is warning that criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling and people trafficking are now more agile than ever and operate in scalable, structured, global networks, with the exploitation of digital tools and social media alongside a growing willingness to use violence all increasingly parts of the criminals’ armoury, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: With someone reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK, missing persons enquiries are a significant demand on police forces and other support organisations, and can include complex concerns around vulnerability, abduction, and transnational investigations; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the work of Interpol in supporting international searches, and new European research funding streams to help develop tools and methods to improve those cross-border investigations.

OPINION: The recently published Metropolitan Police report into vetting failures highlights a wider potential “perfect storm” for good officers, warns former police superintendent Martin Gallagher, now an author and terrorism expert, as the dangers of working alongside colleagues who should not be in the service, the risks of corruption, and a lack of strong leadership leave them doing an increasingly difficult job in the face of growing hostility from the public.

FEATURE: The Government’s recently announced new strategy for tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) calls for the issue to become a “defining measure of policing standards and trust”, with plans to use tactics already deployed in the fight against organised crime and terrorism to address VAWG, alongside new technology and laws; but campaign groups and service providers have already voiced fears over the funding to implement the strategy, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Research from Operation Soteria has found that police officers believe that victims of rape and serious sexual offences may be subject to secondary victimisation by their experiences with the police, with such revictimisation occurring at the initial reporting phase, during evidence gathering, and if investigations are victim rather than suspect focused; in this article, Dr Anna Gekoski, Professor Miranda Horvath and Dr Kari Davies, who conducted the research, explore these issues further.

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FEATURE: A recent report into police performance by the Social Market Foundation thinktank has highlighted that “subpar leadership and management” across police forces in England and Wales is one of the driving factors behind deteriorating assessments in areas such as criminal investigation and outcomes which, alongside the continuing mismatch between police demand and capacity, are damaging public trust and confidence, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Policing in the UK is currently waiting expectantly for the soon-to-be-published police reform white paper; in the first of a two-part article on reform – and why bigger isn’t better, culture trumps structure, and technology won’t save us without transformation – organisational psychologist Michael Stephenson explores the performance myths that need to be dispelled, the real story from the PEEL assessment data, and why Positive Deviance methodology could be crucial for police reform.

FEATURE: The UK Government’s new Road Safety Strategy includes tougher enforcement measures, better use of data to address root causes of collisions, deaths and injuries, and the launch of a new Roads Policing Innovation Programme; but it stops short of introducing the progressive licences and tighter restrictions on new and young drivers that many campaigners had called for, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.