United Kingdom

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: In this article taken from a series by the UCL Jill Dando Institute focusing on crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Gloria Laycock OBE analyses the crime statistics on distraction burglaries and discusses how this type of crime is set to increase during lockdown.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic Dr Michael Frith from the UCL Jill Dando Institute discusses residential burglaries and how lockdown restrictions have forced offenders to change their tactics.

OPINION: With the Coronavirus dramatically accelerating discussions around digitising police legacy systems, Ben Austen of technology consultancy Tisski outlines some of the main benefits – for both the police and the public – of improving cloud-based digital evidence and forensic case management systems.

OPINION: The disproportionate use of stop and search is often a result of either conscious or unconscious bias, and can undermine relations between police and communities. Police ethics adviser Montell Neufville examines the dangers of dismissing disproportionality, and how officers can challenge those arguments.

ANALYSIS: The recently announced review of police and crime commissioners could see an expansion of their role, a raised profile, and a 'potentially explosive' review of their relationship with chief constables, as Ben Twomey, Head of Policy and Research at the National Youth Advocacy Service explains.

OPINION: The debate around institutional racism in policing has led to polarised, entrenched views; anger and frustration on social media; a lack of clear guidance and leadership; and a mistrust of cops and communities. Former police officer and blogger Cate Moore urges all involved to take a step back, listen and engage – to keep calm and stop carrying on – in an effort to find the way forward.

Analysis: Thames Valley Police Superintendent and WeCops team member Katy Barrow-Grint summarises the latest WeCops debate on the impact of COVID-19 on police mental health, wellbeing and fatigue. The debate reached an audience of 3.8 million on Twitter – the largest so far.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises HMICFRS inspection of police forces' call-handling and contact management centres in 2018/19

OPINION: With increasing attacks and abuse on the streets, vilification online and a seeming lack of support from some politicians, the sense of a growing anti-police sentiment – added to the frustration many officers already felt – is damaging officer welfare. Owen West believes it's time for the NPCC to take the lead in promoting public service, preventing a siege mentality, and protecting officers and staff.

OPINION: As the prospects of a negotiated Brexit agreement diminish, Dr Paul Swallow, Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University's School of Law, Criminal Justice and Policing, outlines why he believes a no-deal Brexit will inevitably weaken the UK’s position on international security.

ANALYSIS: The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for all sectors of policing. David Page, a former police officer who specialised in intelligence and counter-terrorism (CT), and who is now a university lecturer and consultant, explores the impact of the pandemic on CT.

UCL COVID-19 SERIES: Dr Rick Brown and Amelia Hickman from the Australian Institute of Criminology consider how online gambling can be a precursor to offending behaviours such as fraud and domestic violence and how this risk has increased during lockdown.

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor's overview of the state of policing in England and Wales in 2019/20 including the policing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ANALYSIS: A report by the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) revealed strong evidence that law enforcement reduces road fatalities and serious injuries. PACTS Policymaker Frank Norbury shares the report's findings and recommendations including that roads policing should be part of the Strategic Policing Requirement.

Opinion: Paul Griffiths, President of the Police Superintendents' Association, says the police service's recruitment drive in England and Wales is a 'generational opportunity' to improve diversity, but only if we do things differently.

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.

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.

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.