United Kingdom

OPINION: Lincolnshire PCC Marc Jones provides his perspective on the Government announcement this week of an additional 20,000 police recruits over the next three years.

Analysis: With this week’s announcement that the police service must recruit 20,000 extra officers over the next three years, Managing Director of a national police recruitment website Allpolicejobs.co.uk Richard Place explores the facts behind the headline figure.

interview: This month, the Home Office launched new software to speed up online child abuse investigations and limit the number of indecent images police officers have to view. Benjamin Gancz, former Metropolitan Police detective and CEO of Qumodo, which was involved in developing the software, talks to Policing Insight about the potential impact of this new tool.

Analysis: When the National Rural Crime Network launched its report on rural domestic abuse, the Network received calls from victims whose harrowing experiences had left them feeling isolated, unprotected and abandoned. Chair of the National Rural Crime Network and Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire Julia Mulligan explores the issues surrounding this hidden crime.

Long Read: Former UK police officer and now Research Fellow at Western Sydney University Alan Beckley has analysed the findings of over 60 different studies of body-worn cameras (BWC) providing an insight into the different perspectives on their effectiveness in gathering evidence, lowering police rates of use of force and violence towards the police.

Opinion: UK Police & Justice Managing Director for Accenture Allan Fairley explores how greater collaboration would allow police forces to tap into and exploit the huge potential offered by emerging technology quickly and cost effectively.

insight: The phrase “80% of what the police do has nothing to do with fighting crime” is often bandied about, but where does it come from and is it accurate? Statistic Regulator for the Office for Statistics Regulation Lewis Jack discusses the OSR's review of the value of police statistics in promoting public understanding of policing.

Interview: EXCLUSIVE: Merseyside Chief Constable Andy Cooke talks to Policing Insight about why forces need to increase their use of Stop and Search, why fighting serious and organised crime needs large scale investment and what it is that keeps him awake at night.

ANALYSIS: With Lincolnshire Police beginning a Judicial Review against the College of Policing, the controversy over the new police entry routes, the PEQF, shows no sign of abating. Dr Emma Williams and Jack Chapman (research assistant) of Canterbury Christ Church University examine the operational readiness of forces for the new qualification requirements.

News: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is encouraging those in policing to feedback on its updated draft data sharing code of practice which been produced in line with requirements under the Data Protection Act 2018. The draft code is now open for consultation.

Opinion: On the day the Home Office published the Frontline Review on officers' views, including wellbeing, at the Police Federation's headquarters, CEO of PoliceBox Simon Hall happened to be there holding a workshop on police ICT with frontline officers. Their message, he says, was clear - reduce bureaucracy by improving police ICT and wellbeing will improve too.

Analysis: The Independent Terrorism Legislation Reviewer faces increasingly complex terrorist threats, from home-grown extremists to the full scale of international terrorism. Policing Insight Contributor Andrew Staniforth looks at the history of the role and the demands the new Independent Reviewer will face, especially as they relate to policing.

ANALYSIS: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises the findings of the State of Policing report by HMCIC Sir Thomas Winsor which gives an overview of the current situation in policing in England and Wales.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Crime-scene and crash-investigation officers have until 1 October 2020 to conform to ISO/IEC 17020. Validation will ‘put the science behind the science’ of investigating crime scenes and collisions – but what’s involved, and will the benefits outweigh the challenges?

News: EXCLUSIVE: Lincolnshire's Chief Constable Bill Skelly is mounting a legal challenge against the College of Policing over the new degree entry scheme that could reduce the force's frontline by 40 officers or 10 per cent of its deployable strength. Policing Insight reports.

Opinion: The Home Office has published its much-anticipated Frontline Review, but the service has seen many reviews many of which have resulted in little change so what's different about this one? Policing Insight's Editor Tina Orr-Munro takes a look.

INNOVATION: Humberside T/ACO Justin Partridge leads NETIC, a seven-force collaboration in the north east and the single largest regional collaboration the police service in England and Wales has ever attempted. But with cross-force collaborations enjoying mixed success, Policing Insight asks - why will NETIC succeed where others have failed?

Opinion: The forces that have been trialling live facial recognition (LFR) technology in the UK have been closely monitored by the Information Commissioner's Office. While forces have legitimate reasons to use LFR, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham says there are privacy and data protection issues that still need to be addressed.

Insight: Scrutiny is an essential element of effective police governance, but how do you implement a process that is open and wide-ranging and genuinely supports improvement in a force? Policy and Assurance Advisor for Dyfed-Powys OPCC Claire Bryant and the OPCC team have introduced a new scrutiny framework that aims to do just that.

analysis: Ten years ago, a WHO report urged governments to look at long-term social policy solutions to knife crime rather than view it as a policing issue. With a number of cities in the UK in the grip of a knife crime epidemic, Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth explains how this can be achieved.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: How emerging technologies are improving the efficiency and operational effectiveness of policing is set to be the key focus of The Emergency Services Show 2019, taking place in Hall 5 at the NEC, Birmingham on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 September.

Insight: It's day two of the Police Governance Summit 2019. Once again we will be live blogging the conference which will be taking a look at governance in other jurisdictions as well as the lessons learnt from police and fire mergers and how evidence can inform practice.

Insight: The second annual Police Governance Summit is taking place in Daventry this week. Policing Insight will be live blogging from the two-day event covering a range of issues from measuring performance, financial resilience and the critical relationship between chief constables and police and crime commissioners.

Report launch: Today sees the publication of the annual CoPaCC PCCs and Statutory Transparency Report which looks at the performance of the 28 OPCCs taking part in the assessment to be awarded the CoPaCC "Open and Transparent" Quality Mark.