United Kingdom

Opinion: In 2015, after experiencing anxiety and depression, Police Sergeant Mark Montgomery tried to take his own life. In a brave and moving account, Mark explains what he went through and how he used his experience to develop a suicide prevention programme for the City of London Police.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Digital Evidence Management systems are now critical for today’s investigations but how can the police be sure they are investing in the right technology? Jamie Wilson discusses the need for forces to share best practice - as well as digital information - and announces the Transformational Global Policing Summit as the perfect forum to discuss and share that knowledge

ANALYSIS: What is expertise and who is really an expert? Dr Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University explores the role - and value - of expertise in policing, and its complexities.

OPINION: The latest @wecops chat discussed a new report by Zoe Billingham of HMICFRS which looked at how effectively police respond to and support people with mental health problems. Sgt Caroline Hay summarises the discussion and the learning from it.

Analysis: Former GMP Assistant Chief Constable and now CoPaCC Director Ian Wiggett considers the thorny subject of improving productivity in policing and suggests that part of the answer may be ‘hidden in plain sight’

OPINION: Knife crime has reached its highest recorded level in eight years prompting the Government to propose a new Knife Crime Prevention Order to help solve the problem, but, in this exclusive article for Policing Insight, Director of Transform Justice Penelope Gibbs asks whether the evidence base exists to support the introduction of KCPOs.

INSIGHT: The public rightly expects to submit digital evidence quickly and easily to the police, but many forces do not have the technology to facilitate this, compelling officers to physically retrieve the device that captured the evidence, but what if your force covers an area of nearly 2,700 square miles?

OPINION: Policing is a can-do service, but what happens when illness or disability mean that you can't? Colin Paine is a Detective Chief Superintendent in Thames Valley Police. Here he reflects on his diagnosis of ME/CFS.

Opinion: Whatever the demands of the police service, there is a need for support for the business to run efficiently and economically for the benefit of its citizens.  Benjamyn Damazer, formerly vice-chair of a police authority and now working with Sopra Steria, examines the role for a shared service centre of excellence and asks can the police really continue to do it all themselves?

INSIGHT: Around 1 in every 200 children go missing each year, according to the Missing People charity. Many of those children are in care or on the edge of care. Syreeta Lund reports on No Wrong Door, an initiative in North Yorkshire that combines resources and skills to provide better outcomes for vulnerable young people.

ANALYSIS: In the mid-2000s, Glasgow was known as the murder capital of Europe. Now London Mayor Sadiq Khan is trying some of Scotland's solutions - but will they travel? Prof. Susan McVie, Ellie Bates, and Rebecca Pillinger of the University of Edinburgh examine long-term changes in violence and ask whether there really is evidence of Scottish exceptionalism.

Interview: Those working in this area are familiar with the concept of the 'revolving door' of crime. Burcu Borysik, Policy Manager for Revolving Doors Agency which has just launched a new project, says Police and Crime Commissioners are key to helping break the cycle.

Analysis: Traditional responses to trafficking focus on disrupting criminal networks and protecting the victims, but a European project is taking a different approach including ways to reduce demand for the services of those who are trafficked. Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth explores the drivers of this $12bn a year crime.

OPINION: Last week, police leaders and ICT suppliers gathered for the two-day Police ICT Summit 2019 in Hinckley, Leicestershire which attracted over 300 delegates. Based on the presentations, one of those delegates has sent us their 'end-of-conference' progress report on the state of Police ICT.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Crime is changing, demand is growing, and policing itself is undergoing relentless transformation. Are you ready to meet the next wave of challenges? Anglia Ruskin’s postgraduate courses are designed specifically for serving officers and staff - to prepare you to adapt and to lead the next generation of policing.

ANALYSIS: Media reports suggest a surge in 'Albanian mafia' involvement in drug trafficking and organised crime. However, Anna Sergi of the University of Essex warns that this misrepresents the role of Albanian offenders and networks, and damages our understanding of the complexities of organised crime, and the global Albanian diaspora.

INSIGHT: How do you continue to effectively police a large rural force area when you’ve lost nearly 500 police officers in the last eight years? Devon and Cornwall Police believe they may have the answer with their new community responders - on-call firefighters who are also warranted police officers.

INTERVIEW: The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has launched a major new TV campaign for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to be heard at the Truth Project. Head of Truth Project and Strategy Helen Ryan and Chris Tuck, a member of the Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel and a survivor of child sexual abuse, explain the importance of the Project. 

NEWS: Issues with the Athena system, used by nine UK police forces to share intelligence and build case files, were highlighted on the BBC this week but CoPaCC's Police ICT User Survey shows the problems are not confined to Athena. Scroll down to listen to the Police Federation's Simon Kempton and Policing Insight's publisher and CoPaCC Chief Executive Bernard Rix being interviewed about the challenges facing police ICT.

OPINION: With an increasing emphasis on evidence based policing and greater engagement by police in research activities, Professor Juliet Lodge writes that ethics in police research are just as important as in their operational role.

NEWS: LIVE BLOG: This year's annual Police ICT Summit 2019 runs this Wednesday and Thursday in Leicestershire. We are blogging live from the conference.

INTERVIEW: As the Police ICT Summit gets underway this week, Police ICT Company CEO Ian Bell talks to Policing Insight about the challenges he's faced in his first year in the role and what the future holds for Police ICT.

Interview: The cost of scamming in online market places is estimated to be almost £1.7 billion with victims losing £65, on average, although that figure rises to over £90 for older victims. Policing Insight speaks to the UK Head of Marketing and Customer Services for Gumtree – Britain’s market leading online classified ads platform – about the effort that online marketplaces can make to protect their users and how the police can help.  

OPINION: Calls for public access to information about child sex offenders living in local areas are common. However, Maggie Hall of Western Sydney University warns that sex offender registries can also lead to community hysteria, loss of sleep, and vigilante attacks on innocent people.