United States

FEATURE: Twelve years ago this month the planned suicide bombing of a US airport by an employee fuelled by online extremist content was successfully thwarted by the FBI, in what became a benchmark for covert insider threat operations; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks back at the Terry Lee Loewen case, and also at ongoing work to develop a strategy to help businesses detect and deter potential internal hostile actors.

ANALYSIS: Research by criminal intelligence specialist Helen Glazebrook as part of a Churchill Fellowship award examines the collaboration between police and correctional facilities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and the UK, highlighting the need for closer co-operation between agencies particularly in relation to monitoring the actions of those involved in serious organised crime, as she explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: Police leaders, academics and stakeholders gathered in Ontario recently for Canada’s first in-person evidence-based policing (EBP) conference, exploring a range of topics including overcoming barriers and normalizing EBP within law enforcement, the importance of leadership in embedding the approach, and turning research into action; Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood looks at the main themes and debates emerging from the Building Bridges event.

ANALYSIS: In the third in a series of five articles looking at the big debates in police use of facial recognition (FR), extracted from this year’s ‘Facing the future: The rise of facial recognition in policing’ report, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland explored human involvement in overseeing FR systems – often seen as an essential requirement for a trustworthy use of the technology, but does the human presence really reduce bias?

FEATURE: While law enforcement agencies around the world look at co-responder models and health partnerships to answer the growing demands of those in mental health crisis, new research from the US suggests that teaming up mental health clinicians with police officers to respond to behavioural health-related calls has no better outcome in terms of reducing arrests or improving treatment engagement than simply sending a uniformed officer, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: The recent Safety of Our Cities conference in Ontario, Canada, highlighted the continuing debate between closer collaboration with other agencies or tougher enforcement of existing legislation as the way forward to cutting crime and ensuring the safety of urban communities; Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood looks at some of the key points put forward by chiefs and politicians from various jurisdictions.

ANALYSIS: In the second in a series of five articles looking at the big debates in police use of facial recognition (FR) – extracted from this year’s ‘Facing the future: The rise of facial recognition in policing’ report – Policing Insight spoke to senior officers, academics and technical experts to explore concerns around bias and accuracy, a subject central to the facial recognition debate and a common reason for some people’s opposition to police use of this technology.

ANALYSIS: In the first of a two-part feature marking the 30th anniversary of police use of TASER, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland explores the global growth of this tool, what it offers policing, and concerns about racial disproportionality and use in mental health incidents – drawing on interviews with National Police Chiefs’ Council less-lethal weapons lead Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi, Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber, and others.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens compares and contrasts the use of AI drones as patrol tools and first responders with the traditional role of patrol cars, and explores the key issues around privacy, accountability and oversight.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass examines the proliferation of law enforcement across the UK, Australia, the US and Canada preparing to send UAVs out to view incidents before personnel can reach them on the ground, and examines the advantages and criticisms of the approach.

ANALYSIS: The increase in drug-related extreme violence and the scale of drug seizures across Europe suggest Mexican and South American cartels already view the EU as the ideal location for expansion; former DEA Special Agent Michael Brown, Global Director of Counter-Narcotics Technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices, believes steps can be taken by European governments and law enforcement to thwart that expansion – but will require political will, increased co-operation, and better use of technology.

OPINION: The recently announced Neighbourhood Policing Pathway and the Government’s commitment to 13,000 new neighbourhood ‘officers’ for England and Wales is both light on detail and a reworking of an old approach – one which could be much more effectively replaced by learning lessons from the successful community responder models in place in the United States, argues Senior Policing Lecturer and former chief superintendent Owen West.

ANALYSIS: Gun homicides in Philadelphia surged during the covid years, but so far in 2024 fatal shootings are down by almost 40%; Carla Lewandowski and John A. Shjarback, Associate Professors of Criminal Justice at Rowan University, argue that while there is no single explanation for the drop, new police crime fighting strategies and leadership, a return to post-covid ‘near normalcy’ for policing and criminal justice, and wider national crime trends have all played a part.

FEATURE: Last week’s Global Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) Conference, supported by Policing Insight as media partner, saw pioneers of the evidence-based approach gather in Melbourne to share insights and best practice, as well as signing a new memorandum of understanding between EBP societies in six countries that could lay the foundations for greater global collaboration and co-operation, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: Animal cruelty is recognised in the US as both a potential predictor of intimate partner violence, and as a way to perpetrate that violence; research by Professor Lynn Addington of the American University found that intimate partner violence incidents involving animal cruelty are more likely to end with an arrest, reiterating the importance of expanding intimate partner violence protection laws to include pets, and the need for strong partnerships between police and humane law enforcement departments.

INTERVIEWS: Ahead of the Global Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) Conference, Mark Evans, NZ Police Executive Lead for Future Policing and the Vice-President of the Australia New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing, spoke to fellow EBP pioneers about the growth, opportunities and challenges around the approach; in this second of two features, he explores the future of EBP over the coming decade, and how to increase understanding among the public as well as convincing the sceptics.

INTERVIEWS: Ahead of September’s Global Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) Conference, Mark Evans, NZ Police Executive Lead for Future Policing and the Vice-President of the Australia New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing, spoke to fellow EBP pioneers about the growth, opportunities and challenges around the approach; in this first of two features, he looks at advice for agencies embarking on EBP, and where should efforts be focused – leaders, front-line officers, or both?

ANALYSIS: Although police departments across the United States have taken steps in recent years to improve relations with the LGBTQ community, new research suggests that LGBTQ people experience more mistreatment by police, have lower levels of trust in law enforcement, and are less likely to call for help, than their non-LGBTQ counterparts, says Stefan Vogler, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

ANALYSIS: Many cities and towns across the US facing worrying levels of gun violence are turning to the ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology to help tackle the problem; however, research carried out by Northeastern University Professor Dr Eric Piza indicates that while the new tech can improve the response time to firearms incidents, it has no impact on enforcement levels, clear-up rates, or reducing victimisation.

ANALYSIS: In the third in a series of four articles, Policing Insight’s Matthew Wood explores the issues around police leadership, why traditional approaches can lead to low morale and toxic work environments, and how adopting and implementing transformational leadership practices can deliver benefits for officers and the communities they serve.

ANALYSIS: While the annual cost of policing in Canada approaches $20 billion, violent crime and homicide rates have increased significantly; University of Ottawa Professor Emeritus Irvin Waller, and Carleton University PhD candidate Jeffrey Bradley, argue that programs tackling risk factors give a better return on investment, pointing to the success of such schemes in the UK and US as indicators of what can be achieved.

INNOVATION: From advanced surveillance and data analytics to facial recognition and collars that can detect ‘anti-predation’ behaviour in farm animals sparked by the actions of livestock thieves, a recent online roundtable involving policing, academic and farming stakeholders highlighted the importance of agricultural technology – coupled with traditional policing methods – in tackling rural crime, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: In the latest in a series of articles exploring the opportunities and challenges presented to police by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Chief Philip Lukens explains why he believes that police departments should avoid labelling AI transcription of body cam footage as report writing.

FEATURE: Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the recent successful operation by European law enforcement agencies working with colleagues in the US to take down multiple platforms used to disseminate terrorist propaganda, and explores the ongoing efforts of Europol to target those spreading terrorist content online.