Coronavirus / COVID-19

Analysis: The latest in our Report Watch series summarises a report by Europol on how Covid-19 will shape serious and organised crime landscape in the EU beyond the pandemic.

Analysis: Many countries are beginning to ease lockdown restrictions, but as the world charts a path out of the pandemic, the future remains uncertain for all including policing. Assistant Director of Strategic Foresight for the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA) Mike Richmond examines the different post-pandemic 'scenarios' that law enforcement may be faced with in the coming months and years.

ANALYSIS : The implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for policing are far-reaching. Dr Liz Aston, Director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), explores some of them further, particularly from a Scottish perspective.

OPINION: The global pandemic has illustrated that policing does not operate in a vacuum when it comes to delivering public services. Policing Insight's Publisher Bernard Rix looks at how one supplier worked with UK police forces, the Police ICT Company and the National Police Technology Council to ensure previously office-based work could be rapidly undertaken by police officers and staff in their own homes.

Opinion: Since the Covid-19 lockdown began, knife crime has fallen significantly across the UK, but former gang member and founder of Gangsline Sheldon Thomas warns that the respite will be short-lived as this and other gang-related crime can only be tackled through societal change.

Opinion: Tom Nolan, Visiting Associate Professor of Sociology at Emmanuel College, Boston University, explores how the pandemic is affecting crime statistics in the United States and the impact it is having on the police response.

Innovation: In the second of a series of articles, Charlie Norman, managing director of road safety organisation DriveTech, argues that temporary changes to the way that motoring offenders are dealt with, brought about by the Coronavirus, are proving so successful that there’s a strong case for making them permanent.

EXCLUSIVE: As the government begins to ease some Covid-19 restrictions, including allowing people to meet in parks, what does this mean for policing? In an exclusive article, Professor Clifford Stott and others* explore the huge challenges 'liberalisation' presents policing and how policing can maintain legitimacy.

Analysis: USA: Covid-19 has presented law enforcement with huge challenges, but Dr. Joseph A. Cortez, Associate Professor at the University of Southern California and Lieutenant at the Santa Monica Police Department, argues it is also an unprecedented opportunity to switch off 'auto-pilot' and use the lessons learnt to help re-shape the future of policing.

Opinion: With some daily headlines in Britain focused on the use of police powers in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Professor Ian Loader from the University of Oxford considers the role of the police and how effective the current police response has been.

Analysis: Dr Alex Oaten from the University of Birmingham and Dr Chris Allen from the University of Leicester consider the principle of policing by consent and whether this has been lost in the policing reponse by some forces to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Analysis: The uplift in police officers coupled with the impact of the coronavirus could overwhelm an already beleaguered criminal justice system, according to a report by the Institute for Government. Senior researcher at the Institute Benoit Guerin explores the report's findings in greater detail.

OPINION: The culture of policing has undoubtedly evolved over the last decades, but what does the latest stage mean? Serving officer Martin Gallagher argues that the 'fourth age' of policing could see mobile working undermine the capacity of senior officers to lead on the frontline.

INSIGHT: A rapid flattening of the now familiar Covid-19 infection curve has enabled the Isle of Man to ease some of the current restrictions, ahead of the United Kingdom. Isle of Man Chief Constable Gary Roberts shares the challenges this has presented and some of the early lessons learnt.

Opinion: As retired police officers are asked to consider returning to their force to help police the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, policing commentator Mark Brown discusses how the UK could develop a resilient and effective policing model able to cope in times of crisis.

Interview: Last month, amid concerns, the Government announced 4,000 low-risk prisoners would be released to tackle the spread of Covid-19. Policing Insight contributor Sarah Gibbons asks West Midlands Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner Waheed Saleem, who is leading a multi-agency, regional response, how will the scheme will work.

OPINION: Former Chief Superintendent and author of the bestselling Blue: A Memoir - Keeping the Peace and Falling to Pieces John Sutherland considers the role police officers are playing in the face of the current pandemic and how all too often stories of their bravery and courage are overshadowed by tales of heavy-handed policing tactics.

OPINION: The UK police service is in the process of developing the Single Online Home, a national, digital counter service offering over forty policing services. But then the world changed. NPCC Lead for Digital Public Contact and Chief Constable of Leicestershire Simon Cole QPM reflects on the progress made and the impact of Covid-19.

Innovation: Scrutiny is a vital aspect of police governance, but how does it work during a pandemic? Last week, Cheshire Police and Crime Panel became the first to use Zoom to question Cheshire PCC David Keane on how the force is performing in these unprecedented times. But can a 'virtual meeting' be a substitute for the real thing?

INTERVIEW: Policing is facing its greatest challenge since the Second World War as officers enforce the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Bedfordshire Chief Constable Garry Forsyth tells Policing Insight how the Coronavirus has touched every aspect of police business, including challenging accepted working practices.

Opinion: The coronavirus crisis is having a serious impact on the global illegal drugs market. Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth examines the ramifications for the UK and considers how countries are handling drug enforcement during the pandemic.

OPINION: Across the world, a variety of surveillance techniques are being used to slow the spread of Covid-19. In his latest blog, UK's Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter argues that while the systems may look different, the principles behind deploying surveillance technology remain the same.

Analysis: When US polling organisation Elucd asked Americans how satisfied they were with guidance received during the Coronavirus emergency, local police departments polled even worse than the President. Michael Simon, CEO of Elucd and former head of analysis to President Obama’s re-election campaign, tries to understand what lies behind this surprising result.

ANALYSIS: Enforcing the lockdown, officer wellbeing and what happens when the lockdown ends were just some of the issues discussed on last week's popular @WeCops Twitter forum on police legitimacy, chaired by Professor Ian Loader. Thames Valley Police Superintendent and @WeCops team member Katy Barrow-Grint explores the issues raised.