Coronavirus / COVID-19

FEATURE: KOPS – Keeping Our People Supported – is a new app launched by An Garda Síochána to provide around-the-clock support for officers and staff as well as the wider force family; Alison Keogh of the force’s Strategic Transformation Office talked to Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons about the importance of making advice and support services accessible, anonymous, and relevant to a wide range of issues.

OPINION: For over a decade, public safety officials have recognised that the capacity to retain current highly trained staff and recruit next generation professionals is central to public service success; the University of Southampton’s Dr Fatema Zaghloul, and Justin Partridge of the University of Leeds, explore talent management in the public safety sector and reflect on previous endeavours to attract next generation professionals.

FEATURE: The growing demands placed on police officers are contributing to increasing levels of mental ill-health within the service, yet research has highlighted the continuing stigma around asking for support with mental health problems; British Transport Police Temporary Special Sergeant Shawny Dixon, who is currently studying for her MSc in Policing and Law Enforcement Leadership, looks at some of the existing research around the issue, and what the service could be doing to tackle the problem.

ANALYSIS: While climate change is generally seen as damaging for communities across the globe, transnational organised crime gangs are ready to take the opportunities offered by fragile states, scarce resources and regulated markets to further their profits while putting the pubic at risk, as Dr John Coyne of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute explains.

FEATURE: A Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) was used by ACT officers in Canberra last week as part of the policing operation dealing with vaccine mandate protests, prompting a range of concerns and claims about the damage done by the device; composer, artist and sonic expert Lawrence English, a Research Fellow at Queensland’s Griffith University, explains the workings and limitations of LRADs.

INTERVIEW: UKROEd is responsible for the management of the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS); Chief Executive Ruth Purdie, formerly a police officer for 30 years, spoke to Policing Insight about what the scheme has delivered since its first online courses were offered in 2020, and what role driver re-education can play in helping to sustain a long-term reduction in death and serious injury on our roads.

OPINION: Policing protests during Covid is proving challenging for many forces, and the anti-vaxxers and others who have gathered at New Zealand’s parliament grounds in Wellington have been difficult to dislodge; Monash University Criminology Lecturer Dr Ross Hendy, a former NZ Police sergeant, believes that while the waiting game may not be the ideal response politically, it could be the safest route to a peaceful resolution.

FEATURE: The findings of a year-long review of the UK College of Policing have highlighted concerns over the quality of products, their usefulness, and the College’s remoteness to frontline officers; but its efforts to ‘reset’ the relationship with policing and launch a new four-year strategy have sparked a rebuke from the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

FEATURE: In his latest Annual Threat Assessment Mike Burgess, Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), has revealed that minors now account for half of ASIO’s priority counter-terrorism investigations, as the online radicalisation that went into overdrive during Covid lockdowns has created a new wave of more intense extremists ready to use violence.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Colin Stott, former detective chief superintendent and national lead for Regional Organised Crime Units, on funding education and diversion in the fight against organised crime, the importance of targeting criminal gains, and the need for international operational support.

ANALYSIS: Recent UK media headlines have focused on the commitment by some forces to attend all residential burglaries, and its apparent success in cutting crimes and increasing detections; but as Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett reports, lessons learned 20 years ago would suggest that high-quality investigations, dedicated resources and sustained efforts are much more likely to secure results than simple scene attendance.

FEATURE: Stress has long been part of a police officer’s lot, but the added pressures of Covid, shortage of resources and continuous scrutiny have highlighted the damaging effect on officer wellness; Police Insight’s Christine Townsend looks at a new peer-to-peer support programme pioneered by Florida’s South Miami PD, which is attempting to change cultures, improve communication, and enhance officers’ ability to manage struggles.

INTERVIEW: Not all emergency service personnel are comfortable talking to their organisation’s wellbeing teams when struggling with mental health issues or personal challenges; for former Ontario Police Constable Dave McLennan, the answer was straightforward – set up a confidential peer support line – as he explained to Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: While some criminal activity has fallen during the pandemic, serious crimes have continued, which means so has the work of crime scene investigators; Paola Magni, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science at Murdoch University, looks at the challenges of protecting CSI teams from COVID-19, and discusses some of her recent research on the steps agencies can take to keep staff safe.

INTERVIEW: The opportunity to spend a year as a White House Fellow gave LAPD officer Sgt Brian Churchill an incredible insight into leadership, one which he wanted to use to improve leadership training within the force; when the impact of Covid then shifted all learning online, the development of LAPD’s University app and online Leadership Program was the ideal solution, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: An Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe's Budapest Convention on Cybercrime contains important legal tools that will “enhance international co-operation”, according to Virgil Spiridon, Head of Operations at the Council’s Cybercrime Programme Office, who explained the latest developments to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Tour.

OPINION: Québec is currently experiencing its second province-wide pandemic curfew, introduced at the end of December in response to the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant; but for Brandon University’s Professor Christopher Schneider, the new restrictions bring with them a dangerous expansion in police discretionary powers that could lead to the inconsistent and unfair application of enforcement.

FEATURE: The latest Africa Organised Crime Index published by the EU-funded ENACT organisation reveals that criminal groups across the continent adapted quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the illicit activities of state actors and the growth in trafficking of both people and cocaine represent major challenges, as Policing Insight’s Chris Allen reports.

FEATURE: The latest report on the policing of the pandemic in the UK has suggested expanding the ‘4Es’ approach to other law enforcement activities, investing the additional capability from Operation Uplift into neighbourhood policing, and improving national co-ordination and workforce planning, as some of the key lessons from Covid policing; Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons takes a closer look at the report.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Former Cambridgeshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Alan Baldwin (centre-right in picture) believes clearing the vetting backlogs and attracting the right people into policing – including increased recruitment of under-represented groups – are essential steps for the future of the service in the UK, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: While UK policing has faced major challenges as a result of COVID-19, the innovative ICT responses to the pandemic from police forces, government and the private sector have driven change that will deliver benefits for years to come, as VMware Chief Technology Officer Joseph Langford explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

FEATURE: Police Now’s first Frontline Leadership Programme (FLP) launched in September, and – with applications already now open for the third cohort – in December the organisation ran an online Women in Leadership event to support the application process; Policing Insight spoke to the three officers on the event panel about the challenges facing women in policing, the work of Police Now, and how the FLP could help to change the culture of policing.

INNOVATION: Four years ago Dubai Police launched its first Smart Police Station (SPS) driven by artificial intelligence (AI), as part of the force’s wider Strategic Plan for the use of AI: Dr Jorge Román and Khalifa Al Room of Dubai Police explain the reasoning behind the development of the SPS, how it works, and the impact it has already had on interaction between the police and the community.

END OF YEAR REVIEW: For many, 2021 – like 2020 before it – was a year to forget, as Covid combined with other challenges to leave policing on the back foot; but behind the headlines there were some real achievements, so let’s take the positives – for policing and Policing Insight – into 2022, and see if we can rewrite some of that negative narrative.