Counter terrorism

OPINION: Nearly three months after Emmanuel Macron's shock presidential victory, France remains beset by serious security problems. Dr Joseph Downing of Aix-Marseille University explores the ongoing security and policing issues that Macron has to overcome.

OPINION: Demand - and crime levels, particularly violent crime - are up, while police officers are under ever growing pressure. Chief Superintendent John Sutherland says it's past time for a proper, grown-up conversation about the future of policing in the UK

Analysis: Since 2010, the police service in England and Wales has been cut by nearly 20 per cent. In a typical ‘can do’ response, chief officers recognised the need to tighten the purse strings and, on the whole, responded gamely to austerity by accepting there were efficiency savings to be had in their force areas. However, in the face of continuing cuts and uncertainty over the police funding formula, against a backdrop of successive terror attacks, the language from the top has undoubtedly changed.  Now the talk is of ‘tipping points’ and ‘cracks’ appearing in our police service.

EXCLUSIVE PCC INSIGHT: In the first of a monthly series of articles exclusively for Policing Insight, Dorset PCC Martyn Underhill sets out his thinking on the security challenges currently facing policing and the country.

Analysis: Recent events in London and Manchester have renewed the debate on extremism within the UK and how it should be dealt with. Dr Mark Roycroft, author of  Police Chiefs in the UK, Politicians, HR managers or Cops? (2017) examines the current approach to counter terrorism.

OPINION: In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks on the UK, Emma Williams of Canterbury Christ Church University says thank you to those officers who warned the public that police numbers were too low, and who are now working full stretch to protect us.

ANALYSIS: Once again horrific terrorist attacks have taken place in the UK - and once again, the public sector's communications staff have stepped up to the mark to keep the public calm and informed. Dan Slee of comms2point0 analyses the public sector comms response to the Manchester attack.

ANALYSIS: What are the implications of Operation Temperer? Ian Wiggett, former ACC and lead for counter terrorism, specialist operations and civil contingencies in Greater Manchester, explores the consequences of a raised threat level to police, the armed forces, and the community.

Analysis: Following the UN's stinging criticism of Prevent last year, senior policing figures have hit back saying the strategy is the victim of bad press and inaccurate reporting, but are the problems with Prevent more than just a 'broken brand'? 

ANALYSIS: The policing landscape is undergoing tremendous change. Supt Dave Hill, Programme Director for the East Midlands Police Academic Collaboration (EMPAC) examines the 'VUCA' model - volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous - to help find a path for policing in the 21st century.

Analysis: Former Assistant Chief Constable for Greater Manchester Police Ian Wiggett examines the options facing law enforcement following the terror attack in Westminster last month.

Opinion: Former chief constable of the British Transport Police Andy Trotter OBE QPM, reflects on the terror attack that took place in London last week and the challenges it presents the service. 

OPINION: Following the attack on Westminster, the focus has rightly been on the bravery and sacrifice of the uniformed public services. But behind the scenes, the work of communications staff prevented the public's horror from turning into panic. Dan Slee of comms2point0 analyses the public sector comms response.

OPINION: Sir Hugh Orde, former PSNI Chief Constable and President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), provides a personal perspective on the Westminster attack, and identifies key challenges that police leaders now face.

OPINION: Taking on a 45,000-strong organisation, with a budget of more than £2.5 billion would stretch the most seasoned corporate executive - and the Met faces some serious challenges in the years ahead. Nick Alston of Anglia Ruskin University's Policing Institute for the Eastern Region warns that the role may be too demanding for any senior officer.

OPINION: Cressida Dick has today been appointed as the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, replacing outgoing Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe. Chief Superintendent John Sutherland takes an insider's look at what will be waiting in the new Commissioner's in-tray.

NEWS: Armed police should face less suspicion and be trusted more, said Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe today in his final set-piece speech delivered at the Royal United Services Institute. Hogan-Howe, who retires later this month, also made a pointed case for the budget of the Metropolitan Police to be maintained. Here we reproduce the full text of Hogan-Howe's address.

OPINION: Earlier this month, Simon Chesterman, the National Police Chief's Council lead for armed policing, responded to Prof. Maurice Punch's article on armed police and the use of lethal force, arguing that command accountability is as robust as it can be under the current law. Here Prof. Punch - with Ralph Crawshaw and Geoffrey Markham - responds in turn, underlining the importance of accountability where tactics are highly likely to cause death.

OPINION: In November, Prof. Maurice Punch wrote that authorised firearms officers were being left to 'carry the can' for the use of lethal force. Simon Chesterman, the National Police Chief's Council lead for armed policing, responds to Prof. Punch's article, and argues that command accountability is as robust as it can be under the current law.

OPINION: Policing faces unprecedented challenges as we move into the new year. Chief Superintendent John Sutherland outlines those challenges, and calls for our response to those challenges to begin with care and regard for those who stand on the thin blue line.

LONG READ: The mass retention of data, even for the prevention of terrorism and serious crime, needs to be carefully justified. However, when it comes to Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), there appears to be a gap in the oversight regime. Professor Lorna Woods of Essex University warns that police use of ANPR data is exposed to legal challenge, with potentially serious consequences.

OPINION: Armed police officers were in the news last week again, this time because of complaints about armed patrols of a Christmas market in Newcastle. Gavin Hales of the Police Foundation argues that the controversy signals the complexity of offering reassurance to the public, some of whom may find armed police officers anything but reassuring.

OPINION: Ché Donald of the Police Federation of England and Wales argues that the much-trumpeted 'uplift' in authorised firearms officers (AFOs) is no uplift at all - and warns that without more Home Office support for AFOs, many may soon down weapons.

LONG READ: High profile shootings like that of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Station in 2005 exposed weaknesses in the accountability mechanism around the police use of fatal force. Maurice Punch, Ralph Crawshaw and Geoffrey Markham, QPM argue that the issue has largely been dealt with through fudge, fiction and a refusal to acknowledge changing realities - leaving individual firearms officers to carry the can.