Crime

ANALYSIS: With knife crime increasing in many countries, piecing together the forensic puzzle around stabbings can be key to the pursuit of justice, and stabbing simulations can play a vital role; new research by Associate Professor Paola Magni, Associate Professor Alasdair Dempsey, Adjunct Professor Ian Dadour, and PhD Candidate Stevie Ziogos, all of Perth’s Murdoch University, suggests that combining manual simulations with robotic and mechanical systems can bridge crucial gaps in crime scene reconstruction.

FEATURE: A new report from the Police Foundation and Virgin Media O2 is calling for a systemic overhaul of the police response to fraud – a crime which now accounts for 43% of all offence against over-16s in England and Wales – after highlighting “unsustainable” outdated structures, inadequate resources, and a lack of skills and prioritisation in the way law enforcement deals with the “fraud epidemic”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: With the radicalisation of Muslim youth a continuing concern for governments, communities and counter-terrorism policing, Birmingham City University Senior Lecturer Dr Lily Hamourtziadou, University of Salford Lecturer Dr Anna Kruglova, and Detective Superintendent Matt Davison, national lead for the Identify strand of Prevent, explore three non-violent ways to counter radicalisation and terrorism that combine moral and practical approaches to security.

FEATURE: A new report into barriers preventing An Garda Siochána officers from engaging with mental health support warns that a police culture that stigmatises mental health issues, fears over the impact on career progression, and other concerns about trust and confidentiality, are leading to officers “toughing it out” amid deteriorating conditions – despite the fact that support provision in the force is at the best level researchers have seen in more than 30 years, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: In the wake of the trial and conviction of a Nazi ‘virtual’ terrorist cell in Sheffield for planning attacks on mosques and synagogues in England, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the lessons learned from the European PROTECTOR initiative, which highlighted the importance of collaboration and co-operation between law enforcement, faith communities, local authorities and other partners in improving the security of religious sites and places of worship.

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FEATURE: A new report is calling for every child victim of domestic abuse to have a police assessment around their age, risk and need, with officers urged to be “professionally curious” and confident in identifying and responding to safeguarding concerns, amid fears that around 1.5 million children in the UK could be affected by domestic abuse, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: A lawsuit heard in the Supreme Court this month regarding “degrading and humiliating” unlawful strip searches carried out by New South Wales Police has again highlighted the issue of police sexism in Australia; Deakin University Associate Criminology Lecturer Dr Michael Cain argues that forces across the country are failing to learn from previous inquiries into sexism, and suggests that an independent police ombudsman to investigate complaints could be the best solution.

INNOVATION: The use of an evidence storage and sharing app rolled out across Hertfordshire Constabulary has seen positive outcomes more than double compared to the force average, with investigation times reduced and demand on digital forensic unit and data storage also cut; now more forces across England and Wales are looking at adopting the technology, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen examines the findings of a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime into maritime drug trafficking, including the scale of the challenge, the available resources and logistical approaches of organised crime groups, and what steps could be taken to improve law enforcement’s efforts to tackle the traffickers.

FEATURE: In the wake of the cyberattack on Marks & Spencer – one of several targeting British retailers in recent months – Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the lesson that can be learned, and how organisations in both the private and public sector will need to move towards new forms of mitigating risk and ensuring resilience to protect against similar threats in the future.

FEATURE: A new report from Europol exploring “biometric vulnerabilities” and the need to protect against potential exploitation by criminals has called on law enforcement agencies to work with experts in biometrics and cybersecurity from the private sector to safeguard biometric systems, as well as increasing data sharing around potential attacks to stay “on the front foot” in the battle with criminal actors, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Following some high-profile cases of police-perpetrated domestic abuse (PPDA) in the UK, there are growing concerns over the reporting of such offences and appropriate policing responses; drawing on research into an advocacy support intervention for victim-survivors of PPDA, Dr Clare Rawdin, Dr Sarah Wallace and Professor Emma Williams show how ‘organisational silence’ over PPDA is often maintained but can also be challenged.

OPINION: Blended or hybrid radical ideologies that comprise seemingly separate beliefs are increasingly impacting younger audiences, and providing motivation for violent extremism; with misogynistic and anti-feminist views often overlapping these ideologies, Astrid Young, research intern at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, warns that Australia needs a targeted policy response to deter young people from extremism.

ANALYSIS: Organised crime groups are defrauding consumers and retail businesses across the US of millions out of dollars through gift card fraud – a crime largely overlooked in many other countries, but which former Deputy Assistant Director for the US Department of Homeland Security Raul Aguilar believes will soon be affecting Australia, New Zealand and the UK, as he told Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INNOVATION: Police forces across England and Wales have been urged by Chief Constable Rob Carden, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Digital, Data and Technology Co-ordination Committee, to “embrace technology in a way we’ve never done before”, to ensure they can play their part in delivering the Government’s “very ambitious” Safer Streets Mission, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: Operation Soteria has been described as a ‘game changer’ for the police investigation of rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) in England and Wales, with the development of a new national operating model (NOM) for RASSO one of the key outcomes; in this article Professor Bernard Burnes, Dr Linda Cooper, and Dr Clare Rawdin – members of the change team for ‘Pillar 4’ (learning development and officer wellbeing) of Op Soteria – share some of the findings and insights from their work on the project.

ANALYSIS: A recent case at the Supreme Court in New Zealand saw the conviction of a man for aggravated burglary overturned because the photo used to identify him – taken by a police officer during a routine traffic stop – was improperly obtained; University of Auckland Senior Law Lecturer Dr Alexandra Allen-Franks explains the reasoning behind the judgment, and what it may mean for policing in the future.

FEATURE: A report commissioned by the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and published earlier this month highlights an increasing number of potential modern slavery victims who are refusing to consent to a referral by first responders to the National Referral Mechanism; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at why more people are choosing alternative avenues for support, and what the report’s authors say should be done to address the problem.

ANALYSIS: Last week saw the publication of the landscape review on the police response to online and technology-enabled VAWG in England and Wales, undertaken by the Centre for Protecting Women Online; independent policing and technology expert Giles Herdale, one of the three co-authors of the review, explains the key questions the work addressed, its findings, and what they mean for policing and the Government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls over the next 10 years.

ANALYSIS: A new report assessing the impact of drug-related serious and organised crime in the Netherlands has highlighted concerns around poly-drug production and trafficking by gangs, the growing collaboration between criminal networks, and the increase in production of new psychoactive substances destined both for Dutch users and those in the UK wider Europe, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A review of the use of body-worn video by New South Wales Police, carried out by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, is calling for the activation of cameras to be mandatory rather than discretionary as is currently the case in some situations, with the force also urged to ensure standard operating instructions are clear and consistent to provide more clarity both for officers and complainants, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: New research commissioned by the UK Home Office into drug-related law enforcement activities suggests that far from reducing violence, many policing interventions can drive further violent crime, with more “passive” interventions such as greater police presence and building community trust likely to have more effective outcomes, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Collaborative research by the University of Portsmouth and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) Portfolio has explored equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in SOC roles; the University’s Professor Sarah Charman, Dr Geoff Newiss, Dr Jemma Tyson and Dr Alejandra De La Fuente Vilar, and T/Det Chief Supt Paul Wells of the NPCC SOC portfolio, explain the findings and set out priorities to improve EDI.