Crime statistics

FEATURE: A new study of a two-year hotspot policing approach in Dallas, Texas, has found that targeting a small number of ‘micro areas’ not only cut crime in those places but reduced crime city-wide, with researchers suggesting the approach offers an ideal, scalable solution to target violent crime – particularly for forces facing officer shortages – as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Politicians and journalists on across the US political spectrum have argued that recent election results reflect a frustration with Democratic policies on crime in cities; but new research by Harvard University Professor Justin de Benedictis-Kessner and Professor Christopher Warshaw at George Washington University suggests that neither party is doing a better job at reducing crime, nor addressing the ballooning financial cost and long-term reputational costs of policing in the US.

FEATURE: A report on police investigations into crime in England and Wales, published recently by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, warns that overstretched officers, increased time pressures and a lack of experience are inhibiting the ability of officers and staff to develop an “investigative mindset” and hampering the quality and effectiveness of investigations, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Professor Alison Sullivan’s recent Independent Review of Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender includes a number of examples of the ongoing confusion around data on sex, as well as recommendations on how UK policing should approach these issues; Dr Kath Murray, co-director of MurrayBlackburnMackenzie policy analysis which provided research and analytical support to the review, highlights some of the key points it raises and how policing should move forward.

FEATURE: A new report from the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse into the latest trends in child sexual abuse (CSA) offences in England and Wales has highlighted record levels of charges for CSA and long delays in court cases, but also significant geographical variations in data recording and trends that suggest the response to sexually abused children “depends on where they live”, prompting calls for a Government-led national prevalence survey to establish the true scale of the problem, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Data-driven evidence-based policing has the potential to enhance both public safety and community trust; however, Dr Vidal Chavannes, Director of Strategy, Research and Organizational Performance at Durham Regional Police Service, warns that without community-centric data governance, where policing co-creates data policies with those communities most affected by them, such an approach risks becoming “another mechanism for control rather than a tool for genuine reform”.

INNOVATION: With increasing recognition of the opportunities for artificial intelligence (AI) to significantly reduce the time and costs associated with some policing activities, the push for wider use of such technology has never been greater; in the last in a series of articles on AI in policing, Matt Palmer, Product Director, Public Safety from NEC Software Solutions, explores the key issues around ensuring the technology is used ethically and transparently.

INNOVATION: A Thames Valley Police trial of a mobile phone app-based tasking mechanism for hotspot policing has led to increased patrols, reduced costs and cuts in violent crime – and a scalable solution which researchers believe could be used for other policing activities, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The UK Government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls, but University of Liverpool Professor Barry Godfrey and University of Manchester Professor David Gadd argue that the current recency, frequency, gravity, and victim algorithm used to determine which offenders pose the greatest risk to women and girls is ineffective, and propose moving to determination using a life-course approach, which considers the type and pattern of offending as it develops over time.

FEATURE: As one of the first 10 forces selected for a hotspot policing pilot targeting serious violence and antisocial behaviour, South Yorkshire Police has been implementing the approach in a number of operations over the past two and half years; Acting Inspector Simon Kirkham of the force’s Hotspot Response Hub reflects on some of those initiatives (including the most recent winter violence campaign), how the hotspot team is trained and operates, and the successes it has achieved.

FEATURE: The latest findings of the PwC Global Economic Crime Survey reveal that UK companies are in many instances ahead of their international counterparts in using data analytics to tackle crimes such as procurement fraud, supply chain fraud and corruption – but the consultants warn that there is still significant room for improvement, particularly at a time when perception of public sector corruption in the UK is at an all-time high, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Since taking up her post as Iceland’s National Police Commissioner five years ago, Sigríður Björk Guðjónsdóttir has made significant strides in addressing gender inequality within the force, and in the service it provides; she spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the need to keep pushing for greater gender equality, the new approaches to responding to domestic violence, and why appointing senior leaders from outside of policing helps to change potentially damaging cultures.

FEATURE: The ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ programme to tackle serious and organised crime (SOC) – implemented across almost all territorial police forces in England and Wales – is successfully driving down acquisitive crime and promoting partnership approaches that are ending silo working, according to a new evaluation report, although challenges still remain in some areas around community perceptions and long-term resilience, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A National Audit Office ‘value for money’ report into the work of the Government and Home Office to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) has warned that efforts to improve the outcome for victims have largely failed so far, with the Home Office failing to lead an effective cross-government response, and a generally limited understanding of the resources allocated to tackling VAWG or their impact, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: There is enormous potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with policing, but to realise that potential it’s important to gain public acceptance; in the first in a series of three articles on AI in policing, Matt Palmer, Product Director, Public Safety from NEC Software Solutions, recommends being open with the public about how AI is used.

INTERVIEW: Former New York Police Department Chief of Department Terry Monahan, who was a police officer in the city for 39 years, spoke to Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass about how a new neighbourhood policing model and a genuine approach to listening to the community led to record low levels of crime and homicide, and how a famous picture of him taking a knee with Black Lives Matters protesters came about.

ANALYSIS: Sexual Risk Orders (SROs) can help to reduce sexual harm by offenders by more than 80%, but a lack understanding about their effectiveness and how they can and should be used has led to an inconsistent approach from forces across England and Wales; new research by Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Dan Whitten highlights the potential benefits of greater use of SROs in tackling sexual violence against women and girls, and the steps forces can take to maximise those benefits.

INNOVATION: Project Minerva, a collaboration between Essex Police and Nottingham Trent University, is using data-driven mapping to highlight both offences of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and areas where the fear of crime is greatest, to enable the force and community partners to tackle VAWG more effectively, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Recent reports of a rise in violent offences in Scotland against an apparent backdrop of record low crime rates support the suggestion that the country’s real crime figures are much higher than acknowledged, argues former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher, and – added to inefficiencies in the courts, falling officer numbers and an overflowing prison estate – could see the problems facing the Scottish criminal justice system turn into a crisis.

OPINION: In the second of a two-part article on the police analyst profession, intelligence analysts specialists Dr Scott Keay, Keith Jackson and Steve French examine the findings from a survey by the Association of Crime and Intelligence Analysts (ACIA) about improving the analyst role and how such organisations can support the continuous professional development of analysts.

OPINION: In this first of a two-part article on the police analyst profession, intelligence analyst specialists Dr Scott Keay, Keith Jackson and Steve French explore the journey of the analyst role over the last 25 years, look at the barriers and challenges that have impacted on that role, and also consider the positive value that good analysis can have.

FEATURE: Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about Operation Voice, a pilot initiative launched within the force which overlaid road traffic data onto data for violence against women and girls to identify and apply “relentless pressure” to high-harm perpetrators.

FEATURE: As law enforcement around the world embarks on meeting the challenges of 2025, Editor Keith Potter looks back over the key issues Policing Insight covered in 2024 – from technological threats and opportunities, to workforce wellbeing, the role of leadership, and the increasing focus on reform – and how these may affect the next 12 months.

OPINION: Knives are the murder weapon of choice within the UK, with the level of knife crime doubling in the 2010s; but while legislation and media headlines have focused on machetes and so-called zombie knives, University of Leeds Professors Graham Farrell and Toby Davies argue that phasing out pointed kitchen knives – used in more than half of murders – would be a much more effective measure.