Crime

FEATURE: The latest European Overview of the 2025 Global Organized Crime Index, published by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, recognises Europe’s increasing resilience against organised crime, but highlights the expansion and diversification of organised crime groups (OCGs) as among the key threats, particularly the potential recruitment of young and vulnerable people, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A recent survey by the Australian Institute of Criminology suggests that, as with more traditional forms of crime, members of the public overestimate the likelihood that they will be a victim of AI‑enabled crime; but while frequent users of AI-enabled technology must be encouraged to employ more protective behaviours, those reluctant to use it should be supported to do so safely and confidently, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

ANALYSIS: 3D-printed ‘ghost guns’ have become increasingly in demand by criminal groups, partly because of the belief that such weapons are untraceable; but new research by Dr Georgina Sauzier and PhD candidate Michale Vic Adamos of Western Australia’s Curtin University suggests that chemical analysis of the filaments used to print the guns could help forensic investigators and police to link a seized gun and seized filament, or guns seized from different cases.

FEATURE: With both Europol and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime highlighting the threats posed by Eastern European and Balkans organised crime groups (OCGs) expanding further across the continent, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the efforts of the EU (through CEPOL), Europol, and international collaborations involving the UK’s National Crime Agency amongst others, to tackle these ‘High-Risk Criminal Networks’.

INTERVIEW: Ahead of next month’s launch of the Police.AI initiative, which will develop and drive technological advances for forces in England and Wales, NCA Director of Threat Leadership Alex Murray, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for AI, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the aims and ambitions for the new centre, the potential for leveraging technology in policing, and the role of police leadership – with current chiefs likely to be the last cohort to run a ‘human only’ workforce.

OPINION: The latest report from digital investigations specialists Cellebrite highlights that while smartphones are now involved in 97% of criminal cases, many policing agencies still face a digital evidence backlog due to factors such as a lack of digital forensics resources, and a reliance on portable hard drives to share digital data; but there are steps that law enforcement can take to ease the bottleneck and speed up justice, as Jared Barnhart, Cellebrite’s Head of Global Engagement & Community, explains.

FEATURE: Research recently published by The Police Foundation on the health impact of fraud is calling for a national evidence-based ‘vulnerability framework’ to ensure a more consistent approach towards victims by police forces in England and Wales, along with a multi-agency, trauma-informed service model for victims, amid concerns over the life-threatening impact of the crime and the fear that police are being left to fill the gap in specialist support, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: This week saw the UK launch of a new Level 3 Award in Counter-Terrorism Protective Security and Preparedness, developed by Skills for Justice (SFJ) Awards in collaboration with the National Counter-Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO), and endorsed by Counter Terrorism Policing; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to SFJ Awards Managing Director David Higham about the aims of the qualification, the involvement of NaCTSO, and how the award helps with the implementation of Martyn’s Law.

OPINION: One in six people live with a significant disability, and evidence shows they face higher exposure to violence, exploitation, and procedural injustice; Col Dana Humaid Al Marzouqi, Director General of the International Affairs Bureau in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Interior, highlights some of the ways disabled people are targeted, and the steps that can be taken by policing to ensure inclusive security, including examples from the US, UAE and Portugal.

OPINION: While traditional policing challenges around issues such as serious violence and community harm will remain, the greatest pressures on law enforcement over the coming decade will come from hybrid and cascading risk, warns Odette Meli, former Co-ordinator of the Australian Federal Police’s Strategic Insights Centre and a Fellow of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), who argues that policing will need to integrate strategic foresight and interoperability if it is to maintain legitimacy.

FEATURE: Ireland’s Policing and Community Safety Authority, the oversight body established in April last year, has set out new Policing Priorities for An Garda Síochána, focusing on working in partnership to meet community needs, providing a consistent, supportive and quality service, and enabling the frontline, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: A recent evaluation of the Serious Violence Duty – introduced in England and Wales under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 – has underlined the importance of data sharing and the key role of analysis in supporting inter-agency collaboration and the implementation of a ‘whole-system’ approach to tackling serious violence, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: Victims of domestic abuse are encouraged to speak up, report abuse and ask for help, but all too often – and even when they do everything asked of them – the system fails to act, says Marco Fiorentino, former probation officer and Executive Director at NEC Digital Studio, who describes how safeguarding systems can work together to keep women and children safe.

ANALYSIS: A report from the Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre is calling for a more consistent police use of out-of-court resolutions (OoCRs) in the UK, after researchers found that the approach was much more likely to be used with young and first-time offenders rather than low-risk repeat offenders, for whom an OoCR could break the cycle of offending; the research also highlights the importance of including those with lived experience in the design of schemes, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Wildlife and environmental crime is now estimated to be the fourth largest organised transnational crime sector, with significant overlaps into other forms of organised crime; Professor Phill Cassey, Director of the Wildlife Crime Research Hub at Adelaide University, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the need for dedicated policing units to tackle the crime, alongside new legislation and tougher penalties for offenders.

INNOVATION: The recent UK police reform white paper outlined Police.AI as a crucial part of the modernisation process; but Vsevolod Shabad, an independent researcher and governance adviser specialising in AI accountability and public sector decision-making, warns that operational gains do not follow automatically from the deployment of AI, and governance models that don’t have the organisational capacity or understanding to accurately scrutinise system outputs and performance offer governance in name only.

OPINION: Australia, like many other countries, has a long history of organised crime, much of which has flourished by exploiting illicit markets; Deakin University Associate Professor Dr James Martin, and University of Sydney Senior Lecturer Dr Edward Jegasothy, argue that the current government reliance on restrictions, penalties and police powers to disrupt supply and “crush” organised crime is actually more likely to drive it, and suggest a better route would be to bring better regulated markets into the open.

FEATURE: With fraud remaining a constant and growing threat to individuals, businesses and national economies, and with the rapidly developing digital tools available to organised crime groups, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the latest assessment from Europol of the need for financial services organisations to prioritise post-quantum cryptography – particularly for point-of-sale systems – to protect both consumers and businesses.

ANALYSIS: As UK policing starts to embrace machine-learning solutions and interest in algorithmic risk assessments grows, Tamara Polajnar, CEO of herEthical AI, explores the existing domestic abuse assessment tools, the importance of understanding how automated risk assessment is used and should be applied, and what steps need to be taken to ensure automation and algorithms can extract vital domestic abuse details and context lost in traditional tick-box methodologies.

PRIZE DRAW WINNER: Results from the UK Police Digital Experience Survey 2025, carried out by Policing Insight and backed by the Home Office, National Police Chiefs’ Council, Police Federation of England & Wales, and the Police Digital Service, will shortly be published, providing a full picture of the digital technology experiences of officers and staff; and for Victim Care Officer Aimee Edwards, the prize draw winner picked from more than 6,600 survey respondents, it also led to a new hi-tech fitness watch.

INTERVIEW: Dorset Police’s Survivors’ Network was launched after several officers who came forward to complain of harassment, inappropriate behaviour and abuse found they lacked support; Chief Superintendent Julie Howe, who launched the award-winning initiative, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons that the network is now helping to drive cultural change around misogyny and violence against women and girls, including those experiencing abuse in their private lives.

OPINION: In the wake of the UK Government’s white paper on police reform, Steve Dodd, a former South Wales Police detective and College of Policing subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, argues that policing can immediately adopt community intelligence-led policing methodology as an enabler for the Government’s ‘local to national’ ambitions.

INTERVIEW: Human trafficking and exploitation are challenges that law enforcement cannot “police your way out of”, warns UCL’s Ella Cockbain, Professor of Human Trafficking and Exploitation, with more focus on a public health approach, improved listening to the voices of victims and survivors, and a better understanding of what really works among the key steps to meeting those challenges, as Prof Cockbain explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: New South Wales Police recently announced a six-month trial of drones manufactured by Chinese company DJI; the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Dr John Coyne and James Corera argue that the trial raises broader questions about the risks associated with technologies owned, controlled or influenced by foreign entities, particularly around mission scope, data management, infrastructure connectivity and supply chain resilience.