FEATURE: Following a string of scandals and tough inspection reports, there have been near-constant demands for policing in England and Wales to reform; at the recent Canterbury Centre for Policing Research annual conference, three academics presented their blueprints for making change a reality – from new powers to intervene in failing forces, to adopting UN standards, and creating a new ‘police reserve’ – as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

OPINION: Policing is understandably keen to embrace the latest technology in its efforts to protect the public and fight crime; but Dr David Lydon, a former police officer and now Senior Lecturer in Policing at Canterbury Christ Church University, believes that the move towards technocracy inevitably threatens the service’s ability to operate a consensual model in line with the principles and features of traditional community policing.

FEATURE: A joint approach between New Zealand Police and multi-agency partners to fast track action plans for young offenders and provide wrap-around support has led to significant reductions in some crimes, stronger police-community relations, and improved youth engagement, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: A new study from academics at Stirling University and the University of Edinburgh imagines how biometric artificial intelligence (AI) could be deployed by policing in the future, setting out both the potential risks and the opportunities that tools such as facial recognition drones could bring, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

FEATURE: This year’s Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA) Conference attracted almost 600 delegates and more than 70 speakers from 17 countries, with a focus on exploring partnerships and collaborative working; ANZPAA CEO Dr Tracey Green reflects on the learning and outcomes from the two-day event, and how these can help to shape and improve policing moving forwards.

INTERVIEW: Despite widely acknowledged challenges facing policing in the UK, and the ongoing debate around entry routes into the profession, a career keeping communities safe from crime, disorder and terrorism remains an attractive proposition for many young people; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to final-year Professional Policing undergraduate Megan Collins-Dale about her choice of degree qualification, and how a recent internship in the US has helped her prepare for a future in policing and criminal justice in the UK.

ANALYSIS: Ahead of this week’s UK Society of Evidence-Based Policing (UK SEBP) Conference, National Crime Agency Temporary Director of Investigations John Denley, Keele University Academic Policing Collaboration Professor of Practice Marcus Beale, and Cambridge University Professor of Experimental Criminology Barak Ariel, highlight some of the key findings from their latest research drawing on police information and intelligence and the views of police professionals to explore new ways to prevent organised crime (the focus of an SEBP Conference session).

ANALYSIS: Ahead of next week’s UK Society of Evidenced-Based Policing (SEBP) Conference, Simon Rose, CEO of the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing, and Detective Inspector Mark Brennan of Leicestershire Police outline the background, delivery and interim results from a police and third sector outreach project targeting violence hot spots in Leicester city centre, which early findings suggest could cut crime and crime harm by more than a third.

FEATURE: Ahead of next month’s UK Society of Evidence-Based Policing (UK SEBP) Conference, Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Ralph – who heads up the South West Police Collaboration and is South West Regional Lead for the UK SEBP – looks at the evolution of evidence-based policing, the value it brings both to law enforcement and communities, and the aims of the SEBP that will underpin this year’s event.

FEATURE: A habitual knife-carrier index pioneered by Sussex Police, which uses a multi-source database to identify at-risk young people and develops intervention and support to tackle reoffending and victimisation, is securing significant reductions and is now being considered by a number of other forces across England and Wales, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: In the final part of our extended interview series with Professor Laurence Sherman, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland sought the views of the Metropolitan Police Chief Scientific Officer on misconduct, making tough choices, and how artificial intelligence and live facial recognition might transform the nation’s largest police force.

OPINION: CANADA: As calls for ‘defund the police’ switch to ‘refund the police’ in priority areas, Dr N Zoe Hilton, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Dr Sandy Jung, Professor of Psychology at MacEwan University, argue that police-researcher partnerships are needed now more than ever, and could be particularly beneficial in developing and implementing the assessment tools to tackle intimate partner violence and coercive control.

FEATURE: In the fifth in a new series of The Police Student focusing on Criminology in Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores sociological theories for explaining crime, including the pioneering work of the Chicago School, which examined the effects of social disorganisation on crime – an approach which still has real relevance to the role of community policing today.

INTERVIEW: In the second part of our extended interview series with Metropolitan Police Chief Scientific Officer Professor Lawrence Sherman, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke to him about VAWG 100, the force’s innovative new approach to tackling high-harm offences against women and girls.

ANALYSIS: A new report from the Police Foundation assesses the implications, opportunities and risks for the police service of adopting new contact and engagement technology as it seeks to rebuild public trust and confidence; the Foundation’s Research Director Andy Higgins explains more about the key points from the report.

INTERVIEW: Widely regarded as the founder of evidence-based policing, Professor Lawrence Sherman is one of the world’s most influential policing experts; in the first article in a four-part interview series, Policing Insight’s James Sweetland spoke with Professor Sherman about his innovative work as the Metropolitan Police’s first Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) tackling some of the biggest problems facing the force.

ANALYSIS: HM inspectors recently highlighted the concern that poor data gathering and analysis is affecting police performance management in England and Wales; Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass looks at the issues involved and puts the spotlight on two of the forces that are getting things right.

ANALYSIS: With “more mobile, connected” youth gangs responsible for “an escalation in the harm that they can cause to the community and themselves”, Victoria Police has launched a new holistic and integrated approach to detect those most at risk of gang activity, divert them from gang involvement, and disrupt the gang-related violent offending that has been taking place, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: An inspection report into policing’s contribution in England and Wales to the prevention of homicide has highlighted a range of concerns in some forces including a lack of oversight by chief officers, a shortage of analysts, a “misplaced confidence” in the ability to link precursor incidents, and an inadequate allocation of resources to manage the most dangerous people that represents a “failure to protect the public”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Confidential informers play a significant role in police investigations around the world, but there are also recognised risks of informers committing ‘treachery’ – either intentionally feeding officers false information, or revealing their identity to a third person; new research by Sgt David Younan and Crime Analyst Sarah Harmer – both of London Police Service, Ontario – examines the instances of treachery by Service informants over a two-decade period, and suggests evidence-based approaches that policing can implement to minimize the risks.

OPINION: With a combination of municipal, provincial and regional law enforcement, Canada’s policing environment is both complex and in need of national standards; in this first of two articles, Vernon White, former Chief of Police for Ottawa Police Service, and Joe Carlebach, former Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, argue that establishing a college of policing for Canada could help to create those standards while also professionalising the policing role.

FEATURE: A crime prevention approach implemented by Essex Police used spatial analytics to focus on ‘places not people’ and incorporated hotspot policing to reduce offending by 40%; with the initiative now viewed as ‘business as usual’ within the force, the Home Office has directed other forces to ensure surge funding to tackle violence is focused on a similar hotspot approach, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: Community policing is widely recognised to be the backbone of British policing, with community engagement, interactive partnerships and a targeted visible presence all crucial to the success of the model; now EU funding is being made available to forces looking to develop new methods and technologies in the service of community policing and transferable best practices, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: In the third of a new series of The Police Student focusing on Criminology in Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the biological theories of crime heralded by the emergence of positivism, which saw the focus switch from the offence to the offender, and considered the implications of biological predisposition, heritable traits, and the need for a response that includes rehabilitation.