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FEATURE: With county lines drug trafficking increasingly recognised and understood across the UK, police still face the conundrum of whether children and young people involved in these crimes should be treated as offenders, victims, or both; Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports on a session from the recent 24hr Conference on Global Organized Crime in which Trilateral Research’s Jana-Isabelle Dilger presented guidance for frontline officers making these tough calls.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to organised crime consultant Sasha Jesperson about researching criminal networks in the ‘Eastern Neighbourhoods’, the inevitability of organised crime, and the importance of closer co-operation between government and law enforcement on strategic approaches.

OPINION: With his first three months in the UK’s most high-profile policing job now complete, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has been clear about his efforts to improve the force and root out corruption; Policing Lecturer and historian Tom Andrews believes the current Commissioner can draw on the example of a famous predecessor and namesake, Sir Robert Mark.

OPINION: As the World Cup heads towards its climax in Qatar, former public order specialist Owen West, now a Senior Policing Lecturer, believes some law enforcement attitudes and approaches to football fans suggest an unjustified level of prejudice not witnessed in any other sporting or social arena – one which needs to be re-thought to address legitimacy and confidence in policing.

ANALYSIS: As many as one in five of the population are estimated to be neurodivergent, a term covering more than 600 conditions; Sarah Gardner looks at some of the key challenges this presents for policing, both in terms of recruiting and supporting neurodiverse colleagues, and understanding how those conditions can affect interactions with the public.

INNOVATION: As forces across England and Wales strive to hit ambitious recruitment targets, they also face the challenge of new recruits now outnumbering more experienced officers’ Paul Roberts, Head of Product Strategy and Innovation, Public Safety at NEC Software Solutions; believes new technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics could play a vital role in upskilling new recruits as quickly as possible.

OPINION: As the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary, Association President Paul Fotheringham looks back at how the organisation was formed, its efforts to be a positive voice in support of its members over the past seven decades, and the challenges it continues to face today and into the future.

ANALYSIS: The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to bring significant changes to policing tools and techniques; Dr Jonathan Jackson and Ronald Winch of Birmingham City University argue that, as legislation lags behind the pace of technological development across society, policing needs to urgently develop and implement ethical and safe systems of governance to protect the model of policing by consent.

ANALYSIS: One of the outcomes of the pandemic has been a quiet revolution in the way people seek to report crime; a survey by technical consulting firm BMT found that the public are increasingly willing to use digital contact channels to communicate with police, but need more information about the right routes to use, and reassurances over the response they will receive, as Justice and Security Business Unit Lead Christian Ellis explains.

OPINION: The recent Inspectorate report of police forces in England and Wales highlighted further concerns around vetting, misconduct and misogyny, focusing much of the blame on vetting teams and professional standards departments; but Dr John McDaniel, Senior Lecturer in Policing and Criminal Justice at the University of Wolverhampton, argues that a political tolerance to misconduct and misogyny, and a lack of action by police and crime commissioners, have contributed significantly to the problem.

INTERVIEW: Challenges around recruitment and workforce strength are affecting policing around the world, but there’s often less focus on keeping hold of good officers; Greater Manchester Police Chief Inspector Mike Russell spoke to Policing Insight’s Keith Potter about the force’s new ‘Stay Interview’ initiative which has significantly improved retention rates as well as improving the support available to officers.

ANALYSIS: This month’s report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services highlighted significant issues around the vetting of police officers – both new recruits and those already in service; as HMICFRS begins publishing individual force inspections on the same topic, Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone looks at the concerns highlighted by the original report, the recommendations for improvement, and what the service should be doing to protect policing and the public against potential misconduct and corruption.

FEATURE: The challenges around tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) have been the subject of intense public, political and policing debate in recent months, following a number of high-profile incidents and alarming statistics; Policing Lecturer Dr Anna Hopkins reports on a recent Open University conference which drew together police, politicians, practitioners and academics to address some of the key issues and consider ways forward.

ANALYSIS: Three years ago, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the ambitious Uplift plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers by April 2023, and despite significant political upheaval since, the Government remains ‘determined’ to keep to its pledge; in the last of this current series on UK police workforce structure, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett assesses whether that target will be met, and what comes next.

ANALYSIS: New research from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) has found that children are being seriously affected not only by violence itself, but also the fear of violence, with almost two thirds of young people changing their behaviour to protect themselves; YEF Executive Director Jon Yates believes that evidence-based approaches and partnership working can significantly improve the safety and prospects of young people.

FEATURE: Law enforcement globally faces similar challenges around officers numbers, diversity and community engagement, yet the crucial contribution of policing volunteers – and the relatively untapped potential – is often overlooked; Dr Iain Britton of the University of Northampton’s Institute for Public Safety, Crime and Justice reports on recent global gatherings of volunteer policing leaders and academics in the UK, and plans to improve the international sharing of evidence and best practice.

ANALYSIS: The emergency service response to disasters – whether manmade incidents such as terrorist attacks, or naturally occurring events including weather crises – has been under scrutiny in the UK and globally in recent years; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at a new European disaster analysis model that will be unveiled this week, which aims to increase learning and share best practice with a view to improving future responses.

ANALYSIS: In the fourth in our latest series focusing on police workforce development in England and Wales, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett looks at the unique opportunity offered by the Uplift recruitment programme to increase diversity, the relatively small change that has resulted, and the more noticeable shift in workforce profile to a service that has become younger and less experienced.

OPINION: Measures around UK public order policing that were defeated in the Police, Courts, Crime and Sentencing Bill are now making their way through Parliament in the Public Order Bill, prompting impassioned debate along the way; Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent and public order policing specialist, argues that while the proposals may enthuse government supporters, they are not in the interest of the public or the police service.

ANALYSIS: In this third article in our latest series focusing on police workforce development in England and Wales – and with the Government and current Home Secretary Suella Braverman remaining committed to the Uplift target of 20,000 new police officers by April 2023 – Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett looks at the ‘churn’ of officers joining and leaving the service, the increasing number of resignations, and the marketplace for inter-force transfers, and considers the implications of these factors for the service.

ANALYSIS: This week’s publication of both the Crime Survey for England and Wales and the latest Police Recorded Crime (PRC) statistics offers the first comparable crime figures to before the pandemic; Meghan Elkin, joint head of crime statistics at the Office for National Statistics, explains how these latest figures can help to explain whether Covid has led to any sustained impacts on levels of crime, and how survey methods may also influence the data.

ANALYSIS: The contentious nature of policing inevitably gives rise to some complaints, and how those complaints are handled has been an issue of concern for both the public and police in the UK; in this final article in a series reviewing the police complaints process, Dr Rob Heaton and Professor Stephen Tong consider their findings so far, and point to some ways forward that could help to achieve a fair, open and more effective mechanism for dealing with misconduct.

OPINION: Amid the current UK political chaos, one clearly emerging scenario is that further public spending cuts are now probable, with policing likely to be back in the firing line; Tom Gash, Managing Director of strategy consultancy Leapwise and former Director of Research at the Institute for Government, looks at how policing can navigate this harsh reality, and the current window of opportunity to prepare a case for protection from cuts and drive productivity improvements locally and nationally.

FEATURE: With the growing threat from cybercrime, policing is looking to build ever stronger partnerships to mitigate risk and improve learning and understanding; Detective Superintendent Nick Bell, CEO of the National Cyber Resilience Centre Group (NCRCG) and National Policing Director for the Cyber Resilience Centres, reports on the work of the NCRCG and the key themes explored at its inaugural summit earlier this month.