Operational policing

FEATURE: Examples of forensic entomology – the use of insects in criminal investigations – can be traced back to the 13th century, and today flies and other insects can help to identify everything from a murder victim’s use of ketamine or cocaine, to the chemicals used in pet poisonings; Forensic Biologist Paola Magni of Murdoch University in Western Australia explains the forensic insights we can already gain from flies, and what more we could learn.

ANALYSIS: Fraud is now the most common crime in England and Wales, costing the UK economy £137bn each year; in this article, Richard Hyde, Scott Corfe and Bill Anderson-Samways of the Social Market Foundation (SMF) examine the inadequacy of police resource dedicated to tackling the problem, and call on the Government to take a comprehensive ‘systems approach’ to tackling fraud, enacting reforms that can endure over decades.

ANALYSIS: While the digital revolution has created new methods for criminals to sexually exploit and traffic people, it has also increased the ability of law enforcement and others to target offenders and protect those at risk; in this briefing paper Nicole Munns and Dr Gabriel Katz of Justice & Care, which rescues victims of slavery and human trafficking around the world, explore some of the challenges and opportunities offered by the growth of digital intelligence.

OPINION: Proactive policing strategies can be key tools in tackling crimes that blight neighbourhoods – but over-used or applied in isolation, they can do severe damage to community relations; Andrew Trevino, a Detective Investigator with San Antonio PD and passionate advocate for proactive policing, looks at some of the main proactive strategies employed by US forces, and shares his own experiences of why respect is an equally essential part of the officer toolkit.

FEATURE: The final report of the Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales calls for radical change and a fundamental redesign to create a service that can keep pace with the public safety demands of the 21st century; Police Foundation Director Rick Muir, who led the organisation’s work on the Review, sets out the key steps he believes the service needs to take to meet the capacity, capability and organisational challenges of the future.

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 Ian Broughton, a former detective sergeant and specialist drug advisor with London’s Metropolitan Police and now a drugs expert witness and trainer, about targeting drug gangs, deterring criminals, and the challenges police face with encryption.

FEATURE: When a police officer behaves in a way that harms individuals, colleagues and the community they service, it’s important that others intervene as early as possible to ensure those actions and attitudes don’t escalate; former Scottish police officer and active bystander trainer Graham Goulden explains the thinking behind the approach, and what forces need to be doing to equip officers with effective intervention skills.

FEATURE: The issue of poor mental health in UK policing and the impact of high-risk, high-stress roles has long been recognised, but despite efforts to address the problem, significant challenges in encouraging and enabling officers to access support still remain; Mike Isherwood, founder and CEO of Softable and Chair of the BAPCO Business Group, explores some of the key issues and barriers to support, as well as his own fundraising and awareness challenge as the ‘10K-A-DAY GUY’.

OPINION: For over a decade, public safety officials have recognised that the capacity to retain current highly trained staff and recruit next generation professionals is central to public service success; the University of Southampton’s Dr Fatema Zaghloul, and Justin Partridge of the University of Leeds, explore talent management in the public safety sector and reflect on previous endeavours to attract next generation professionals.

FEATURE: The lengthy ‘vaccine mandate’ protests in front of New Zealand’s Parliament in Wellington have been challenging to police, and have attracted a wide range of extreme activists; Massey University Professor Paul Spoonley argues that such extremism has been evident in New Zealand society for some time – more information and action will be needed to tackle it going forwards.

INTERVIEW: From recruitment shortages to reducing violence and building community relations, police leaders across the US are facing some tough challenges; and for Laura Cooper, Executive Director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, they are challenges which she is determined to help policing to overcome, as she explained to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend.

ANALYSIS: The combination of a rapidly growing population and historically low staffing levels means that officers within Toronto Police Service (TPS) face increased risk of stress, physical and mental injury, and struggle to deliver the best service to the city’s community; to help address those challenges, Toronto Police Association (TPA) has been working with TPS to analyse officer workloads and identify improved alternative shift patterns, as TPA President Jon Reid explains.

ANALYSIS: Three recent high-profile firearms cases involving the UK’s National Crime Agency have underlined the continuing fight against the flow of illegal guns into criminal hands; and as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, tackling the trade and trafficking in illicit firearms is a challenge that will involve collaboration and co-operation across Europe.

OPINION: As the search for a new commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Service gets underway, change consultant Luftur Ali, Senior Policy Advisor to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a former Associate of the College of Policing, sets out some of the key changes he believes the force needs to make – and the challenges facing the next head of the Met – if it is to improve community relationships and regain its position as an employer of choice.

ANALYSIS: For millions of people across the globe, sport is life – and for many others corruption is also part and parcel of the daily routine; Policing Insight’s Chris Allen looks at the intersection between the two, and examines new research that shows how organised criminals have infiltrated sport at every level.

FEATURE: The growing demands placed on police officers are contributing to increasing levels of mental ill-health within the service, yet research has highlighted the continuing stigma around asking for support with mental health problems; British Transport Police Temporary Special Sergeant Shawny Dixon, who is currently studying for her MSc in Policing and Law Enforcement Leadership, looks at some of the existing research around the issue, and what the service could be doing to tackle the problem.

ANALYSIS: While climate change is generally seen as damaging for communities across the globe, transnational organised crime gangs are ready to take the opportunities offered by fragile states, scarce resources and regulated markets to further their profits while putting the pubic at risk, as Dr John Coyne of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute explains.

ANALYSIS: While recruitment and retention challenges have been the focus for many police forces around the world, the lack of female representation in US law enforcement has become a mounting concern; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to current and former officers as well as other criminal justice stakeholders working hard – and in many cases drawing on their own experiences – to address that gender imbalance.

FEATURE: A Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) was used by ACT officers in Canberra last week as part of the policing operation dealing with vaccine mandate protests, prompting a range of concerns and claims about the damage done by the device; composer, artist and sonic expert Lawrence English, a Research Fellow at Queensland’s Griffith University, explains the workings and limitations of LRADs.

ANALYSIS: In the latest in this series on continuing professional development (CPD), Dr Nicky Miller and Professor Jean Hartley of the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) explore the integration of explicit and tacit knowledge into learning, and how taking the opportunities to blend both approaches can help to bridge the gap between knowing and doing in UK policing.

OPINION: In a week which marks the anniversary of the publication of the Macpherson Report, West Midlands Assistant Chief Constable Matt Ward shares an insight into personal responses to racism, and argues that unless policing can accept it has treated some communities less favourably than others, those communities will have no reason to co-operate with the service – a vicious cycle that threatens police legitimacy.

FEATURE: Sir Michael Barber, Chair of the Strategic Review of Policing, has warned that the police’s ability to “do the basics” is being severely hampered by its role in responding to a range of “effectively social problems” such as mental health and missing persons – with confidence in police suffering as a result, as Keith Potter reports.

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 Ian Davidson, a former detective superintendent with Derbyshire Police and now an independent researcher, about the importance of experience and understanding, the need for resources to back up strategies, and what we really know – or think we know – about organised crime.

OPINION: Severe injuries leading to significant bleeding – whether caused by criminal acts such as knife crime or terror attacks, or through accidents – can easily result in loss of life; but the availability of bleed control packs, and the training in how to use them, can enable the public to intervene and save lives, believes Reuben Gilmore, Sales Director at Aero Healthcare.