OPINION: This month saw the appointment of a new Commissioner and Acting Deputy Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police Service, the UK’s biggest police force; Martyn Underhill, a former Met police officer who served as Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012-2021, believes the new leadership team will have to make some swift and fairly radical changes to address the key challenges affecting public confidence and performance in the force.

INTERVIEW: With police officers across the country facing unprecedented pressure and demand, Thames Valley Police is looking to support its frontline by introducing a Behavioural Science Unit; Policing Insight’s Martin Buhagiar spoke to Superintendent Felicity Parker about the scale of the project and how it could reshape UK policing in the future.

ANALYSIS: With rising inflation, the continuing increase in energy costs, global supply chains under pressure and a cost-of-living crisis, funding for policing and the wider UK public sector remains extremely challenging; Charlotte Radford, Police Advisor for the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), believes there’s a real threat of further cuts to an already over-stretched back office staff – and effective long-term financial planning will be crucial.

FEATURE: The launch in March of the Police Foundation’s influential Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales was heralded by many as an opportunity to rethink and reset some of the key policing parameters, aims and approaches; ahead of next month’s conference focusing on the Review, Canterbury Centre for Policing Research Director Dr Martin O’Neill revisits some of those recommendations, and considers a few of the important questions that will be debated over the two days.

INTERVIEW: The Capitol Building riots on 6 January 2021 were a dark day for US politics and an incredibly difficult one for policing, especially the officers of the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department; Department Chief Robert Contee spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the continuing impact of the insurrection, his pride and passion for his role, and the ongoing challenges of policing America’s capital city.

OPINION: Policing is well aware of the performance and procedural justice scrutiny it faces in its external relationships; but Detective Chief Inspector Alisa Wilson of Lancashire Constabulary, who retires from policing this week after 21 years in the service, believes that a stronger leadership commitment to wellbeing and internal procedural justice, reinforced by the new Police Covenant, could truly change policing culture.

INTERVIEW: In the second part of his interview with Policing Insight, Superintendents’ Association President Paul Fotheringham spoke to Keith Potter about the structural and operational challenges facing the rank, the pressures on measuring and improving performance, and the importance of focusing on wellbeing and good leadership.

INTERVIEW: As a number of cities across the US attempt to deal with an apparent rise in violent crime, Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to Prof Michael Smith of the University of Texas at San Antonio who, with colleagues from UTSA and in collaboration with the leadership and officers of Dallas PD, has developed an evidence-based plan to target violent crime that is already delivering results for the city.

OPINION: As the sequel to one of the world’s greatest action movies hits the big screen, Acting Superintendent Stephen Lenney of Devon and Cornwall Police considers what law enforcement can learn from the Top Gun franchise, and why focusing on noise, rather than the object causing it, can create problems for both plane spotting and policing.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Demands have grown but tackling them is so complex that it is undermining common-sense policing, West Midlands Chief Constable Sir David Thompson QPM tells Policing Insight and PolicingTV Publisher Bernard Rix who met Sir David for a walk-and-talk as part of his Policing Friendship Tour across the British Isles and around the world, meeting people across the spectrum of policing.

INTERVIEW: Former College of Policing CEO Mike Cunningham QPM started his policing career at Lancashire Constabulary in 1987, becoming Assistant Chief Constable in 2005, before joining the not-for-profit Skills for Justice in 2021 to support the professional development of officers and staff in policing; Policing Insight caught up with him to hear about his latest work, including the Inspire Justice Awards, which will launch next month.

FEATURE: With funding increases partially ringfenced for recruitment, more budgetary pressure is on the horizon for UK policing; Neil Amos and Richard Davis of PA Consulting spoke to a panel of police and crime commissioners and former and serving police leaders to discuss what could be done to build better partnerships with the private sector, and drive efficiencies and improved services.

OPINION: With police resources regularly overstretched, many officers voice concerns that they don’t have enough time to spend with victims to deliver a better service and improve satisfaction rates; but Police Foundation Associate Malcolm Hibberd argues that what officers can say in 30 seconds or less has a major impact on a crime victim’s experience of policing.

FEATURE: The latest report from the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse has highlighted a “large and growing gap” between the estimated prevalence of child sexual abuse in England and Wales and the official recorded figures, as well as “significant” regional variations in both child protection plans and the levels of offences recorded by police, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: The recent State of Policing report presented by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor was his last in the role; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett looks back at what has changed during his decade in post, and what will need to change moving forwards to secure the strategic improvements in UK policing that both the police and public are looking for.

ANALYSIS: Increasing police numbers can reduce crime rates, yet England and Wales have one of the lowest officer-population ratios in Europe; with crime likely to become increasingly complex, Social Market Foundation Senior Researcher Richard Hyde calls on police and policymakers to invest further in workforce recruitment, to contain and reduce the current high levels of crime.

OPINION: HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, Gill Imery QPM, leaves her post tomorrow (1 April) after four years leading HMICS; Mrs Emery, who will be succeeded by Craig Naylor (currently Deputy Director of Investigations at the National Crime Agency), shared her reflections on the challenges and achievements for the Inspectorate and Police Scotland during a tumultuous period of policing globally.

ANALYSIS: Officers of the Nigeria Police Force are considering industrial action to protest against the lack of funding, low salaries and poor working conditions they face; Dr Lanre Ikuteyijo, Senior Lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University and a police affairs expert, explains the implications of the strike, and how Nigeria can improve the welfare of its police officers.

FEATURE: Metrics to quantify ‘success’ in UK policing have changed considerably over the past three decades, with an early focus on the volume of crime recorded and detected replaced with targeting those crimes causing the most harm; in this latest article in Policing Insight’s Police Student series, Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the various performance measurement approaches, and why public confidence should be equally crucial in shaping policing priorities.

INTERVIEW: A new early intervention system adopted by Dallas PD can highlight those officers who need more support and training to improve their performance; Deputy Chief Catrina Shead spoke to Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend about the system, as well as current recruitment challenges, and why experience and observation are as important as education.

FEATURE: In his final State of Policing assessment, Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor – who leaves the HMICFRS at the end of this month – has praised the efforts of officers and staff, but highlighted significant concerns including the fragility of the 43-force model in England and Wales, the urgent need to restore public confidence, and compromises required between funding and public expectations, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

INTERVIEW: Once a hotbed of 1970s counterculture, Austin in Texas has a reputation as a progressive, fast-changing city, with all the policing challenges that a modern urban environment brings; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to Austin Police Department Chief Joseph Chacon about meeting those challenges – including recruitment, community safety and racial inequality – and his own style of leadership.

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.

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.