Personnel

LONG READ: With UK police forces facing a range of challenges including complex demand, declining trust and confidence, and widescale reform, the importance of leadership in policing has never been greater; in his second long-read article for Policing Insight, Dr Aksar Bashir of the West Midlands Police Force Contact Training Academy explores the SHIELD (support, health, inspiration, ethics, listening, development) leadership concept and how it could be a step towards “a more engaged workforce, an ethical service, and renewed public confidence”.

FEATURE: A new report by Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland into how the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the wider criminal justice system recognises, assesses and responds to child criminal exploitation highlights the “inconsistent and, in many respects, inadequate” responses, and urges the PSNI to improve its delivery model as well as recoding and monitoring systems to better protect children targeted by paramilitary groups and criminals, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: While the ‘Run, Hide, Tell’ guidance remains necessary life-saving advice for the public in the event of a terrorist attack, it was never designed to be adopted by businesses, who have a direct duty of care to staff and customers; Policing insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the ‘Guide Shelter Report’ model, launched recently by ProtectUK, aimed at ensuring businesses and organisations have a good security culture in place in response to such scenarios.

INTERVIEW: Deanna Cantrell, a former chief of police and now Director of Law Enforcement Partnerships for Axon, believes leaders need to adopt a “policing inside out” approach by applying the lessons learned from community engagement to leading their own teams – especially those young-in-service officers whose input is often overlooked when it comes to decision-making – as she explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: Victoria Police is making more arrests than at any point in its recorded history; but strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda argues that, as the force is also experiencing record rates of officer burnout, a documented accountability deficit at command level, and a systematic misidentification problem in family violence proceedings, all the evidence points toward the need for a comprehensive reform agenda spanning all three of these interconnected issues.

INNOVATION: A collaborative white paper published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and contact management specialists Content Guru is encouraging UK forces to “think big” in grasping the “a generational opportunity to genuinely transform public contact” offered by the police reform white paper, with a move towards a ‘one standard, one platform, one contact’ approach offering greater consistency, improved service and significant efficiency savings, as Policing insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Within the continuing debates around policing ‘culture’, much of the focus has been on ensuring officers and staff feel able to speak out about poor behaviour and report misconduct when necessary; but for Graham Goulden, a former long-serving officer and now a strong advocate for safe and supportive workplaces, the key to a caring culture means a shift from reporting harm to preventing it, and a workforce aware of the human signals that someone is struggling, before they become disciplinary issues.

INTERVIEW: The Early Awareness of Stalking Intervention (EASI) team now in place in West Midlands Police is leading to an increasing number of stalking protection orders issued, a longer-term approach to supporting victims, and better monitoring and interventions with perpetrators, as Detective Superintendent Adam Jobson, the force’s lead for domestic abuse and stalking, explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

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OPINION: Former British Transport Police officer Rob Glassborow was a member of the County Lines Task Force launched in 2019, which adopted an approach of focusing on juveniles exploited by drug gangs as offenders rather than victims; now a lecturer in policing at Leeds Trinity University, he admits to being “in awe” of how county lines policing has become a specialist area with a clear safeguarding mission, and points to the increased knowledge and expertise as an example of the success of professionalising policing.

ANALYSIS: Research from Operation Soteria has found numerous institutional issues in the policing of rape and serious sexual offences that require urgent attention: in this article, Dr Anna Gekoski, Dr Kari Davies, and Professor Miranda Horvath explore these issues, which include problems relating to staffing, training, and technology.

ANALYSIS: A recent report based on interviews with officers in England and Wales in 2021-22 highlights a number of ‘institutional challenges’ around investigating rape and serious sexual offences; however, Prof Betsy Stanko, Senior Strategic Academic Advisor for Operation Soteria, Chief Constable Sarah Crew, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Adult Sexual Offences, and Detective Chief Superintendent Melissa Laremore, Operation Soteria Delivery Lead, set out the significant progress in addressing these and many other issues over the past five years.

FEATURE: A new mental health response and support system based on joint working between An Garda Síochána and the Health Service Executive, which involves officers with specialist mental health training working alongside clinicians and the creation of a community-based forum for referrals, could be rolled out nationally after a pilot of the Community Access Support Team (CAST) initiative in Limerick saw a significant drop in detentions of those in crisis, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: As policing in England and Wales continues to deal with frequent and often large-scale protest and counter-protest, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has highlighted the “grey area” in which officers now operate; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a former Metropolitan Police officer and public order specialist, explains the current complex challenges around tactical and operational public order decisions, and the need for a clearer focus on ‘lawful’ rather than ‘peaceful’ protest.

INTERVIEW: Departing HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke spoke to Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass about his time in charge of scrutinising police forces, the “national disgrace” of court delays faced by victims, and why he believes the Government’s planned major reforms – including significant new powers for the inspectorate – are a once in a generation opportunity to make communities safer.

OPINION: Policing, like many other organisations, often relies on the ‘don’t do’ approach to communicating and educating ethics to its workforce, with a focus on the punishments and consequences of misconduct and poor behaviour; but Dr Eva Tsahuridu and Jo Kerr of Victoria Police Registration & Services Board argue that while ‘negative ethics’ have a role to play, ‘positive ethics’ that develop a ‘what to do approach’ to recognising ethical issues and making ethical judgements are just as important.

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ANALYSIS: The UK’s recently published Policing and Media Charter, which comes just weeks after new College of Policing guidance on media and communications, is viewed by many as a much-needed reset of the relationship between police and the media; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend, a subject matter expert in police communications, spoke to Crime Reporters Association Chair Rebecca Camber and NPCC Chair Gavin Stephens about the background to the charter, its aims, and the practical difference it will make to that relationship.

FEATURE: A second report into the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by police in Canada, published by the University of British Columbia’s AI & Criminal Justice Initiative, highlights a lack of cohesion over governance arrangements for adoption and deployment of the new technology, and urges police to take a ‘steady, cautious approach’ that incorporates comprehensive standards, legal safeguards, robust independent oversight, and democratic accountability, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Until UK policing learns to look after its workforce better, the communities it serves will never really be safe, warns Graham Goulden, a former officer with a 30-year career and now a strong advocate for safe and supportive workplaces, who argues that the active bystander approach could help to change policing culture to provide the support that officers and staff need, and the service communities deserve.

FEATURE: A new report from the Scottish Institute for Policing Research into policing after lockdown and how to rebuild relationships with the “Covid generation” has urged police to introduce “poverty awareness training” for officers to provide a better understanding of inequality’s impact on youth-police relations, and develop stronger partnership and collaborative approaches, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INNOVATION: The latest report from the European Network Against Crime and Terrorism reveals that the UK continues to play a leading role in European Union security research, highlighting the potential for police leaders to work with other partners and stakeholders to access some of the €40 million funding to develop real-world initiatives in the fight against crime and terrorism, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

INNOVATION: A new frontline file management system rolled out by New Zealand Police is proving to be a “game changer” for the workforce, says Superintendent Blair Macdonald, cutting the backlog for case processing from two weeks to just four hours, and helping to increase public trust and confidence in the service, as he explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

INTERVIEW: Following the launch in England and Wales last year of the first phase of the neighbourhood policing programme training modules, a new tranche of training is now providing officers with the skills and knowledge to tackle serious and organised crime (SOC) in local communities; Chief Superintendent Andy Sidebotham, Head of Uniformed Policing at the College of Policing, spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the local impact of SOC, and how the investment in officers will benefit communities.